White men in NPHC

[Ilaria Ame]

have you considered multicultural organizations? i know that at my school, which is mixed, i was interested in joining a sorority, but i'm not "white" enough for mainstream, "black" enough for divine nine, or "latina" enough for a latin org. then i found Lambda Psi Delta Sorority Incorporated, which is multicultural, and haven't looked back! it's been great and i would highly reccomend checking out what your campus has to offer. or even do your research and found a chapter if there aren't any. that's what we're doing!

[pinkies up]

Just join an organization that you are interested in WORKING YOUR ASS OFF in. You'll be fine.

[NinjaPoodle]

Originally Posted by pinkies up

Just join an organization that you are interested in WORKING YOUR ASS OFF in. You'll be fine.

^^Yeah, what she said.

Originally Posted by Finer Woman10-A-91

Every NPHC organization has caucasian members. I think I know the frat you are talking about. He shot our pictures when our boule was in Cali in 2002. He is a good photographer.

All I saw when he had his table set up, was a photographer with pictures I may have wanted to purchase. We chatted a little bit and I told him I'm a photographer too. He's a hella cool dude. I actually didnt find out he's PBS until the end of the conference, which wouldn't have mattered to me anyway because he was a nice guy who knew what the heck he was talking about regarding the photography.

[Reds6]

Originally Posted by Ilaria Ame

have you considered multicultural organizations? i know that at my school, which is mixed, i was interested in joining a sorority, but i'm not "white" enough for mainstream, "black" enough for divine nine, or "latina" enough for a latin org. then i found Lambda Psi Delta Sorority Incorporated, which is multicultural, and haven't looked back! it's been great and i would highly reccomend checking out what your campus has to offer. or even do your research and found a chapter if there aren't any. that's what we're doing!

What equates to "white, black, and latino enough?" Just curious.

[Ilaria Ame]

Originally Posted by Reds6

What equates to "white, black, and latino enough?" Just curious.

i, of course, meant this personally, not generally. but what i was referring to, especially on my campus, is the seperation that occurs. in order to feel comfortable in a white sorority here i have to be comfortable going to "old south" confederate balls, or having sisters who are openly racist. the divine nine sororities here are so used to being treated with prejudice that unless i was a "home girl" with no white roots whatsoever i'm looked at as just another white girl trying to be black. which is not the case. as far as latina sororities, there aren't any here, so i base this only on what i've heard and read, but i'm not interested in learning to speak spanish or trying to pretend their values are similar to mine, because they aren't. i find i'm most comfortable representing a sorority that openly embraces its sorors' cultural differences.

[Reds6]

Originally Posted by Ilaria Ame

i, of course, meant this personally, not generally. but what i was referring to, especially on my campus, is the seperation that occurs. in order to feel comfortable in a white sorority here i have to be comfortable going to "old south" confederate balls, or having sisters who are openly racist. the divine nine sororities here are so used to being treated with prejudice that unless i was a "home girl" with no white roots whatsoever i'm looked at as just another white girl trying to be black. which is not the case. as far as latina sororities, there aren't any here, so i base this only on what i've heard and read, but i'm not interested in learning to speak spanish or trying to pretend their values are similar to mine, because they aren't. i find i'm most comfortable representing a sorority that openly embraces its sorors' cultural differences.

I'm just a little confused with this statement. Are you saying you were told by D9 Sororities that you wouldn't be accepted because you were multi-racial? I wanted to ask if that was your experience before I called this statement ridiculous. Do you think we have a bias against those of mixed-heritage that most likely would be identified as a person of color? While I wouldn't vote for a white member (my opinion), I just don't see being of mixed-heritage an issue. May I ask how you self-identify? And please know that when they come with the rope for us they coming for your azz too.

[poeticace]

Originally Posted by Reds6

I'm just a little confused with this statement. Are you saying you were told by D9 Sororities that you wouldn't be accepted because you were multi-racial? I wanted to ask if that was your experience before I called this statement ridiculous. Do you think we have a bias against those of mixed-heritage that most likely would be identified as a person of color? While I wouldn't vote for a white member (my opinion), I just don't see being of mixed-heritage an issue. May I ask how you self-identify? And please know that when they come with the rope for us they coming for your azz too.

Not to put words into my Soror's mouth, but I'm going to explain one of her statements from my personal end... I too am mixed (although in appearance, I'm white) - with Czech, Norwegian, English, Black, Cherokee, and Spanish. When I was seeking out orgs, I headed to the multicultural ones simply because a) by appearance ALONE I would not be "black" or "Latina" enough to join D9 or Latina orgs b) I wasn't considered "white" enough (in actions) to be a part of a historically white org. I was never rejected or any such sort from any other org, so I don't think she's saying that the D9 organizations reject people who are mixed, I think she's saying she didn't feel comfortable enough to be in an org who is historically black. That does not mean that they wouldn't have accepted her, it's just a personal decision...

Soror, please correct me if I'm wrong, this is just my interpretation of what you were trying to say

[RedefinedDiva]

Originally Posted by poeticace

When I was seeking out orgs, I headed to the multicultural ones simply because a) by appearance ALONE I would not be "black" or "Latina" enough to join D9 or Latina orgs

What the hell is "Black" enough? Do you think we all come in one shade? Are we supposed to have a color quota when it comes down to "Blackness"?

It's ridiculous statements like that which makes ME happy that people who have twisted thoughts like that didn't bother to seek membership into my sorority. While I can ONLY speak for Alpha Kappa Alpha (though I'm sure my sistergreeks would agree), we accept young women from ALL shades of the rainbow. We have Sorors that have deep chocolate skin all the way to the palest white. In fact, one of my very good Sorors is white. We have Sorors from all nationalities, cultures, and backgrounds.

For people to use the scapegoat that they were not "____________" enough to join a particular sorority just goes to show that you were never really interested, nor did you do any research. Membership in an NPHC sorority doesn't automatically grant you force you into an NAACP membership, nor would you have to stage a sit-in at the local lunch counter.

I wonder what year this is sometimes....

[Reds6]

Originally Posted by poeticace

Not to put words into my Soror's mouth, but I'm going to explain one of her statements from my personal end... I too am mixed (although in appearance, I'm white) - with Czech, Norwegian, English, Black, Cherokee, and Spanish. When I was seeking out orgs, I headed to the multicultural ones simply because a) by appearance ALONE I would not be "black" or "Latina" enough to join D9 or Latina orgs b) I wasn't considered "white" enough (in actions) to be a part of a historically white org. I was never rejected or any such sort from any other org, so I don't think she's saying that the D9 organizations reject people who are mixed, I think she's saying she didn't feel comfortable enough to be in an org who is historically black. That does not mean that they wouldn't have accepted her, it's just a personal decision...

Soror, please correct me if I'm wrong, this is just my interpretation of what you were trying to say

Ok you and your Soror sound mis-informed. Do you realize how many of us can go down our family line and say we have this and that in regards to different heritages in our blood line. When I hear someone say they aren't this or that enough I think they aren't comfortable with themselves and who they are.
Oh BTW, they coming for your azz too.

[Little32]

Also, from what I have read, Ethel Hedgeman had some Native American ancestry.

The assertion that one has to meet some sort of "blackness" standard to pursue our organization is ridiculous. I agree that such a claim just demonstrates a lack of serious research.

[FAMUDva]

Originally Posted by Reds6

Oh BTW, they coming for your azz too.

HILARIOUS!

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by Reds6

Do you realize how many of us can go down our family line and say we have this and that in regards to different heritages in our blood line. When I hear someone say they aren't this or that enough I think they aren't comfortable with themselves and who they are.

Exactly. We are an extremely diverse people. Different life experiences, viewpoints, shades of lightness and darkness, hair textures, body compositions, etc.

Hell some of the most celebrated figures who were "100% black" in some regards, like Du Bois and Booker T Washington, were less than "50% black."

[JustThinking]

Originally Posted by Reds6

I'm just a little confused with this statement. Are you saying you were told by D9 Sororities that you wouldn't be accepted because you were multi-racial? I wanted to ask if that was your experience before I called this statement ridiculous. Do you think we have a bias against those of mixed-heritage that most likely would be identified as a person of color? While I wouldn't vote for a white member (my opinion), I just don't see being of mixed-heritage an issue. May I ask how you self-identify? And please know that when they come with the rope for us they coming for your azz too.

I have trust issues, too.

[FAMUDva]

Originally Posted by Ilaria Ame

i, of course, meant this personally, not generally. but what i was referring to, especially on my campus, is the seperation that occurs. in order to feel comfortable in a white sorority here i have to be comfortable going to "old south" confederate balls, or having sisters who are openly racist. the divine nine sororities here are so used to being treated with prejudice that unless i was a "home girl" with no white roots whatsoever i'm looked at as just another white girl trying to be black. which is not the case. as far as latina sororities, there aren't any here, so i base this only on what i've heard and read, but i'm not interested in learning to speak spanish or trying to pretend their values are similar to mine, because they aren't. i find i'm most comfortable representing a sorority that openly embraces its sorors' cultural differences.

D9 Sororities are much bigger than a particular chapter or campus... So, I still don't get how you can't be "black" enough, but to each her own.

ETA: And with proper research you would have come to understand and know that the 4 D9 sororities DO have mutlicultural histories although they are historically black. I guess you made generalizations based on what you saw in the bubble of your campus.

[Reds6]

Originally Posted by FAMUDva

D9 Sororities are much bigger than a particular chapter or campus... So, I still don't get how you can't be "black" enough, but to each her own.

ETA: And with proper research you would have come to understand and know that the 4 D9 sororities DO have mutlicultural histories although they are historically black. I guess you made generalizations based on what you saw in the bubble of your campus.

I think she made a generalization on what she was taught at home.