Alabama recruitment fall-out

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by Hartofsec

(but of interest on the topic of the "right background" - a wonderful man who immigrated from a country in South America painted my house eight years ago. He was fairly new to our country - about 2 years I think -and still struggled a little with English at the time. I spoke with him again about 2 years ago, and he told me his daughter was at Alabama. And an ADPi.)

That's cute. You have a Latino friend.

[Hartofsec]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

That's cute. You have a Latino friend.

My point was rather that ADPi -- at Alabama -- had a Latino sister who did not have the "background" you implied was important to join a chapter there.

Contrary to the usual perception.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by Hartofsec

My point was rather that ADPi -- at Alabama -- had a Latino sister who did not have the "background" you implied was important to join a chapter there.

And I'm saying that your claim that one Latina woman joining a chapter at Alabama makes the system any less racist is akin to someone claiming they have a black friend.

ETA: Whether or not people are consciously racist, the fact is that we tell women rushing at Bama over and over and over again that they have to have recs, meet people in advance, be perfectly primed, etc. That means that the system is not set up for women from different socio-economic or racial backgrounds to have a successful rush. The fact that one or two non-white girls make it through from time to time doesn't change that.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

And I'm saying that your claim that one Latina woman joining a chapter at Alabama makes the system any less racist is akin to someone claiming they have a black friend.

Donald Sterling, anyone?

[Hartofsec]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

And I'm saying that your claim that one Latina woman joining a chapter at Alabama makes the system any less racist is akin to someone claiming they have a black friend.

I didn't make that claim -- you make the claim that I knew something about girls who don't come from the "right background:"

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

It's not as simple as "interested in joining" if you don't come from the right background. You know that as well as anyone.

And I did, actually.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by Hartofsec

I didn't make that claim -- you make the claim that I knew something about girls who don't come from the "right background:"



And I did, actually.

Okay, I think you and I are in agreement that you can't gauge how many AA women are "interested" in rushing based on how many sign up, because there will be a significant number of women who don't want to the be tokenized, who don't want the media attention, etc.

My point is that it goes even beyond that. Even before all the controversy happened, if an AA woman thought "man, NPC sororities look cool, I wanna do that!" and then spent a few minutes online finding out she needs recs, personal connections, etc., how likely is she to continue with the process knowing she doesn't have any of these things?

I have heard PNM's told time and time again on this board that they have to be able to get recs, because they can ask teachers and people at church and so on. The thing is, for AA women living in AA communities, that just is NOT true.

[Hartofsec]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Okay, I think you and I are in agreement that you can't gauge how many AA women are "interested" in rushing based on how many sign up, because there will be a significant number of women who don't want to the be tokenized, who don't want the media attention, etc.

My point is that it goes even beyond that. Even before all the controversy happened, if an AA woman thought "man, NPC sororities look cool, I wanna do that!" and then spent a few minutes online finding out she needs recs, personal connections, etc., how likely is she to continue with the process knowing she doesn't have any of these things?

I have heard PNM's told time and time again on this board that they have to be able to get recs, because they can ask teachers and people at church and so on. The thing is, for AA women living in AA communities, that just is NOT true.

I absolutely agree with just about everything you said there.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

That's cute. You have a Latino friend.

That's what I got out of that anecdote. "Wonderful immigrant man from South American country" was PC for "(possibly) illegal amigo from disadvantaged circumstances had a daughter who beat the odds, so it IS possible! And I knew him!"

Originally Posted by Hartofsec

I absolutely agree with just about everything you said there.

Also. As someone who was interested in NPC greek life (well, being greek generally, but initially exposed and sought out NPC first) I couldn't have told you WHERE to find an NPC alumna. I had enough white teachers but how would I know, as a first-generation college hopeful, how to navigate all the preparation to become greek? I legitimately did not consider greek life until I got on campus. Thankfully I didn't attend a school like Alabama (super informal, no big houses, etc) but if I had, I'd have been SOL. Who would've primed me on tent talk, recs, and what to wear?

Especially since the Internet (and having access to a computer) wasn't something anyone I knew growing up had easy access to. An hour at a time at the library and maybe at lunch time. So tell me, in my largely AA, poor urban neighborhood, would I even have began?

[Hartofsec]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

ETA: Whether or not people are consciously racist, the fact is that we tell women rushing at Bama over and over and over again that they have to have recs, meet people in advance, be perfectly primed, etc. That means that the system is not set up for women from different socio-economic or racial backgrounds to have a successful rush. The fact that one or two non-white girls make it through from time to time doesn't change that.

I agree with much of that actually -- I think girls whose families are not at all familiar with this process are at a disadvantage with the preparation -- when gathering recs for instance.

And it certainly isn't a system set up for people of different socio-economic backgrounds. One of the questions on many GLO's national rec form concerns the rec-writer's best guess regarding the PNM's ability to honor financial obligations.

But I disagree that only one or two non-white girls make it through from time to time.