More Black students joining Latino Greek organizations
 

An interesting, yet not surprising pattern, good read!

http://www.blackenterprise.com/Exclu...en.asp?id=1949

Latin Greek Organizations Attracting Blacks
Some choose a different path to find a home

By Topher Sanders

October 30, 2006 -- Quashawn Williams knew Omega Psi Phi was the fraternity for him. After all, he had family members who were already a part of the historically black fraternity.

But when Williams, now 26, went to an Omega informational in 1997 at Montclair State University in New Jersey, he didn’t like what he was told.

"They told me I had to bring chicken and beer to the interest meeting," he says. That experience made Williams gravitate toward Lambda Theta Phi, a Latino fraternity.

"When I went to the Lambda Theta Phi interest meeting they were like ‘just bring yourself, we’re providing you with things,’" says Williams, who joined the fraternity in spring of 1998. "That’s a big difference."

His decision is becoming more common as an increasing number of black college students are joining historically Latino Greek organizations. An exact number is tough to pinpoint, but Ruby Hernandez Alvarado, chair of the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations Inc., estimates that blacks now make up about 10% of the membership of Latino fraternities and sororities.

Many Latino Greek organizations were founded by students with ties to countries in Central and South America. The diversity already present within Latin culture makes many Latino Greek organizations interested in multiculturalism, Alvarado says. So it’s easy to see how diversity could remain a focal point for many historically Latino groups, she explains. The fact that black students are joining their ranks, Alvarado says, is merely a case of students finding the right connection.

"I think it's really just them trying to find a group that they are feeling a strong family connection with," says Alvarado.

Once members, some black students find that there’s so much diversity in Latin organizations that they easily fit in.

"On my line there was an Egyptian, a Korean, an African American, a brother from Ghana, and four Hispanics," says Williams. "You couldn’t even tell it was a Latin fraternity when I was in school. Even the Hispanic brothers were dark, so we were just a bunch of dark-skinned brothers."


Jennifer Kamara with her sorority sisters, Zahir Diaz and Tiffany Brutus at a party hosted by her sorority and another Latino based sorority, Sigma Iota Alpha.

Black students with Caribbean roots may feel a particular bond to Latino organizations, Hernandez says.

"A lot of the island countries do have a strong Hispanic or Latino heritage behind them and I think some people are able to see some of their own traditions in those Latino Greek fraternities or sororities," Alvarado says.

Leiaka Welcome, 21, a senior at Midwestern State University, in Wichita Falls, Texas, didn’t see her decision to pledge Latin sorority Kappa Delta Chi as an odd choice. Welcome is from Trinidad. Her second language is Spanish.

"The kind of person I’ve grown up to be, coming from the islands, I’ve always been exposed to a lot of different cultures. So for me it didn’t seem unnatural," she says.

Welcome says she wasn’t interested in sorority life until she met the young women who would eventually become her Kappa Delta Chi sisters.

"The reason I got into my sorority is because I met the girls at an interest meeting and they were different in terms of explaining everything and just trying to make you feel welcome," she says.

Still, the reaction she’s gotten from some family members about her choice may be an indication that not everyone has embraced this trend. Some of her cousins are members of traditionally black sororities, including Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta. She says she is often asked about her Greek choice when she visits friends and family.

"When I get back to the East Coast and I’m wearing my Greek letters they say ‘So, what sorority are you in?’ When I tell them it’s Latino-based, they say ‘Interesting’," she says with a laugh.

Michael Bowie, national president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the organization that represents the nine largest black fraternities and sororities, says he’s not surprised that some black students are joining Latino Greek organizations.

"I think as students are beginning to go to different colleges they are realizing that there are more options out there," Bowie says. "Many of the Latino fraternal organizations have opened up their doors and in today’s society that (speaks to) multiculturalism and diversity and it’s encouraged. In fact, many have looked at our organizations as traditionally African American organizations, but we too have become diverse as well with students who are Latino and Caucasian."

Williams says he doesn’t think Latino fraternities and sororities are more inclusive than black organizations, instead, he says that all of the historically Latino and black Greek organizations have a desire to boost numbers.

"I wouldn’t say that Latin organizations are more accepting," he says. "I think every organization is accepting to a degree because everybody wants more brothers."

But Jennifer Kamara had a different experience. Kamara, now 23, pledged Latino sorority Omega Phi Beta at Cornell University in the spring of 2004. She says she found her sisters more open than those who belonged to black Greek organizations.

"The other Greeks weren’t really very open, it was more like you had to know someone to even find out when the informational was," says Kamara whose father is from Sierra Leone and her mother is from Nigeria.

Kamara says she decided to pledge Omega Phi Beta because of the group’s commitment to learning about culture.

"I really wanted an organization that was focused on culture and learning about your roots," she says. "And I started doing my research and found the Website for Omega Phi Beta and thought they had a real dedication to learning about where you come from and appreciating all cultures."

When choosing a fraternity or sorority, race shouldn’t be a consideration, Welcome says.

"I never thought of it as being a black person in a Latino organization," she says. "I just thought of it as being in a group with nine other really great girls. We all just look at each other as sisters."



Copyright © 2006 Earl G. Graves, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

like you said, interesting, but not all that surprising.

for randomness' sake, can i say that asian greeks are sticking to their own orgs? while im sure all of our orgs have some asian members, can i conclude that asians are least likely to seek an org outside their own (off the top aKDP, KPL, LPhiE)?

Quashawn?


Shoot me.

think alot has to do with Blacks and latinos growing up together, I know growing up and going to elementary schoos where the population was 96% latino, the Black students really had to befriend their Latino classmates. Alot of dominantly Black schools also have a good number of Latinos attending, that crosses over to College life, especially if someone attends a PWI.

I don't know what to say about Asian students, most I know join Mainstream orgs, we do have ONE Asian Interest Org on campus, and many Asian freshmen automatically look at that org than other minority GLO's. Again alot has to do with pre-collegiate interaction.

There was a girl on here a while ago who was going to pledge or pledged an Asian-interest sorority, then dropped and joined an NPC group. tld221, she pretty much confirmed what you said - that the Asian Greek scene is very insular and everyone in it knows everyone else.

I don't know if we have Asian GLO's, unless you count Lambda Chi?

/hijack/

I remember, a few years ago, reading an article in USAToday. They talked about many of the historical Black colleges recruiting Hispanics to play on their baseball teams.

This thread made me think of that.

/end of hijack/

I would argue that Asians who are least culturally assimilated are more likely to join AGLOs. They still closely identify with Asian culture and want to be surrounded by others who identify.

This must be regional.

I don't know that I would argue this. My best friend is Vietnamese (first generation american) and she never even looked into anything other than NPC sororities. She is super preppy and is in love with all things sorority. I don't think she ever regretted joining the NPC.

I don't think so, I saw this ALOT at NY, and I am speaking coming from a Chicago upbringing, which everyone knows is a very segregated city.

My post is a generalization so your friend doesn't refute my point.

It's about cities with large immigrant populations. Such cities are generally found in certain regions of the country.

how do you take cities in the SW and NY, Latino-wise, share more 2nd,3rd, 4th generation Latinos being grouped with Blacks, living in the same neighborhoods? Immigration populations aren't always the determining factor, alot has to do with second class citizenship

I don't think that this is surprising at all because on my particular campus historically latino organizations were presented as multicultural and not tied to any one racial entity. In today's society all organizations are seeing an increase in different racial applicants based in part to the common goals of many of the organizations, i.e. community service, social, etc.

is this elreylul from kazo?

very much so.

Maybe individuals are finding a place where they feel more at ease and comfortable.

It is quite possible that they do not find what they are looking for in the ethnic
community that there find themselves in.

At least someone is joining Greek Organizations.:)

This is my experience too- my family is Jamaican, and growing up my Puerto Rican friends were like my play cousins- they were like my family in spanish, lol. especially because a lot of them were black too, I grew up feeling like hispanic and black folks were kin in some way.

Slight hijack- I had a number of friends in college who were very impressive members of Lambda Upsilon Lambda. Nothing but love for your caballeros.

That I can personally attest to. When I rushed for this one asian sorority, literally everyone knew each other one way and the other that was hard for me to join conversations. I don't mean to say it in a bad way, but it's like they would rather have girls that they knew already to join their org then someone who just randomly jumped in. It was sad that they the actives would just strike conversations with girls that they know and talk about people in their circle. Needless to say, I performed really poor :(

Being in commuter school with a small greek system and not knowing anything about greek, I was under the false assumption that you can rush for only one GLO, and I didn't know anything about NPC.

If I had known about NPCs earlier in my school career, I would have rushed for them. Knowing that they could widen my horizons way more than a cultural interest org becuase the girls that I met in some NPC orgs are so diversified in many areas. I know some asian girls who are really satisfied with their NPC orgs. :)

That I totally agree. That's why you would see people usually hang out with their own group. Filipinos with filipinos; chinese with chinese. It's not surprising becuase I have heard stories how asians trying to find their own root, their culture because they feel they cannot identify themselves with the general American public. They try to push for various Asian American programs, cultural awareness groups and rallies.

Though to be honest, there's pratically not much you can learn about asian culture by hanging out with asian groups. You live in America, you eat the same food like Americans do, you listen to the same songs and etc. So to me, it's more like they feel they cannot relate themselves to others cultural groups. It's not just asians but other groups as well. So that's why it's not surprising to see people are still segregated in a way.

i hope youre calling this a generalization cause thats EXACTLY what it is.

you're kidding, right?

i was trying to be nice, but thats exactly what i meant to say.

The only member of an Asian GLO I know personally is black. There is an Asian Delta at a chapter in my area, although I have never met her personally. All the other Asian Greeks I know are in IFC/NPC orgs.

Well, this is just my observation. You don't have to agree with it, but this is how "I" see. Yes, it is "general" but it does exist in general, right? How "I" see it is that people tend to feel more comfortable in their own circles, and part of it can be cultural. You can't deny the fact that segregated groups do exist. Not because they are forced to, but people choose to affiliate with groups by choice.

Again, it's just my own opinion. Nothing to feel offensive about.

I was a little suprised and very upset about how segregated college is. My highschool (IB) was like a mini UN, but then I came to college and everyone went to their own cultural groups. My best friend who's Columbian only hangs out with the columbian group, my jewish friends joined the predominantly jewish fraternities/sororities, and on and on.
Perhaps people want to be around people that they identify with...but we used to identify ourselves together, so what happened? Ehh I've given this a lot of thought and it has bothered me for sometime, but I don't think I'm saying this right.

I was surprised too. Even being in one of the most diverse schools, I'm still surprised how segregated they are. But again, it's their choice to choose who they would like to affiliate to. It took me a while to embrace my own culture. Now I have friends from different parts of the world and I'm glad that I do. Some people choose to be this way and I learned from my sociology class that it's some sort of "identity crisis", trying to find who you really are and what your root is and how your culture shapes who you are today.

interesting.....

well i was more taken a back by your statement that you don't learn much about asian culture by hanging with asian groups. as someone who was active in several different asian cultural organizations, i know for a fact that we threw food festivals and cultural festivals during the year. we also roadtripped to other schools for cultural conferences in our region. trust, i learn a whole lot during those times.

Well, comparing to a person who has lived in asia for half of my life, things we learned there of course would be more cultural based then what you experience here. But again, because I was brought up there, I see things differently.

I agree with cutie_cat. Just because one only has Chinese friends, listens to Cantopop, speaks Cantonese and drinks bubble tea doesn't mean that one knows much about (traditional) Chinese culture.

of course you would.

much of what is learned at this conferences and festivals is not only "traditional" but also very much fused with what makes asian americans just that....americans.

Bubble tea makes the world go 'round.

Especially mango bubble tea.

As long as the hippie coffee shop doesn't put those gawdawful tapioca bubbles in them. :mad:

For Asians and whites it's usually more of segregation by choice unless they are forced into segregation based on language or economic barriers.

For blacks and Hispanics it's usually forced segregation based on socioeconomic barriers, with some choice for people who aren't relegated to low income housing and schooling.

As far as not learning about Asian culture from fellow Asians, your point is accurate only if the group as a whole is assimilating and are therefore less identifiable, culturally. However in many areas there are pockets of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generationers who still mingle in exclusive ethnic settings, eat ethnic foods all day everyday and still closely identify with the language and culture. Many of these group members interact and identify with American culture for work and school commitments only.

There are quite a few Asian groups so whatever cultural identification means to that group while they are in America is what it means, period. Many of these individuals also participate in traditional celebrations and holidays, as well as do their best to learn history and culture. But every group begins to separate itself from aspects of traditionalism and identifiability to an extent.

So I don't know what the culture-o-meter would be as far as you are concerned but the point remains the same.

Good point. Many Asians and Asian Americans self-select to either fully assimilate into American society or maintain linkages to their ethnic heritage. I'm Filipina on my mom's side and several members of the family still speak Tagalog (and Cebuano), eat traditional Filipino foods, participate in Filipino festivals like Simbang Gabi and incorporate Filipino traditions in our weddings and funeral celebrations. The degree to which an Asian is assimilated into American (or white) society has to do with the individual person; their isn't necessarily a collective Asian ethos to try to assimilate and lose touch with their heritage and culture. It is not surprising to me that many Asians would seek out Asian based organizations esp. if they wish to retain their culture.

Language, religion and culture play a significant role in how people develop relationships and the same holds true for how they pick an organization to join. Yes, there are some African Americans joining Latino frats and sororities but I would argue that is primarily based on regional differences. Blacks and Latinos live and work in close proximity to one another on the East Coast and in Chicago but the same doesn't hold true on the West Coast.

Say, if I grew up in Spanish Harlem and wanted to join a sorority and found things in common with a Latina sorority made up of primarily Puerto Ricans, I would argue that this is more about someone feeling more in common based on familiarity of the culture than BGLOs on the whole making folks feel uncomfortable. Yeah, it's certainly possible that the guy in the article was turned off by an Omega demand to bring beer and chicken but to make it seem like Blacks are headed to Latino/s orgs en masse because these incidents are so common is nonsense. The more likely conclusion to draw is that some Black folks feel comfortable with Latino/as and people have more choice in their selection of a frat or sorority to choose from.

I don't know but I was a bit uncomfortable with the tone of the article...Like the opening example was trying to lay blame from this increase of Blacks joining Latino orgs at the feet of the D9 instead of the individual person.

It was trying to lay blame at our feet. As if the "chicken and brew" comment was necessary.

If people want to join whatever organization that's their business. But when they throw jabs at other organizations or types of organizations to support their choices, I wonder if the organization of choice is really in their heart or if they are just temporarily disgruntled. Will the "chicken and brew" guy want to come back to the frat and try to get down at the grad chapter level, for example?

Yes. :D