Do BGLO's = equality???

[AXO Alum]

Originally posted by ZetaAce:
Well, that's your opinion. Since I am an adult, I can agree to disagree.

At exactly what point did this thread become 'a mess'? I have not attacked L-Dawg in any way, and I don't recall him/her attacking me. I have simply stated my opinion. If you want to see a thread that has become 'a mess' then you should check out the 'Curious' thread.

ZetaAce

ZetaAce - Once again I must commend you on your exemplary efforts at replying and posting with grace and style. Your posts are very educational & informational, and although we may not always agree on certain topics, you always make me proud to be a member of the greek system! Just wanted to say thanks!

[This message has been edited by AXO Alum (edited June 27, 2000).]

[prettygyrl]

ohhhhhhh lawd! Ldawg sweetie have you ever stopped to think for a moment that it was white people who more than likely coined the actual term BGLO and it was coined so that one would not get them BGLOS mixed up with the GLOs. Today it is not used as a racist title it is still used to distinguish between the two. They are both under different councils hence the NPC and the NPHC all this seperation came about at the hands of the White people that did not want to affiliate with the Blacks. You might as well refer to the GLOS as WGLOS because that is what they are. Whether it is said or not. There are a difference between the two that is obvious. GLOS are never really addressed as WGLOs because white people never feel like they need to be the ones to actually put the name of their race in front of their orgs because they run almost everything. Its the same with our HBCUS. They made a big deal about those so they had to add that "historically" part to the phrase now. Still the schools are mostly Black. Michigan state or Yale University need not call themselves HWCUS because that is evident and always have been. So for you to now say that BGLOS should not think of themselves as so is petty ans selfish. It is not much in this world that my people do and are allowed to tkae the credit for. So we take pride in anything that is/was Black ran and owned. So there is no way we should take our name off of it whether it be the greek orgs. or the colleges. If it bothers a white person that they are callec BGLOS then I would advise them not to join. If it bothers a Black person that glos ar mostly white then I advise them not to join.

[ZetaAce]

AXO Alum- Thank you for your kind words.

ZetaAce

[prettygyrl]

Oh yeah Please do not refer to me or my people as minorities! Okay. Thanks

L-Dawg...I completely understand your perspective. I think that minority issues are only perpetuated when minorities segregate themselves....even with something has "harmless" aa the "unofficial" org name, BGLO.

I guess you could call me a minority ...because I am a woman. Allow me to explain. When I was in college, I was only one of a few women working on a B.S. in Chemistry. There were several scholarships that the Chemistry department awarded to students...one of which was awarded to an "Outstanding Female" in the department. Several of my professors told me that I should apply for the scholarship. I refused. I didn't want to win a scholarship just because I was an outstanding "female" student. I wanted to win a scholarship because I was an outstanding student PERIOD! I did not want to participate in something that I think further separates women from men.....something that pushes us further away from equality. Women complain about the glass ceiling that exists in the business world. True, women are not paid the same as men for doing the same job.....but I believe that scenario continues to exist because woman (as well as other so called minorities) continue to involve themselves in or support issues, events, organizations and such that cast us in a minority-type role.

Does that make sense to anyone else?

[DELTABRAT]

Butterfly,

I can see where you are coming from. As women, we are a minority. That's all I will say because I could goon and on about other issues regarding this one but I don't want to. I will simply say that your point is taken.

[Shelacious]

I didn't see anyone attacking anyone in this forum. To the contrary, I thought ZetaAce handled her responses very well. In just reviewing L-Dawg's initial question again, I realize that he/she used a lot of "hot-button" terms and phrases that could have sent this conversation spiraling quickly downward, instead of the intelligent debate it became.

For the record, I don't recall any member of the NPHC using the phase BGLO when decsribing the nine-member organizations that make-up the NPHC. When I tell people I belong to a Sorority, I state the name of the Sorority, not state that I belong to a "BGLO". I care not what phase to use to describe these organizations, so if anyone feels the term is divisive, then I encourge you not to use it, and encourage others in your realm to refrain as well. I have no issue one way or the other, because I care more what it is you're NOT saying that what you say. When I use "GLO" for example, folks might as well add the my silent "W", because that is essentially my meaning. Frankly, I think we need to get past being hung-up on what people CALL things and focus more on what people THINK, for there lies the dilema when finding solutions for race relations.

And finally, as an American of African descent, I have "hatred" for no one except those who have personally incurred my "hatred" (if even them). Therefore, belonging to an organization that is composed primarily of other people of color engenders no more "racial division" for me than being around members of my family would.

And by the way, the nine members of the NPHC as a whole have NEVER had discrimination policies against people of any ethnicity to prevent them from joining our organizations, so I would daresay that almost from the beginning, "BGLO" would be an inaccurate term anyway.

[ZetaAce]

Thank you Soror Shelacious. The hot button for me was the first sentence of L-Dawg's post. "I am constantly bewildered as to the purpose of the BGLO. "

ZetaAce

Alright. Why is is that in this country people are afraid to recognize people' s racial differences?. To this day I don' t understand. Racial differences are not something that you should try to eradicate because of all the history of discrimination and prejudice. On the contrarty, America has to learn to embrace and cherish people' s races. The B in BGLO should not bother you, just as the W in WLGO. You have try to call a cat a cat ( I am not trying to be smart Zeta Ace) No but seriously. Are you saying that because you are bothered by the term Black or White, everybody should act as if the color did not exist?. Not only it matters but you have to understand that it is one of the things tha make this nation great. Despite the horrors and discrimination the US is still a great nation rich in DIVERSITY.
Let me take an example based on sex. Are you saying that no want should see that you are a man or a woman, or even call you a man or a woman just because there has been so much discrimination against women in the work place in the past. So what are you then?

[Shelacious]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by butterrfly:
[B]L-Dawg...I completely understand your perspective. I think that minority issues are only perpetuated when minorities segregate themselves....even with something has "harmless" aa the "unofficial" org name, BGLO.

It makes sense to me Butterrfly. I would only make mention, however, that to imply that only "minorities" segregate themselves would be an oversimplification. It is in the nature of humans to find ways to seperate ourselves from each other into still smaller groups. Otherwise, we'd all, regardless of race, gender, class or moral values be in one, big happy fraternity. A fraternal organization of middle-class, white men who share similar backgrounds and values will (and has, time and time again) still decide to form a new fraternity, based on differences or "segregation" within that group. People segregate...that's why there are so many different types of orgazations in the world that are essentially the same.

So let's not imply that we only segregate along racial lines, because that is far from the truth...we seem to try and segregate along ANY darned line we can find.

[ZetaAce]

Originally posted by Geez:
You have try to call a cat a cat ( I am not trying to be smart Zeta Ace)

LOL, ok!

*meow*
ZetaAce

[This message has been edited by ZetaAce (edited June 27, 2000).]

Ive encountered this kind of questioning in regards to BET. A white man commented that if there was such a thing as a WET the NAACP would go crazy. But, as some pointed out on these boards, since in this country white is seen as the norm, and everything else is seen as the other, theres no need to call a station WET.We call it ABC or CBS or NBC instead (hence the recent brown outs and black outs). Just like in literature. If a character's race isnt identified its assumed the characters white.

i have no problem with calling BGLOs by that name just as I have no problem in being called a black woman. With the former we're recognizing that different systems exist outside of predominately white GLOs with their own traditions and cultures and standards.

[AXO Alum]

Originally posted by Lady in red:
theres no need to call a station WET

But this would be a great name for a porn network

ZetaAce - back me up with this humor aspect !

[Rhoyal Blue_22]

Wow! This is a hot one, so i'll keep my comment brief. I would just like to say that the unofficial "B" in BGLO is a minor thing. If you want to join an organization that is a BGLO or a WGLO, you will join regardless of the "racial or ethnic" implimication. So in short, I would just like to say "what's up" to my 2 Chinese sorors and my white soror from Syracuse.
E-YyyyyyyyyIIIIPPPPPPPP sorors who did not let the "B" in BGLO discourage or deter you from joining

Just wanted to contribute my 2 cents with a short story about my learning about the greek system. I really didn't know too much about the greek system before entering college. While doing my research about all the different groups I was told by both white and black students that certain groups were BLGOs, black greek letter organizations. I was told that they (BGLOs) did not discriminate, but I only saw black members in these groups. BGLOs did not seem to be culturally/racially diverse at all, while the GLOs were much more diverse. It appeared as though only black people were welcomed as members of "black" greek letter organizations. So, being white, I decided not to even consider these groups and many of my friends did the same. Not because of me having a problem with black people (I do not) but because it really seemed as though these BGLOs were black-only and most people's understanding was that these groups did not welcome other races, especially whites. Many of my friends were/are of different cultural/racial backgrounds and I wanted to be able to share the greek experience with them, and they felt the same way (we were a tight group of friends even before greek life came into the picture). Because of the acceptance towards diversity, GLOs were the only way to go. One of our black friends decided not to pursue going greek because of the great amount of pressure from his family and from the other blacks on campus, they were all against him rushing a GLO which they called a WGLO, even though it was more culturally diverse than the BGLOs. He didn't want to be separated from his real friends by joining a BLGO, he wanted to make his family happy, and at the same time he didn't want to alienate himself from many of the beautiful black girls on campus (who made it clear that they had a problem with him joining a GLO), so, he never joined a fraternity. His family got over him not joining a BGLO since he didn't join a GLO either. Not all of us joined GLOs, and those that did didn't all join the same one. But we did remain a tight group of friends. And all those BGLO members who wanted our friend to join a BLGO instead of a GLO do not even keep in contact with him since graduation. We do. It's funny how we all learned who our real friends are.