Quote:
Originally posted by BookishBabe
Trust me when I say that it had everything to do with glamorizing slavery and life in the pre-Civil War South in my neck of the woods. It's sad, really: I'm sure there are some wonderful KAs out there (including your husband), but whenever I meet a KA these days I always view him kind of warily until I get to know him better. I know it's not fair, and I know it's prejudicial, but I'm working to get over it.
|
Quote:
Originally posted by Munchkin03
Because KA is known on A LOT OF campuses (not all!) for their Old South stance. To a lot of people, glamourising the Old South means glamourising slavery and white supremacy. Counting Robert E. Lee as its spiritual founder...
Because almost everyone on this board has a story about seeing KA members wearing very proudly their letters with Confederate Flags. I have never seen a KA shirt without a Confederate Flag on it.
Because KA has been kicked off of at least 5 campuses I know of for doing things which have antagonized members of the minority and enlightened white community.
It's kinda like this...if a fraternity and a math club were both accused of doing the exact same kind of hazing, who would get the most attention from it? You make your own PR. And, for better and for worse, KA has made its own. That said, I have never met a member of KA who has not proven himself a gentleman. I have nothing but good things to say about the individuals I HAVE MET. Zeta Psi is a much less known fraternity, which if I'm not mistaken, is primarily in the North. It was at my school until the membership decided it wanted to go co-ed.
|
Let me be completely honest. I go to Washington and Lee, the burial place and namesake of Robert E. Lee. And the home of the Alpha chapter of KA. And that chapter has some major, major, major, major, major issues. I don't want to cause any trouble, but I will say that those issues involve things such as hazing, risk management, and a general perception (by other Greeks and the rest of the campus) as very southern and oh-so-imperceptibly-racist. Just as one example, about 4 years ago the chapter was caught using cattle prods on their new members. YES. And they were brought back on campus after a year, maybe two years. As another, a brother who writes a weekly column for the paper wrote that unfortunate as it is his chapter would not consider minority members (!!!). That was about 2-3 weeks ago. KA has a LOT of power and influence here at Washington and Lee and I would think that carries across our region of Virginia (UVA is about an hour and 15 minutes away). I have a very good guess that KA chapters may be similar across Virginia. I sincerely hope that this is not the case across the United States. There are some great aspects of KA here, too. I'm sure I'll get flamed for this but I'm just trying to provide a realistic picture of how I see things here in Virginia...
Edited to add: That said, I by no means am accusing ALL Virginia KA chapters of this behavior, not even the UVA chapter. They obviously need to rethink at least a few of the members' ideas of inclusivity and decorum...