A good read & even greater food for our collective, fraternal thought..
Despite numbers, black Greeks fail to realize potential Although it is indeed quite an old saying, it's still commonly declared to this day that actions speak louder than words. And when it comes to examining the origins, historical role and cultural significance of that institution called African American "Greek" Life, and comparing its apparent focus today with the weighty principles it was founded upon nearly a century ago, a number of very pointed questions about its purpose and future arise.
Among them: Do black Greek fraternities as we know them truly wield any real political or economic clout? If so, when will they come to realize that and begin to exercise some of it? Have the numerous chapters of these organizations nationwide collectively come forward lately to voice an opinion or to take a position on any serious issue relative to the black community in America? And if so, why aren't the masses of black people aware of it? Have our beloved "Greeks" embraced any pertinent cause of recent years, come together as a unified force and taken some visible effective organized action either to positively influence or to effect change? And last, would many of the world's great men of color who happened to be members of black Greek fraternities, just a few of whom include the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, the late Mayor Harold Washington of Chicago and countless others, be pleased with what these "brotherhoods" seem to have become?
You be the judge. The first black Greek letter fraternity in America was Alpha Phi Alpha, founded in 1906 on the campus of Cornell University (N.Y.) by a seven-member study group. Scholarship, social purpose and commitment to community service - precepts that were similarly espoused with some variance by the three other major black fraternities and the four black sororities that soon thereafter organized - were the basic tenets of the organization.
Today, however, these groups, boasting a membership nearly one million-strong, suffer from both problems with an increasingly poor image and with an ongoing debate over their relevance. They also bear criticism that they are elitist, exclusionary and separatist, and in some cases little more than gangs because of their well-documented pledging rituals which to this day, like gangs, include incidents of hazing. Although 20 precious college students (or, in other words, at least 20 potentially brilliant minds) have been killed in the last decade as the result of fraternity hazing and related activities, there's still no shortage of black collegiates who feel that they need to identify with something, to belong. The literally thousands of hours of dedicated community service that these organizations contribute to society each year, however, do not atone for even one of those young black lives.
And why any organization that seeks to align itself with black culture would mimic so closely the institution of American slavery, down to details including whippings, beatings, verbal humiliation, forced servitude, sleep deprivation and even the branding of the flesh, is anyone's guess. Perhaps it's all in the name of developing a sense of "brotherhood," as they say.
Or maybe it's because one's popularity with campus coeds supposedly increases once he "goes over," or becomes a full member. Either way, one cannot help pondering how any semblance of brotherhood is cultivated considering the following nationally reported incidents of recent years . The University of Maryland at College Park - 24 members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity chapter here are arrested and charged with hazing after six pledges are brutalized in a rite of initiation. Police accounts reveal that the would-be members were kicked, punched, beaten and whipped over a two-month period, resulting in serious injuries requiring the hospitalization of all of the victims. The most seriously injured pledge suffered a ruptured spleen and a collapsed lung, while another was treated for liver damage, cracked ribs and a punctured eardrum resulting in a 70-percent loss of hearing. Other reported injuries among the six young men included a fractured ankle and a concussion.
Southern University, Baton Rouge, La. - during an initiation meeting of prospective members, a "big brother" of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity hits 23-year-old Derone Walker over the head with a frying pan, blinding him.
Doctors are unsure whether Walker will ever regain his sight.
Kent State University, Kent, Oh. - The university is forced to ban black fraternity- and sorority-sponsored dances and parties because of a series of fights involving the Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi and Phi Beta Sigma fraternity members.
The University of Florida at Gainesville - Phi Beta Sigma and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternities are suspended indefinitely because members of each hurled vulgar profanities at each other, kicked in doors, fought with fists and canes and exchanged gunfire at an off-campus apartment building. The confrontation was over, of all things, which organization had the best step show skills and the finest clothing. So much for the next generation of intellectuals.
Clark-Atlanta University - Phi Beta Sigma is suspended pending an investigation of the alleged hazing of 21-year-old sophomore Roderick Green and 20-year-old Willie Mingo. Each contends that he was beaten with a wooden paddle about the buttocks and kidney areas, resulting in kidney damage. Approximately one year later, on the same campus, 10 student members of Omega Psi Phi are arrested on charges of hazing after beating James Albert Bush, 20, with hands, fists, rubber tires and a wooden paddle, also resulting in severe kidney damage, as well as bruises to his calves and arms.
Morehouse College - Freshman Joel Harris, 18, dies of heart failure during a late-night pledging incident off-campus.
Illinois State University, Normal - Armed, gang-like confrontations between Alpha Phi Alpha, Omega Psi Phi and Kappa Alpha Psi have local law enforcement authorities perplexed.
Norfolk State University (Va.) - A student pledging Omega Psi Phi complains about both sides of his jaw being broken, and the chapter is banned from campus. The university later suspends all of its fraternities and sororities after widespread reports of hazing continue.
More difficult admissions requirements, campus racism, culturally biased standardized tests, a shrinking pool of financial aid options and a lack of culturally representative curricula, along with just getting a good education in the first place, should be enough issues for any black collegian, or any serious black organization for that matter, to have to address in the academic world.
But if the scripture, "Ye shall know them by their fruits" holds any prophetic truth at all, the future of the black Greek fraternity seems at best uncertain, unless some drastic reforms are instituted quickly."...I wonder how long you black fraternities and sororities will continue to underestimate your real power," questioned noted black activist, author, comedian and entrepreneur Dick Gregory to a captive audience of students and faculty at Grambling State University (La.), more than a decade ago. "Do you realize that you black fraternities and sororities in this country are older than General Motors? You are older than AT&T. But you have no power because most black fraternities and sororities are predicated on a lot of craziness." I mean, it doesn't even make sense," he continued. "I'm in a country locked in a fight to survive, and to join a beautiful black fraternity or sorority I've got to be reduced down to the level of an animal. Hey, America has hurt me for more than 400 years. I don't need no hurt out of you. I don't need that."
Concluded Gregory, "I need a brotherhood and a sisterhood that'll reach down into the pit of my soul and open up that real universal pride inside of me, so when I leave these institutions I can go back to my neighborhood and finish building a nation. That's what I need. I don't need you all to make me walk across campus with a bucket full of bricks acting like I'm a zombie..."
