These Black Sorority Members Are Speaking Out Against The Racism They Faced…

[carnation]

Adults need to learn to speak up My daughters and I talked a lot about the racism and sexism they would face when they went to college. I told them it's not right to not speak up and then suddenly go raving to the media years later.

[TXDG]

Originally Posted by carnation

Adults need to learn to speak up My daughters and I talked a lot about the racism and sexism they would face when they went to college. I told them it's not right to not speak up and then suddenly go raving to the media years later.

Again, just using the example in the article: what would you tell your {black} daughter to do if her Chapter President gave her the “token black girl” Award in front of the entire chapter? Who exactly would you tell he to speak up to????

I don’t blame that member one iota for quitting and going to the press. Giving out an award like that would confirm every fear she probably had about why she got a bid from that chapter.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by TXDG

Again, just using the example in the article: what would you tell your {black} daughter to do if her Chapter President gave her the “token black girl” Award in front of the entire chapter? Who exactly would you tell he to speak up to????

I don’t blame that member one iota for quitting and going to the press. Giving out an award like that would confirm every fear she probably had about why she got a bid from that chapter.

I would hope she’d feel comfortable enough with her sisters that she would have stood up and said “are you f&#%ing even kidding me?”

And if she didn’t, I would hope there was someone else in the chapter who would have realized how messed up that was who would.

I know this might seem picayune, but I wonder if these “awards” were voted on by the whole chapter or just made up by one person. What kind of awards did the rest of the chapter members get?

[33girl]

I also wonder how large these chapters are and if the women all even know each other’s names.

[aggieAXO]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I would hope she’d feel comfortable enough with her sisters that she would have stood up and said “are you f&#%ing even kidding me?”

?

I would not expect someone that may have just joined to feel that comfortable with her sisters, at least I would not be.

[33girl]

I didn’t see anything that said she had just joined when the “award” occurred.

And of course, this is the problem with Buzzfeed. They pick out the most shocking parts of something and are way short on the context.

[navane]

Originally Posted by carnation

Adults need to learn to speak up My daughters and I talked a lot about the racism and sexism they would face when they went to college. I told them it's not right to not speak up and then suddenly go raving to the media years later.

Respectfully, it was attempted to be addressed by a couple of the women in the article. Here:

When Alex, whose name has been changed to protect her anonymity, entered one sorority house during recruitment week, she said she heard women whisper, “I’m kind of upset that the Black girl didn’t drop.”

She said her sorority sisters referred to her as “that Black girl” constantly throughout her three-year membership from 2014 to 2017. When she emailed the sorority’s president detailing her experiences with her sisters and asking to be treated with respect, the sorority president responded with an email (which BuzzFeed News reviewed) five days later, where she apologized for her late reply but not for the members’ actions.

Instead, she asked for the women’s names so she could talk to them. Alex didn’t think the response sufficed, so she didn’t bring up the issue again.

In another example given in the article, a [white] member heard another saying something inappropriate. She says she spoke up to her chapter/board and nothing was done. Here:

Mackenna, who declined to give her last name, recalled one sorority activity, where she said she heard her sorority sister say that her favorite thing to do with her dad was drive through poor neighborhoods and watch the “porch monkeys.” Mackenna claims she told board members and was “vocal” about how wrong it was, but nothing was done.

I can understand the pushback on DEI as going through change is uncomfortable. I understand that many feel that some of the new policies (legacy consideration removed, rec letters eliminated) have gone too far. I can understand that the lack of consideration for alumnae voices when adjusting those policies caused a lot of hurt and anger. I can understand why some members might feel irritated that their HQs are issuing "word salad" statements that are seen as performative at best. Understandable.

Though, I think we would benefit from separating the various aspects that comprise DEI and not lump the whole thing together. As a white conservative woman myself, I cannot wholesale dismiss the experiences of my sisters who say that they felt marginalized and can cite specific examples or events and even show proof in writing. Ok, I get that we might be mad about legacy status being taken away etc; but, surely none of us are going to endorse that it's ok to call a sister "token black girl" or to call others "porch monkeys". Right?