Diversity in the SEC

[sigmadiva]

I think a point that is being implied, and not explicitly stated is there needs to be action and not words.

Great, you (NPC) pledged a Black girl. You feel a "warm fuzzy" because now people can not accuse you of being racist. And I can understand where you are coming from. You probably grew up in an environment where anyone other than white was considered beneath you. You probably grew up in an environment where there were subtle ways of excluding other people, with the most common way of just pricing other people out of certain markets. So I get it. In your minds you have made great strides to reach out and connect to those other people. Great!

But, what else are you going to do? Are those SEC NPC chapters going to literally spend time conducting community service activities in the AA community? Are you going to have programs where the central focus is on attacking some of the issues that are persistent in the AA communities. I mean really, are NPC chapters going to do anything to actively participate in Black History Month programs?

To me, sometimes this proclamation by White NPCers that they have pledged a Black girl comes off like that scene in Animal House where the all white male fraternity member points to the couch and says "See, we have a Black guy, and Indian guy, and a Muslim guy. We're not racist." It just comes off as being a bit insincere.

[PKTKKG]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

White people aren't not winning with this.

The key is multitasking. Boasting "have all different types of minorities...from looking at pictures" and "my daughter and her sorority are concerned, they are just sisters" are cliche' statements whites tend to make when discussing race. This topic has to do with race and GLOs but the foundation is the same. It reeks of "I see 'those people'...they are here...and there's plenty of them" and "we are colorblind...I need to pretend I don't notice our differences in order for us to love each other".



Why do many white people feel the need to proclaim this? It reinforces this notion of whiteness as a carefree, race neutral, and powerful identity. Just because you claim not to notice or think about something doesn't mean it is void or invisible. It doesn't mean that everyone else, including the racial and ethnic minorities themselves, do not notice or think about it. That is one of the foundations of tokenism. Race, gender, and other minority tokens are expected to smile and pretend as though their minority status is moot 24/7.

Just a general observation - I don't think anyone has a carefree life. Everyone has challenges in life to overcome, everyone deals with problems that come their way, and yes some people have more difficulties in their lives for different reasons. It is good to have open and honest conversations with people who have different opinions knowing that there are times people may just have to agree to disagree.

I have known minority sisters of my sorority and I have known minority sisters of divine nine sororities. One divine nine member girl I knew was shocked that my sorority had an African American local alum and to her it was unacceptable the lady was not a part of the divine nine. Truthfully I was surprised this was her take on the situation but whatever. To each his own. Go where your heart leads you, be who you are and who you want to be. No one owes anyone else an explanation about who they are to others.

Observing diversity in any organization is not a value judgement except that it seems to indicate that more people are relating to others according to the content of their character rather than by the color of their skin/religious beliefs/sexual orientation. Considering that all of our respective orgs began in another time when there was significant segregation (and when it was rare for women to even go to college at all), it is natural that orgs would continue as they have traditionally. It is nice to see that recently all groups have been more open outside of that tradition so that each individual is free to pursue membership in their own way and with a group by mutual selection and choice.

[carnation]

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

But, what else are you going to do? Are those SEC NPC chapters going to literally spend time conducting community service activities in the AA community? Are you going to have programs where the central focus is on attacking some of the issues that are persistent in the AA communities. I mean really, are NPC chapters going to do anything to actively participate in Black History Month programs?

Probably not directly. They'll keep doing their national philanthropy activities like literacy and breast cancer and arthritis, which will help people of all races. But they're probably not going to do anything directly with the black community because some people would tell them that they're only trying to make themselves feel good and that they didn't even add a drop to the bucket. Why stick your neck out if you're only going to be attacked?

[DrPhil]

I know no one has a carefree life. That is why I want the notion of whiteness as carefree, unobservant, and race neutral to stop. White people have race and ethnicities (plural). The social dynamics around the world would not be as they are if a large percentage of whites did not notice, think about, and act on race and ethnicity. Claiming to not notice and think about these things does not make that true at all times. This isn't about carnation because cliche' means that it is common across contexts.

I agree with sigmadiva.

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by TriDeltaSallie

And if someone said, "I, for instance, do not want DDD/ADPi/KKG/DG/ZTA/XO/etc. to be racially diverse. I intentionally joined a historically and predominantly White, European American GLO. That is how I want it to remain and that is how it will remain. That is not a bad thing."

What would happen? Would that group even exist in ten years after the outrage that someone would say that and a group would embrace it?

I agree with Carnation. Whites can't win. We're damned if we do and damned if we don't.

The reason is because this extension of the olive branch does not happen in other aspects of life. So, its hard to believe the sincerity when it comes to NPC recruitment.

A personal example that happened to me over the past few weeks.

I love to needlepoint. My favorite hobby ever. I live in a city (Houston) with about 4 - 5 different needlepoint shops. Of these there is one that I consider my "home" shop. I can tell you that over the years that I have been going to that shop, since ~1999, I've been one of two Black women who frequent the shop. All the other customers and regulars are White.

Just a few weeks ago I decided to visit one of the other shops just to see if they had any great sales going on. I don't visit that particular shop often, maybe 2 - 3 times a year. So, I walk in the shop and every White woman in the shop just stops -dead frozen. The tension in the air became very high. As I was browsing around I could feel them looking at me, and quite frankly I got negative vibes. So much so, one of the women called her husband in to follow me around the shop. THIS IS A TINY PLACE!!

Now, what if I'd been a NPC member, and that woman who called her husband in was my sister. One shop member greeted me, but no one took the effort to do small talk with me. The moment I walked in the door they judged me purely on the basis of my skin.

Its wonderful that NPC pledges Black women, but that needs to be extended to other aspects of life.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by TriDeltaSallie

And if someone said, "I, for instance, do not want DDD/ADPi/KKG/DG/ZTA/XO/etc. to be racially diverse. I intentionally joined a historically and predominantly White, European American GLO. That is how I want it to remain and that is how it will remain. That is not a bad thing."

What would happen?

I was waiting for someone to ask this....

They would finally be an IFC or NPC member who was honest about the founding purposes of their GLO. They would finally be an IFC or NPC who stopped pretending as though their GLO just so happened to be predominantly white since founding.

That is awesome.

[carnation]

Who's pretending that? Who even thinks about that? Most GLOs were formed so people could have friends and in many cases, there were few females of any color on campus. Thus sororities were born, with no thought other than friendship and standing together.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by carnation

Who's pretending that? Who even thinks about that? Most GLOs were formed so people could have friends and in many cases, there were few females of any color on campus. Thus sororities were born, with no thought other than friendship and standing together.

You must have missed years of GC threads.

Anyway, TriDeltaSallie asked and I answered. If you are proclaiming that NPC and IFC foundings were race neutral and the membership remains predominantly white unintentionally, then this discussion will remain circular.

[carnation]

Not I!

But just because something is posted on GC doesn't make it right, lol.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

The reason is because this extension of the olive branch does not happen in other aspects of life. So, its hard to believe the sincerity when it comes to NPC recruitment.

A personal example that happened to me over the past few weeks.

I love to needlepoint. My favorite hobby ever. I live in a city (Houston) with about 4 - 5 different needlepoint shops. Of these there is one that I consider my "home" shop. I can tell you that over the years that I have been going to that shop, since ~1999, I've been one of two Black women who frequent the shop. All the other customers and regulars are White.

Just a few weeks ago I decided to visit one of the other shops just to see if they had any great sales going on. I don't visit that particular shop often, maybe 2 - 3 times a year. So, I walk in the shop and every White woman in the shop just stops -dead frozen. The tension in the air became very high. As I was browsing around I could feel them looking at me, and quite frankly I got negative vibes. So much so, one of the women called her husband in to follow me around the shop. THIS IS A TINY PLACE!!

Now, what if I'd been a NPC member, and that woman who called her husband in was my sister. One shop member greeted me, but no one took the effort to do small talk with me. The moment I walked in the door they judged me purely on the basis of my skin.

Its wonderful that NPC pledges Black women, but that needs to be extended to other aspects of life.

I am so sorry that happened to you. I wonder what they thought you were going to do: steal all their needles?

I agree wholeheartedly with your last paragraph, and I'm going to reassertion my earlier statement that there is truth on both sides here. Tokenism vs not seeing race.

No one doubts that carnation loves her children for being her children and not for their ethnicity. Carnation appears to me from her stories about her children to be an awesome and supportive mom. On the other hand, I don't know how many times in my life I've heard a white person say something disparaging about [insert race] as a whole and when questioned about a friendship or other relationship with a person of that race the white person says something along the lines of "well he/she isn't like the rest of them." I do not believe that carnation feels this way about her children, but I'm not going to pretend like other people don't feel this way.

[TNAuburnMom]

Well, bless your heart. Since you don't know my background, let me tell you a little story.

My father spent 26 years in the military, which was desegregated long before the general population. We Army brats that lived on military posts our entire childhood are a unique group. Children of all races, colors, creeds, and backgrounds lived together in small areas. We went to school together, to chapels together, played sports together, tried to learn new languages and cultures together and even attended funerals together as parents were killed in the line of duty. Skin color was about as important as eye color when deciding who to play with, who to be friends with, who to ask to prom, who to date, and who to eventually marry. What you consider a racial cliche was our reality. My black friends, Asian friends, white friends, Hispanic friends, Native American friends, Puerto Rican friends, gay friends, (for the record, at one point in my teenage years, I went on at least one date with guys in each of the categories above) lesbian friends, straight friends from high school didn't spend every day worried about how we were all different from each other. Our agenda consisted of living our lives and hoping no soldiers in Class As knocked on the door.

We raised our children right outside a military post with the same beliefs. The only trait of any real importance is the content of one's character.

When my daughter talks about member's of her sorority, I hear about "my sister Mary" or "my sister Kim" and when I ask which one Kim is (because I have a hard time keeping it straight), I hear "the biology major that lives on the hall" not "one of the several minority girls in the sorority". I am sure there are sororities at Auburn that would never offer a bid to a minority. Fortunately, my daughter is not in one of them. They don't have tokens. They have sisters.

Originally Posted by DrPhil

*Putting the "Racial Cliche' Crown" on TNAuburnMom's head*

Unfortunate.

[Hartofsec]

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

I think a point that is being implied, and not explicitly stated is there needs to be action and not words.

[. . .]

But, what else are you going to do? Are those SEC NPC chapters going to literally spend time conducting community service activities in the AA community?

Yes, I know of some that literally do, though I think these volunteer opportunities are undertaken on the basis of need (requests from local agencies/programs for volunteers), not race.

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

Are you going to have programs where the central focus is on attacking some of the issues that are persistent in the AA communities.

A predominately white college sorority would be an appropriate and/or effective group to "attack" issues in the AA communities?

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

I mean really, are NPC chapters going to do anything to actively participate in Black History Month programs?

IMO, this seems cliche'. I think it is misguided to assume that all girls of non-white ethnicities constantly want this to be pointed out by their GLO --actually, in fact, it seems a little "counter-color blindness."

Perhaps they just want to live their lives without their race being pointed out as their basis of identity -- like Carnation's children.

I would be interested in a list of things to do and say about diversity in SEC GLOs that are not considered "cliché."

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Wait, did this become a thread about how hard it is to be a white person? Awesome.

White people are not "damned if we do, damned if we don't." We have the privilege of just throwing up our hands in the air and walking away from thinking about race. Women of color do not.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by carnation

Not I!

But just because something is posted on GC doesn't make it right, lol.

It makes it what people believe. And that is the point.

NPHC are not the only GLOs founded 50+ years ago that were and still are grounded in race, ethnicity, and culture. Not having any or a lot of nonwhite college students during the time IFC and NPC GLOs were founded is an obvious point. Therefore, if diversity was unavailable or undesired (let's be honest) people need to be honest about that. NPHC GLOs are honest about our founding and we do not use the absence of whites to pretend that we were unintentionally Black. Many of our founders intended to form Black GLOs. Race was not invisible and neutral in our founding.

The fact that predominantly white GLOs get to see themselves as "sign of the times" without delving further into the complexities of the matter reinforces the notion of whiteness as carefree, race neutral, and powerful.

BGLOs, MCGLOs, LGLOs are not the only GLOs that are both intentionally and unintentionally predominantly (insert identity of majority of membership).

[carnation]

I seriously doubt that any NPC group was founded with an eye to keeping blacks out. I'm betting it never crossed their minds They probably just wanted to be friends.

When I was at the University of Hawaii, there were actually sororities for different ethnic groups. They'd been there for decades. Wakaba Kai was only for Japanese girls, Teh Shih Cheh was for Chinese, and so forth and there was even a group for "cosmopolitan" girls --i.e., racially mixed girls. There were fraternities like them. You did not rush outside your ethnic group.

Apparently, none exist any more. Alpha Gamma Delta does and they have women from every culture and they form a beautiful picture of Hawaii. Do they hang out and think, "There's my Filipina sister! And over there are 4 Japanese! And aren't I cool for being in this group with all these hapas?"

No.They merely go about the business of sisterhood, including those who came from the mainland. Like some of us go about the business of teaching or parenthood without taking time out to divide our students or children racially in our heads.