I see that several NPHC members have brought up the fact that the predominately White Greek letter organizations had a past filled with racial discrimination. Most can't fathom why an African-American would want to join an organization that wouldn't have given them the time of day 90 years ago. Likewise, I have wondered why a dark-skinned African American would want to join a BGLO that once used the paper bag test. Hell, 90 years ago, the BGLOs wouldn't have wanted them either. Especially if they were the descendent of share croppers, like me. I think the discrimination enacted by the BGLOs is worse than the discrimination enacted by PWGLOS, but that's just my opinion.
I do realize that things have changed drastically since 1906 and 1908. Such things do not happen anymore (I hope) and somehow, people are able to either overlook this ugly part of their organization's history, or it was never an issue for them in the first place. My question is this, if African Americans realize that things are changing within their own organizations (with respect to skin color and social status), why is it so difficult to realize that things are changing in the predominately White organizations as well (with respect to racial diversity)?
[This message has been edited by MIDWESTDIVA (edited May 05, 2001).]
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