In the spirit of discussing this
maturely (as was suggested), here's some perspective from a white female member/alumna of a co-ed fraternity (PFA conference) that had a variety of ethnic groups in her undergrad chapter:
As was previously stated: BGLOs originated because it wasn't like African Americans could just go out and join any GLO they were interested in. Creating equality has been a long journey (and I'm not going to be naive enough to say that everyone is 100% equal in this country, either, although that's what we're striving for). Here are some reasons that "we" shouldn't eliminate BGLO's (or Latino/a, Hispanic, Asian, etc.):
- There's some important history in the founding of BGLOs. It was a big deal for blacks to attend college (albeit at black-only schools), much less start organizations that have grown to such proportions.
- Some people are very interested in the betterment of specific groups, whether it's African Americans, women, Asian Americans, etc. These specific groups allow individuals to be in an evironment that supports that particular endeavor.
- Comfort. People naturally feel at ease with what is familiar to them. My campus was about 94% white my freshman year. There were many black students who had come from predominately black areas of the country. It seems natural to me that they would seek out organizations that they can be comfortable & feel at home in. (Just an example)
- While I believe all people are equal, there are different shared experiences between any group. It can be race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. It kind of goes with what I said in the previous reason, but people want to have something in common with their future brothers/sisters.
Also, look at it this way: I belong to a fine arts fraternity. We were founded in 1912 as a women's fraternity. Now, by 1912 there were already some women's fraternities/sororities that included various fine arts in their purpose (specifically music). So why go to the trouble of creating a whole
new organization? Why not just affiliate with one already established? We were founded to unite music and speech. We quickly altered that to incorporate
all of the creative and performing arts. The point being: our Founders saw a
need & took the opportunity to do something groundbreaking. I respect all of those organizations that came before us, as well as those that have come after. What it really comes down to is that we all have to find that organization that "feels like home" to us. And for those that don't find it, they either don't affiliate with a GLO or they start a new one.
Just some thoughts
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SilverTurtle
Phi Beta Fraternity: National Professional Association for the Creative & Performing Arts
[This message has been edited by SilverTurtle (edited June 29, 2001).]