I, too, understand what scott was trying to say as it related to the campus queens issue. The reason I chose not to address that was because the topic I was trying to stick to was that of "branding". I think it is ridiculous that any campus chooses 2 campus queens on the basis of race, but I did not like how he related his issues with that with my justification for establishing a black greek council at my school-- it made no sense to correlate two topics that have nothing to do with one another. I get frustrated when people try to bring race into every issue in which blacks are involved. Just because a BGLO breaks away from a predominately white governing body, doesn't mean it did so because it was black-- that was the point I was trying to drive home to scott.
I agree that many white fraternities and sororities are committed to community service through philanthropy and "hands on" service. In fact, my chapter of Delta Sigma Theta has worked with numerous white sororities on many, many service projects geared towards people of all ethnic and economic backgrounds. I also know of many white sororities and fraternities that mandate dry rushes and parties, just as we do. So, I was not accusing all white frats and sororities of being alcohol focused. However, of the fraternities and sororities at MY alma mater, only a small few choose not to have a dry rush, and IFC and PanHell were/are well aware of the presence of alcohol at their activities. Those of us who have taken leadership roles in an organization know that there are many, many ways to manipulate the system and use money illegally. I cannot prove that university money was used to purchase alcohol, I just know that it was. Personally, I have no problems with that-- I just wanted money for what our BGLOs wanted to do. The fact still remained that, because we did not have the same kind of rush as the white organizations did, and because we had incredibly small memberships, we were never able to get our hands on any of the money in the IFC and PanHell budgets.
The issue that scott brought up was in no ways related to my reasoning for establishing a BGLO. If anything, I felt that he used my situation to support his stand against having 2 queens at his school. He has a valid argument againt that, but not against me for justifying my move from IFC and PanHell by arguing that BGLOs are different. Personally, I think that it is stupid to have ONE college/homecoming queen. It's just another silly popularity contest-- I thought we were past that stage when we left high school. But, that is my personal opinion with which I don't expect anyone else to agree.
To answer your question "Do you want to be treated differently because you are African American?" my answer is "No!" However, I DO want my race to be acknowledged, respected and valued just like that of a white or woman. Treating me the same should not mean that you look past my skin color, and in many ways that's what equality has come to mean. I don't want any advantages or disadvantages, mistreatment or special-treatment-- I just want to be appreciated for being black! Nowadays people expect that, because we've faught for equality and times have changed, blacks should be content to have the same things in life that whites have. But, the painful reality is that blacks are STILL fighting for equality. Just because things aren't like they were a few decades ago, doesn't mean we've arrived as a people. I still get followed around when I walk into department stores because people think I'm going to steal something. I still get pulled over when I'm driving through a white, upper middle class neighborhood. Just a few days ago, my boyfriend was grabbed by a cop because he "resembled someone" the cop was looking for (later we disovered that the guy the cop was looking for was much lighter, thinner and about a foot taller than my boyfriend is). My skin color has been the cause of a great deal of unfair treatment, and probably will be for a LONG time-- that is, until people learn to value me and all of the characteristics that come with me. People say they treat blacks the same, but they don't, and I doubt they ever will. Again, I am not looking for any ill-treatment or special treatment, only fair treatment. I want to be treated fairly, but I want you to respect, appreciate and value my uniquenesses and differences in the process.
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Pi Kappa
#3 SPR97
QUINTESSENCE
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