The Epic Take-Down that Kappa Alpha had coming

[Kevin]

I'm pretty out of the loop with KA Order, but as I understand it, on a national level, they ended the Old South parties and have banned the wearing of confederate or antebellum costumes. Not a lot of recruits are going to join an organization because of what they stood for 100 years ago, let alone 1 year ago.

I'm not sure what the purpose of this thread is. Are we to be playing gotcha with KA Order because of some records from the 1920s which are admittedly problematic--because if you take a deep dive into any southern traditionally white fraternity or sorority--particularly in the 1920s, you're not going to like what you find.

Do many of our organizations have racist, even white supremacist roots? Sure do. And we each process things in our own way.

Are any of us very surprised that an organization which until not very long ago included the Confederate flag as an unofficial symbol and who hosted Confederate dress up parties has white supremist underpinnings?

[Sen's Revenge]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Do many of our organizations have racist, even white supremacist roots? Sure do.

Do many of our organizations have roots that depend upon the lie of the Lost Cause?

Would many of our organizations elevate a local issue to the point of an Executive Director daring a professor to find evidence?

I'm not going to be questioned about the "point" of a thread about a fraternity in the Greek Life section, lol. I've posted about everything from AKA wax statues to Alphas killing pledges.

I think the article speaks well enough for itself, actually. And as a person of color, I am definitely going to call "gotcha" on racism being outed. It's not just from the 20s. It's in the DNA of the org and it replicates.

[naraht]

https://archive.org/details/director.../2up?q=when+we

Note, written in an early 1920s Catalog of the Fraternity.

At the time in 1866 when we were organizing, in the
academic sphere, for the defense of Southern culture,
another organization, the Ku Klux Klan, was forming,*
in the political and economic spheres, to overthrow the
carpet-bag governments that were bankrupting the
Southern states. The Klan soon achieved its object,
which was just, patriotic and limited, and disbanded in
1869. Its mission was ended. Not so ours. Ours is a
subtler task. The maintenance of the spirit of Southern
youth on a high plane of principle and conduct is a per-
petual interest and duty.

[PhilTau]

Originally Posted by naraht

https://archive.org/details/director.../2up?q=when+we

Note, written in an early 1920s Catalog of the Fraternity.

At the time in 1866 when we were organizing, in the
academic sphere, for the defense of Southern culture,
another organization, the Ku Klux Klan, was forming,*
in the political and economic spheres, to overthrow the
carpet-bag governments that were bankrupting the
Southern states. The Klan soon achieved its object,
which was just, patriotic and limited, and disbanded in
1869. Its mission was ended. Not so ours. Ours is a
subtler task. The maintenance of the spirit of Southern
youth on a high plane of principle and conduct is a per-
petual interest and duty.

The footnote: "*Organized December 20, 1865, at Pulaski, Tenn. The "Prescripts," "creed" and "oaths" of the Klan were remarkably similar to the principles and obligations of the K.A. -- so much so that our brother Thomas Dixon, author of the Clansman, claims a participation of K.A.'s in organizing the Klan, a claim made debatable by chronological difficulties. The two organizations were reactions against the same evils, but their spheres and methods of action differed." Directory of the Kappa Alpha Order 1865-1922 (1922).

Interesting that, even in 1922, KA seemed to be trying to distance itself from the KKK while at the same time placating the beliefs of many of its members. Though these passages certainly do support argument of KA’s Lost Cause identity.