|
"The reason I made my comment (and I think Killarney made hers, although I won't speak for her on this), is because I feel that the whole Twilley incident was blown so far out of proportion. In talking to some people who have met Twilley, it became apparent that she quite possibly had an "agenda" to rushing - that she wanted to make some kind of statement as to how AA's are "treated" during NPC Rush at a Southern school. Through all of this, she made quite a name for herself" -- dzrose
Just like it is possible she had an "agenda," it is also possible that people assumed she had alterior motives because she told her story and because she was being used as an example in the movement to desegregate the Greek system at Alabama. The "name" she made for herself could have just been all in their heads. Besides, if she WAS trying to prove a point, instead of rejecting her because of it, wouldn't that be the perfect opportunity to judge her solely on her qualities to see if she was the right material and prove everybody wrong if she was? Why would you teach her a lesson by helping her prove her point?
"in every article I've read, that Cherokee has been mentioned -- presumably to suggest that because she has a nice car, she should have been automatically granted entrance to an NPC sorority. The truth is, it doesn't matter what kind of car you drive, what part of the city you live in, or what your daddy does when you go through Rush. It's how the girls themselves perceive you and if they feel you would be a good "fit" in their organization." -- dzrose
That's not true for all of them. It depends on the fraternity/sorority and what school you go to. Ideally, it's supposed to be the way you described, but it hasn't been achieved yet. If that's the way it was at your school, I'm glad. But at many large southern universities that's not the way it is, and it's not just in the south either. People of particular social status get preferential treatment all the time, in frats/sororities and in many other places as well. I don't think it was irrelevant to the article, it was just meant to create a picture of Twilley's background.
"To me, the author of the article, in mentioning all the material things that Twilley possesses, was trying to allege that the only reason she wasn't offered a bid was because of her race. The fact that so often gets overlooked is that there are MANY Caucasian girls who weren't offered bids either - and many of them also had nice cars and other material things. However, their stories and the make/model of their cars were never published in any newspaper or magazine." -- dzrose
You have a point, but to investigate potential racism you have to start somewhere. The question is, if you're not convinced in this situation, what would it take to prove to you that she was excluded because of race?
It's great that you're social status didn't affect your situation, but that's not true for everyone, especially when you're Black.
No, everything is not racism, but everything is not "not racism" either. With the track records of schools like Alabama, I'm sure you can understand why African-Americans keep eyes open for these situations.
|