the right to choose

[Shelacious]

I guess I'll just say that all you can do is find an organization you like, one you feel best suites your short and long-term goals and go for it. If you like the principles, the ideals, the women of the sorority, then the onus is on you to apply for membership. I didn't join Zeta Phi Beta because it was a "black sorority" nor because I felt that I would be accepted by Zeta (or AKA, DST, SGRho) and not by Phi Sigma Sigma (or Alpha Phi or AGD-- the NPC groups on my campus)--I could have been "rejected" by any or none of those groups. I joined Zeta because it was the very best sorority for me in keeping with why I was looking to join a sorority. The same could be said about NPC groups. If you find something you like about XYZ, then do those things necessary to join, and forget about whether you will be accepted as a black person--if you are not accepted and it seems to be because of racial background, make your decision at that point if it really is the organization for you, and that will determine whether you try again, or maybe try something else.

BTW, I am just not one of the those folks who looks at prospects "regardless of race." The Latina and Asian women who've applied for membership under my watch were fully aware that I took their ethnicity into consideration before offering them membership. Being a member of an ethnic group in America usually colors the way you look at "everything", and to ignore that fact is to minimize the legitimate differences that will arise, even if all the folks involved are members of "minority" groups. I respect their ethnicity enough to understand that if they became members, the chapter would need to be sensitive to their belief systems and cultural differences, as well as they be sensitive to ours.