The reason I address this issue today is because of conversations I had with members of organizations within Inter-fraternity Council at OU. I began the conversation by asking friends involved in fraternities under IFC about whether they viewed their organizations as prejudiced or insensitive. The resounding response was that their respective organizations were not prejudiced at all. I also asked them if they had ever heard jokes that could be considered racist or insensitive. They responded with several jokes that referred primarily to the defamation of African-Americans and Hispanics, yet denied that this supported any reason to see its organizations as racist. They did, however, admit that the jokes could be taken as offensive.
In fairness I also wanted to hear their ideas and criticisms of National Pan-Hellenic organizations and what their perception was of them. The word association game was played and it included terms such as "militant" and "Blacks-only." The reason I address this conversation is not to attack facts of social insensitivity that I have come to know, but rather reveal in part the foundation of ignorance that has affected the perceptions of National Pan-Hellenic -also known as "the Black fraternities and sororities."
A brief breakdown in terms of the history of the National Pan-Hellenic Council is simply a story of adaptation and social necessity as it has often been in American history. It began because of the need for African-Americans to have a firm foundation (financially, socially, academically, etc.) while attending institutions of higher learning that, until the mid 1950s, were legally segregated and consistently supportive of racist policies.
White students, for several years, had such support available to them having established greek fraternal organizations as early as 1825. Such organizations, exclusively for privileged Whites, provided a great deal of good for their members, but the fact remains that Black students were not allowed in such organizations at the time (unless they were cooking or cleaning). Paralleling the goals of predominantly White greek organizations, National Pan-Hellenic shares, not surprisingly, the same vision of perpetuation of academic excellence and common goals while forming a fellowship, but it seems that the unification among "Blacks" promotes a type of danger as being Black is the only visible contrasting element. It is safe to assume that National Pan-Hellenic holds an interest in issues that will affect its members but in the past it has not been solely African-Americans who have responded to issues concerning the OU community and yet African-Americans are the only group associated with militancy.
When insensitive remarks were posted in an article from The Fountainhead, representatives from such organizations as GLBTF (Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgendered and Friends), Latino Greek Council and IFC protested in collective disgust alongside Black students and members of National Pan-Hellenic. My only question is this: Did anyone casually walking by notice the diversity or was this just some social gathering of obnoxious Black people? I doubt that members of the GLBTF or any FIJI would be coined with the term "militant" because of their concerns about issues involving minorities at OU. I guess they're just 'different.'
In terms of the idea that National Pan-Hellenic is exclusively Black, I look to the history of membership and challenge Panhellenic organizations to find out when admittance of African-Americans was accepted in the histories of their respective organizations. Using the decision following Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1954 as the point of reference of allowance of minorities in public schools, National Pan-Hellenic still holds a decidedly progressive lead in terms of racial integration and inclusion.
A man named Roger Youmans became the first White member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity in 1945 and spoke at a national convention less than nine years later showing a sincere sentiment towards racial integration and tolerance. I speak only of the history of Alpha Phi Alpha because of my membership, but I can assure readers that such policies of racial integration are included in the values of all organizations within National Pan-Hellenic. It angers me to hear anyone assume that National Pan functions on values of White exclusion when it took the presence of the National Guard, three years after the federal decision, to make historically White academic institutions open its doors to minorities.
Once again, if you are intelligent enough to take this as a call to action or reevaluation of social elements on this campus instead of a personal attack, I applaud your efforts. What I hope for readers to realize is that organizations such as National Pan-Hellenic, should not be feared, but approached with hopes of understanding rather than a reflex of avoidance. So before you glance over the advertised tickets for Stompdown and wonder if White people are "allowed" to attend, ask yourself if there are any tickets available in the Blacks-Only section for University Sing or Scandals.
hello there & you too