To everyone-
For those who think some of the responses have been harsh or strong, try and put yourselves in the poster’s shoes for a minute. As another poster pointed out members of BGLO's get just as tired of being asked to justify their existence as members of GLO's do. The original question was laced with incorrect assumptions as its basis and any one who has taken any kind of logic or other math course knows- garbage in, garbage out- if the premise is flawed you cannot get a valid result.
-BGLO's do not discriminate on the basis of race and were born out of the fact that other GLO's in existence at the time did.
-Anyone can join a BGLO regardless of race.
-To choose to be in a BGLO is not a segregationist act.
For any member of a BGLO, the choice to join was the same as it was for members of other GLO's- where will I feel comfortable (that is a personal choice and it differs for everyone, that is why there are so many GLO's to begin with) how to my beliefs align with those of the organization, how do my personal principles and sense of honor align with the organization? The answer may be Delta Sigma Theta or Delta Delta Delta; it may be Alpha Kappa Alpha or Alpha Phi. That is a question only that individual can answer.
Because those questions are the same no matter the org., I am not really sure of the need to ask this particular question (over and over).
Also as an African American female it can be exhausting to always be called upon to answer for your race and your orgs and explain every action that is not readily understood by others. Why did I join a BGLO? Because I wanted to. Why did I eat lunch as an underbred with all African American students? Because I wanted to. I did not pick my friends because of their race/ethnicity. I picked them because of who they were, part of that is their race/ethnicity. However, I have friends of all ethnicities. Just because you look over and see all Black kids together does not have to mean any more than my looking over and seeing all White kids together. You do not want me to assume you are prejudice any more than I want you to. Nor do I understand why it is often looked at as the African American students’ responsibility to integrate the other organizations. You could have just as easily come over here as I could have gone over there. I am no more responsible for that than you are.
So intentional or not, this is what the original question conveyed to me through its content and tone. Yes I want equality and that has nothing to do with whether or not I party with your GLO. It is about whether or not I am denied opportunities, education and freedom of movement and association. That does not require that I always surround myself in a multicultural atmosphere at all. We are all free to associate however we choose. I don’t oppose the KKK's right to associate; I oppose their attempts to deny me opportunity and liberty.
I hope this helped give some GCers more insight in to my experience and into some of the responses in this and other threads. Race relations continue to be a difficult topic in this society so I suspect it will continue to be the same on GC.
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Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.
Baltimore Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter
#3 of ER 30
Spring 1999
"No finer girls will you ever see, and I'm so glad I pledged- for what?
For DST!"
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