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Originally Posted by sdbeta1
So are there any more thoughts out there on hazing laws applying to the NFL or not? We've established that college students, and NFL players are both adults. So why is the NFL's hazing publicized while greek hazing is scorned?
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Interesting discussion but the point is being missed as sdbeta1 has pointed out.
Guys pledging a fraternity don't sign $50 million dollar contracts and make big money to provide entertainment for the general public- entertainment that brings millions of dollars of income to the owners of NFL teams, many of which are affiliated with media organizations.
For that matter, if you read a lot of recent books on hazing- or keep track of student publications- you will find that hazing in African American fraternities is often somewhat excused as part of the "black experience" while hazing in traditionally white old money fraternities is considered some evil thing (check out "Wrongs of Passage" as a good example.) This is not to say all African American fraternities universally seek to live under a double standard. They don't (in fact I have never had a member of a predominantly African-American fraternity tell me he thought brutal hazing was part of some uniquely African American experience- it is academia and the media that spread this tale.) But the media certainly handles hazing incidents in fraternities differently based on race.
Fraternity men care about our brothers and our pledges. We do. Sometimes lines are crossed and sometimes bad things happen. And we are not happy about this. In fact, I think it is safe to say that the worst hazing incidents in most chapters are instigated by a very few brothers. The greater sin is when the sensible majority fails to stop these events from happening.
But we are also keenly aware that hazing as it is portrayed in the media is largely politically influenced by organizations who resent and hate men who just happen to have been born white and middle to upper class.
Hazing is a natural human instinct. It happens everywhere you go- from kindergarten to the retirement home. Anytime you enter a new environment, there are certain "tests" you have to pass to be one of the crew.
This does not mean we should excuse the extreme form it often takes in college.
But I also do not excuse the way in which hazing accusations are portrayed in the media following an all too familiar pattern of a certain political line of thought- with a healty dose of concession to hazing that occurs in social avenues that generate significant income from the general public!
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