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Originally posted by MIDWESTDIVA:
3. I'm not holding BGLOs solely responsible for paper bag testing. I realize that universities, churches, etc were also involved. But this thread isn't about universities and churches. It's about greek letter organizations. IMO, to say "all the other Black organizations were discriminating too" is an excuse. If everyone else jumped off a bridge, I don't think your orgs. founders would have followed suit.
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Midwestdiva,
Can you tell me a little bit about your research that says BGLOs as an entity discriminated on the basis of skin color or did the paper bag test back in the day? I am really looking for a little more than antidotal evidence, if you can. The reason I ask is because I am a graduate of Spelman College and as a HS student when I would tell (some) people that I wanted to go to Spelman they would say I wasn't light enough or that I didn't have long hair and that Spelman was founded for the illegitmate daughters of wealthy white men
When I got to Spelman I found out that that couldn't be farther from the truth. According to pictures in the campus archives, the first class at Spelman had several women with very pronounced African features and hair and some other women on the more medium brown scale. As a whole, the group did not fit that mold.
Don't get me wrong, I know that there were (still are for that matter!) organizations/entities that used this test, if only by visual inspection. I remember going to Savannah on a Girl Scout trip and visiting a church that had a piece of wood nailed to a pedestal in the vestibule. According to the tour guide, if you were darker than the piece of wood, then you could not come in!!
BTW...I agree with you that it is unreasonable to always hold institutions responsible for something that was national policy until about 50 years ago. If we did this consistently there are a whole lotta places that we (as Black folks) would not be living, working or shopping!! And I bet you, that very few people would be willing to give up their jobs, nice suburban homes and weekly visits to the mall on "they useta not let us in here!"