psst: you can now use the IGNORE function on him. It's beautiful.

What is "White" culture?
What is "Black" culture?
What is "Latino" culture?
What is "Asian" culture?
What is "Native American" culture?

Is White culture growing up with only Italian food and language or growing up speaking English? Is Black culture Gullah or is it something else? Is Latino culture El Salvadorian or Cuban? Is Asian culture Indian or Chinese?

We make stereotypes and generalizations to ease the stress on our mind when we meet new people and place them in some "category" that we can easily define and that is comprehensible to the mind.

I am very proud of my Scottish, English, and French heritage, yet I don't use that as a reason to prevent myself from learning about other cultures and ideas. Everyone needs to open their minds a little bit. Step into someone else's shoes and view the situation from their POV.

Ok, I'm out. Graduation tomorrow and I need to get some sleep.

Pzzzzzzzzz,
Nate

Well, I'm sure you were being rhetorical and clever with this.

However, I challenge you to read up on this topic. You will find decades of research that will answer these questions for you.

This is why all categories exist. Gender, class, race, sexual orientation, etc.

Generalizations are based on observed social patterns across millions of people. That doesn't mean that everyone will fit in with the generalization.

But fitting into isn't necessarily a bad thing, unless the generalization is based on a stereotype (which has a negative connotation) and results in inequality.

Yep, I'm resurrecting it again. Whatcha got to say? :p It's for a good reason though. I happened back across this thread from another thread (using the links at the bottom of the screen) and I saw this post. Yeah, I know it's like three years old, but check this out:

http://www.sigmabetarho.com/home.html

I may have been in a cave for the last few years, but I could have sworn that this organization used to promote itself rather heavily as a South Asian fraternity. No offense intended in case anyone gets any ideas about my post. I had recently been talking about this new image and then just saw 33girl's old post.

I've posted here and there, but my life has gotten very busy. Glad to see you noticed!

You are ABSOLUTELY right. When I studied cultural and multicultural based GLOs more closely, Sigma Beta Rho was most certainly a SOUTH ASIAN FRATERNITY.

But look what I found here:

"One of my brothers is from El Salvador and another one is from Jamaica. Sigma Beta Rho was primarily South Asian to begin with but now the ideal has become to learn about other cultures. Even within the South Asian culture, there are so many diversities. I know other South Asian fraternities that have stayed predominantly Desi, but I think we're growing because we're not like that and we don't discriminate."


Sigma Beta Rho is the nation's largest South Asian fraternity with 1000 members and 30 colonies coast-to-coast.


Uhhhhh.... contradiction? Are you a South Asian Fraternity or are you a Multicultural Fraternity?


Would I sound ignorant if I started using the term NJGLO? Because seriously, that's what these orgs sound like to me -- seems like every GLO I've seen from New Jersey is multicultural in membership and they all look like each other. Yes, the girls all have the "wet n wavy" hair and the guys all look like the Gotti boys, regardless of their actual race. It is the damndest thing!

Okay, I busted out laughing at this. & yes I'm a (proud?) Jersey girl. All joking aside though, I think a lot of orgs (or chapters of orgs) in Jersey are diverse because the state itself is pretty diverse. So, no, I don't take your NJGLO as ignorant, it's a relatively accurate description (minus the looking alike part, lol, at least for my org anyway).

http://planetsmilies.net/ill-violate...miley-9436.gif

Bwahahahahaha! Where is Ch2tf? She needs to see this post. By the way, I love the edgy Rashid!!! LOL!

Te amo mi amor!
In some ways I don't think it is fair to say it is a NJGLO, but it is sorta accurate as well. Chapters of orgs are re-marketing themselves as multicultural to gain more members because the Greek population is small.

I think the problem with this whole re-marketing/"everyone" trying to be multicultural stems from several factors:

1. It's what's HOT right now! hahaha, j/k sorta. It's a way for more people to buy their product, and younger/smaller orgs are trying to get brand recognition. (Sorry for the business analogies, it's what is in my head right now)

2. Younger/Smaller orgs not expanding strategically and as a result after the founding class/line and maybe one or two additional classes/lines, the chapter is struggling for members and opens up to new markets. With respect to younger/smaller orgs, it is a lot easier for this trend to catch on within the organization, especially if they are experiencing low membership numbers across the board.

Its a rush to be one of the big guys (at least in number of chapters), without substantially investing time in doing research about the climate of the school, the commitment and dedication of interests, and being able to support your chapters as an organization.

Another problem is in expansion when interests really only have info from the org's representatives to go off of (sometimes because the org is small and sometimes because the interests are lazy and just want to be down/have letters). They might know someone from back home who joined ABC org and they think the "concept" is cool, but they have no idea what the organization is actually about and what they are doing (for members, communities, etc). In the case of MC orgs, you have organizations that say they are multicultural, but that operate almost entirely on a different platform, yet the interests do not spend time doing the research on the "product" that the "Sales Team" is selling. About a year ago I had someone say to me, if I had known about TNX before I joined my org, I would have def pursued TNX. I guess she was trying to complement us but to myself I'm thinking,"You Fool!". The internet has been on and poppin' for a good minute, there is NO way you couldn't have done a google search and found out about other mc sororities. And of course there's greek pages, wiki, but I digress.

In the case of NJ, I think it happens in part because many MC orgs have been founded there, and newer groups that are ethnically based may view the "success" that they have on campus as a way to gain a foothold in the market.

I just love the "We are X with multicultural membership schpeal [sp?]" It gives me a chuckle every time. To me I feel like it is obvious that there are internal identity dynamics going on in an organization when that happens. Trying to come at it from an interests perspective, I can't understand why you approach an organization with apprehension about joining the group because you may not be of the same ethinicity as the group majority. It's cool if a black girl wants to join LTA (just using them as an example not saying they are culprits of this) because she sees something in them she aspires to, or that she feels they are really holding it down. That doesn't make LTA a latina sorority with multicultural membership; it is a Latina sorority, period. They were founded as a latina org, they service the latino community. 1 black girl, 100 black girls, or a diverse chapter does not change that fact.

We (MC orgs) need a (strong and viable) council, like ASAP.

And that my friends is my rant of the day.

Generally speaking, I feel this might be more applicable to NIC members, but does it need to be "either/or"? I'm not sure I understand how it might be a contradiction when the two identities might be appropriate. Especially when an organization self identifies as such.

I think the difference is when an organization says "we are a {insert ethnicity here} organization" it means even thought the members don't all have to be that ethnicity, they are going to do activities and support philanthropies specifically geared to that ethnicity. Multicultural groups, I would guess, tend to "spread it around" a little more and not support one particular ethnicity (i.e. they are just as likely to volunteer at a benefit to help sickle cell victims as they are to put on a workshop about Asians in the media).

Sorry if those examples weren't the best, but I hope you got what I was trying to say.

I think that a member of a Multicultural GLO can better answer this.....but I will try.

It's basically like Migma Pambda Shamma being a Multicultural Sorority only situationally, and a Latina Sorority when it's convenient.

As has been defined on GC by MCGLO members, a Multicultural GLO is not the same as a GLO with a multicultural membership. If Sigma Beta Rho evolved into something else, then I think it needs to get away from being labeled South Asian.

Just my opinion.

ETA: Yeah, what 33girl said, too.

I agree with you and 33girl.

It reminds me of the observed increase of nonblack members in NPHC orgs over the years. That frightened some initially until it was realized that our founding principles and objectives don't change just because there are chapters where people of the African diaspora are in the minority.

It's the difference between description and purpose that is in question. An organization may have multicultural membership (most do). But, a "Multicultural Greek Letter Organization" is one whose sole or primary purpose is to promote multiculturalism, support social justice as it relates to multiculturalism, address life as a multicultural person/in a multicultural world, continue bringing discussion of multiculturalism to people's attention (what defines multiculturalism, how does one engage a multicultural world while maintaining his/her identity), etc.

Consider it this way: Would consider an NPC sorority with members who studied engineering to be an engineering sorority? Or is it a social NPC sorority?

Same with multicultural Greeks. We are about multiculturalism just as engineering Greeks are about engineering. The comparison isn't exact, but I hope you get the point.

Sigma Beta Rho began with the express purpose of addressing the needs of individuals from South Asian culture(s). They are now calling themselves multicultural because their membership is diversifying, not because their purpose has changed.

ETA: Y'all post too daggone fast for me.