I need to vent a little and I am probably going to get flamed for this. All this talk about "multi-cultural" really gets to me sometimes. Just because my skin is white doesn't mean that I don't have a rich a varied background. I'm part german-english-swiss and half Irish. If you've studied history at all you'd know that German's and the Irish have very different histories and cultures. That lead us to the question what is culture? Culture is often defined as language, food, ways of dress, the things that a group of people have in common that make them unique from all other groups. By this definition I am most definately mulitcultural, in face most Americans are. Just because we don't outwardly look it, does not mean that there is not much more there. Looks can be deceiving.

AXWhoah, I see where you're coming from. I think that it's great that you spoke out. Everyone has a culture - not just people of color.

I doubt that it was Zeta Sigma Phi that wouldn't allow MTV to film their rush process -- my guess is that rush events were held on campus and, as USC wouldn't allow MTV to film on campus, they were SOL.

As for the "multicultural" rant that was brought up -- it's not like anybody said that "multicultural" doesn't include those of European descent. This particular sorority includes at least two or three girls who appear to be.

All I gotta say is whoa. . .and that you get major snaps taken away for this statement. I have no idea where this could come from because I know no one around here feels that you have to be non-white to be multicultural, so maybe it's something you're dealing with personally. . .don't really know. . .but the statement is messed up and an overblown generalization.

It's implied in many of the statements that many people have made. You guys seem to think that multicultural can only mean a chapter full of women with different skin colors. Like my NPC isn't multicultural. Maybe you do not think that way but it is the basic though among the general population.

As far as I know, it isn't; to my knowledge, none of the NPCs are, although Phi Sigma Sigma was founded in part to create a space where women of various religions could find sisterhood. Multicultural GLO doesn't mean a group made up of people from different cultures -- that would apply to every national group! It means that one of the central purposes of the organization is to promote multicultural understanding. There are huge cultural and racial rifts in our society that divide people of various colors and backgrounds; an MCGLO is one that exists in large part in order to work toward the closure of those rifts, both within the GLO and beyond it.

If that's a central purpose of your NPC, then I apologize for failing to understand your goals.

If someone from an MCGLO can speak to this firsthand, that would be great.

Ivy

I would think that through sisterhood and friendship that multicultural awareness would be promoted. I mean I know that through my sorority I have learned a lot just because my sisters are different from me.
EDITED to say, that I think understanding and appreciation of a sister's culture is implied in the word friendship (which IS one of our values).

I totally get where she's coming from. I've often said that one of the reasons that there's such a division between "white" people and people of color is because "white" people in the United States are all lumped together under one big group, but non-White people have the privilege of being able to retain their ethnic/cultural heritage. I know the history behind that, but even so, I think it's kind of foul that in this day and age it's still allowed to exist.

Think about it - I can (and do) proudly call myself African American, but how many so-called "white"people do you know call themselves "German American" or "Croatian American"? I'm not talking about individual anecdotes - I'm talking in general. Chinese Americans are Chinese. People from the West Indies are West Indian. Koreans are Korean. But white people are just WHITE. It's limiting, ahistorical, and just plain wrong.

Personally, my (alum) chapter of Alpha Phi is multicultural, and not just in terms of racial/ethnic identity. The collegiate chapter I help advise was featured in a past issue of The Quarterly because of their multicultural nature. Nationally, one of our "Watchcare" programs is centered on how to understand, promote, and foster multiculturalism within collegiate chapters. While we may not "technically" be a MCGLO, we are a multicultural Fraternity.

There is more to multiculturalism than skin colour. I think that's what she's getting at -- correct me if I'm wrong, AXWhoah.

I totally agree with you. In my local sorority, although we were almost all jewish, I learned so much about girls whose families were persian, girls who were more religious, girls who had similar roots to me, and even non-jewish girls whose families came from africa and all over europe. I really learned so much in just being friends with my sisters. Now in Kappa Delta, the little that I have got to know my sisters has told me their are girls from different roots and I can't wait to learn more about them as they are my sisters.

Booooorrrring!
 

I fell asleep after the first 15 or so minutes...http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/sleep.gif

You soooo got the idea of MCGLO's. That's what Theta Nu Xi strives for. We look for any woman who feels as strongly about multiculturalism as we do no matter what race, culture, religion, etc.

Is the whole problem with the lumping of the "white" people is that the "white" people created the label. The government, which back in the days of labeling races and such, only had "white" people. But I get where you are coming from, I have a Polish American sister who feels the same way you do about labeling.

AXWhoah. Thank you. You've said what I feel perfectly. I am French, Irish and a little bit Swedish. I too have a rich culture and family history and do somewhat resent how white people are "lumped" together. We all have culture, skin color, especially in this day and age, has nothing to do with it.

Amy
USC alum

quote:
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Originally posted by IvySpice
As far as I know, it isn't; to my knowledge, none of the NPCs are, although Phi Sigma Sigma was founded in part to create a space where women of various religions could find sisterhood. Multicultural GLO doesn't mean a group made up of people from different cultures -- that would apply to every national group! It means that one of the central purposes of the organization is to promote multicultural understanding. There are huge cultural and racial rifts in our society that divide people of various colors and backgrounds; an MCGLO is one that exists in large part in order to work toward the closure of those rifts, both within the GLO and beyond it.

If that's a central purpose of your NPC, then I apologize for failing to understand your goals.

If someone from an MCGLO can speak to this firsthand, that would be great.

Ivy
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Being in a MCGLO I have to agree with Ivy's statement.

Surrounding your Org on celebrating different cultures is what makes up my sorority. I agree that people labled as "white" don't reap the benefits of saying they are multicultural because as soon as someone see the color of their skin, they are automaticly considered white. I think those of you that have listed the various cultures that are a part of you, SHOULD consider yourself multicultural...why not...none of us is really one single race anymore, we never were, just a few decided not to express it. In my eyes, having more than one ethnic group running through your veins or more than one language spoken in your family makes you multicutural, regardless if your org is like mine that was founded on multiculturalism or not.

Re lumping together of white people:

To a certain extent this happens, but there's a reason. To a large extent white people can "pass" into the general population. New groups arrived (Irish; Italian; etc.) and were hated at first, but after a while they blended in with the older groups of white people and were granted the privileges accorded to whites in general.

Look at it this way. I think that white people who want to retain their cultural heritage can and do. The neighborhoods in Chicago and New York have never been white and black; they're Polish, Ukrainian, Jewish, Irish, etc. A white person has a choice; she can be a strongly identified Polish person, speak the language, learn traditions, etc....but if she doesn't go out of her way to tell her boss her mom was Polish, then at work she will be treated simply as a white person. That is a privilege that nonwhites just don't have. A black woman has no choice -- she is black ALL the time, to everyone. And that has huge cultural repercussions.

That's one reason why race is such an important concept in this country, and why the barriers between groups of different colors are so much thicker and harder to overcome than barriers between white groups. Yes, once, animosity between Irish whites and English whites in America was a huge problem, but that's largely been overcome. Yet after almost four hundred years, there's still a colossal problem with lack of communication and understanding between whites and blacks (just for starters).

So I don't think the lumping together of white people is unfair, and I do think a MCGLO needs people of different colors in order to tackle the really tough problems. White people in this country eventually mingle on their own; but racial divides are like tides that we have to deliberately swim against if we want to build better understanding.

Ivy (white, but quite identified as Jewish :) )