GA State College White Student Union

[DrPhil]

Yep. One is not better than the other. They are just different. At my school, we sometimes went to NPC and (non-NPHC) IFC socials. We didn't always have fun but there was nothing wrong with the event itself. It just wasn't our cup of tea. We didn't try to change the structure of their events to accommodate us.

On the other hand, whites are not accustomed to being minorities. With exceptions for when my chapter hosted events with an IFC fraternity (it was only awesome because we were all friends outside of Greekdom), there are times when white NPCers-IFCers and white non-Greeks either attended our event or stumbled upon one of our parties and scoffed or looked terrified. It just looked like a bunch of Black people and the most terrifying thing was a bunch of Black men--sometimes they wore suits and ties and sometimes they wore gold boots and fatigues. We didn't fuss at them for looking perplexed and not wanting to participate. We are accustomed to that. We wanted them to move along so we could go back to what we were doing.

I liken it to those multicultural church congregations that are really just white congregations with some non-whites added and the music and praise-and-worship styles do not mirror the supposed diversity of the congregation. No thanks. We don't dislike you, and we have similar purposes, but some of us don't want to always play in your sand box and by your rules. We have our own sand boxes and our own rules. Holla at us when you are willing to come to our sand boxes for a change or create a sand box together that isn't just your sand box in disguise.

[AnchorAlum]

Originally Posted by StealthMode

Ha! We (my young adult ministry) just discussed this last week though we were talking about incidents from high school BSUs. How ironic that this pops up this week.

Is it fair that it's not PC to have a White Student Union? No. We will leave it there and not discuss the historical context that makes people leery of lots of Caucasians getting together to celebrate their White pride. Was that what you were looking for?

White pride? I have pride that I'm a human being who doesn't believe in skin color making one iota of difference about who you are, what opportunities you should have, or how I judge you, period.

I hear the whole Black History Month, why don't WE have a White History Month, etc. etc.

When I was growing up, do you think there was a single blessed mention of anyone's color in our history books?

Example, I didn't know Crispus Attucks was a black free man until college. I had mixed feelings about it. One of the most prominent feelings was a conflict between well, he was a hero, and color shouldn't matter one way or the other, but then I was becoming aware of the fact that we were held back from learning that black people had serious roles in this country that we weren't supposed to know about?

So, I can understand why we have a Black History Month.

As to BSU's, the one at Florida State started when I was an undergrad. Black students had just begun attending FSU in increasing numbers and we had a unique situation because FAMU was just several blocks away. I know that some of the black students at FSU had torn feelings of not being sure how they'd assimilate - versus the far easier road for them at FAMU. When you're just sticking your toe in the water, it helps if someone just like you is standing with you, doing the same thing.

Today, FSU grants more degrees to black students than any other Florida university. So, I think it's worked out very well.