In my travels in Greekdom, I often find that members of non-NPHC organizations are surprised at how the NPHC groups can be so different than others. I have been thinking about putting together this post for a while to explain (in a non-condescending fashion) how some of these differences came to be.
Hopefully this will shed some light and add some value to the experiences of all the members of this forum. If I make any errors here, please charge them to my head and not to my heart!
The first thing that must be realized is that Black Greekdom is an integral part of Black society. For better or worse, if someone is an "Alpha Man" or a "Delta Girl" or whatever, this immediately conjures up a set of images in one's mind. From the time many Black people are able to read, they are exposed to these images. It is extremely common to hear comments like,
"The new Pastor at the Church is a Kappa," or
"The principal at my son's school is a Sigma Gamma Rho." These organizations are woven deeply into the fabric of many Black Communities and their collective existence is an accepted fact of life.
Much of this comes from the fact that there are only Nine "Major" Black Fraternities and Sororities.
(And until 1996, only 8 were considered "Major." Iota Phi Theta is sort of an "x-factor" ... and the subject of a whole different post! That post can be found here:
Question for BGLO members
With such a small number of groups, the different organizations were easily categorized and (oftimes unfairly and inaccurately) labeled. It became (and remains) very common to hear people say,
"All Alphas are Bookworms," or
"All Omegas are wild and crazy." Like any stereotypes, these tend to be very broad characterizations and usually miss the mark. Be that as it may, this typecasting serves to help one mentally categorize the organizations.
To get a deeper understanding of how and why these groups became such a part of the Black experience, one has to take a look at the history of Black America.
Slavery was officially outlawed in the United States in 1865. While there had been many free Blacks in this country prior to then, this was when Blacks in this country became (ostensibly) free of bondage. In the following Reconstruction period, Blacks in America began to seek education in greater numbers and to also address remaining injustices. It is no coincidence that the first 8 major NPHC groups were founded in early 1900's. This was a time when African Americans were beginning to attend college in larger numbers and once there, they began to seek places of academic / social refuge and support.
Now ... think for a minute. The Blacks who were attending college were the "Best and the Brightest." People like W.E.B. DuBois, Mary McLeod Bethune and a host of others. These were the people who were leading the charge of Black education and thought leadership in America. And in many cases, these people were members of Black Greek organizations.
As these people were leading the charge, the (Black Greek) organizations they created became both vehicles and supporters of this charge. Indeed, the people that many Blacks listened to, looked up to, and emulated were members of these groups. Furthermore, these groups had a deep philanthropic bent. From the "Go to high-school, go to college" movement to the Mobile Book projects
(where actual libraries on small trucks were driven from town to town), these Black Greek Groups were being heard, seen and felt in Black Communities.
In all fairness, there is another reason that surfaced in those times. From their very inception, more than a few members of these groups tended to be members of
"Black High Society" (and make no mistake, there has ALWAYS been a Black High Society in America. Our people could write books on Social Climbing!) If one had aspirations to be a part of this society, joining one of these groups could be seen as a "ticket" into that world ... assuming one could pass the muster of entry.
Lets fast-forward a bit ... into and through the Harlem Renaissance ... the War Years and beyond. As Blacks in America continued to make strides, there was a constant: Many of the thought-leaders were members of each of these Groups. People like James Weldon Johnson, Duke Ellington, Zora Neale Hurston and many, many more were members of Black Greek organizations. And as they moved and shook, they proudly proclaimed their membership in these organizations.
One last point to be made is this: Black Greek organizations have always allowed and encouraged joining their organization at the Alumni level as well as the undergraduate level. This was because the "community building" work that was needed was best done by people who had experience and resources ... political, financial, and otherwise.
Obviously, college students may have had the zeal but they didn't have the means. Alumni chapters provided this. If a Black Greek organization were to sponsor a national convention in a city and it was to serve as a forum for furthering the Black Political/Social Agenda of the day, that agenda was best articulated by members of the organization who had money and clout (e.g. Adam Clayton Powell or Rev. Samuel Proctor).
What developed out of this was a system by which members joined at the undergraduate level and participated in "student oriented" pursuits. Upon graduation, they moved into "Graduate" chapters and began contributing to more far-reaching efforts of the organizations. This transition also served to foster the notion that one is a "Member for Life" because the reason for existence of these groups is one that transcends the college experience.
The upshot of all of this is that Black Greek-Lettered organizations are an integral part of African-American culture and society. In many ways, they form a base for political, social, and economic mobilization in the Black community. This does not make them any better than any other kind of fraternity or sorority - it just makes them much more central to the experience of their total community.
AND ... if you've made it this far in the post, I'm sure you have some questions and/or comments. I look forward to reading them!
But why are the NPHC groups so ... different???
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