Sprite Step-Off Update: ZTA and AKA to share 1st place

[KAPital PHINUst]

Originally Posted by ladygreek

Personally I always wanted desegregation, because I love being Black and all that entails--good and bad. Others wanted integration. Thus the contention.

Put another way, for some, being black is WHO they are (their blackness defines their personality and character). For others, being black is WHAT they are (it is a physical characteristic that in some respects they can culturally identify themselves with and can connect with, but their overall personality and character encompasses more than just that). I fall in the latter category. I think both has their place in society, and I don't find either inherently better than the other.

Example of the latter: I knew of a brotha who while in college, always strove to achieve and receive what the upper class whites always have: power and prestige. Instead of pledging an NPHC org, he pledged TKE (a fraternity with a lot of very prestigious alumni, including former president Ronald Reagan). He went to an Ivy League college (don't remember which one), networked heavily with the big dogs, and is now working at Goldman Sachs making a hefty salary. But he is also very involved in the Black community, contributing to the UNCF annually (ironic, isn't it?), tutors inner-city kids in his spare time, and helped organize a black health fair, among other things. But yes, being black in America does not entail a mutually exclusive lifestyle. That's all I'm saying.