If you are serious you do not have a very good understanding of sororities at most universities. Many are almost identical.
My specific point is one of inclusion, especially in place like Alabama which has much of the same history, especially applied to university settings. One need only look at a fairly recent U.S. Supreme Court case like US v. Fordice and see we are not too far removed from systemic and instiutional racism (itās a 1992 case). nited States v. Fordice, 505 U.S. 717 (1992)[1] is a United States Supreme Court case that resulted in an eight to one ruling that the eight public universities in Mississippi had not sufficiently integrated and that the state must take affirmative action to change this under the Equal Protection Clause. The Court found that, although the state had eliminated explicit prohibitions on the admission of black students to institutions including the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, and the University of Southern Mississippi, the Court of Appeals had not properly reviewed the set of discriminatory policies used by the state to suppress black enrollment at these schools.
So, yes it does rankle my feathersāam I hyper sensitiveāI donāt think so, as history has painted a fairly stark picture to the reality of institutions of the south and the black experience. As far as behavior and comportment, so your saying Iām having a double standard? Well, my vantage is not too far away from the leadership at Alabama and their own concerns, so I donāt think Iām taking a singular position. Those girls are not my Ds, so at the end of the day, I donāt really care what type of tomfoolery they engageā¦
@TV4caster I was actually mocking the comment made by PGā¦
Iām not familiar with that particular case, so can you explain to me how it relates to this sorority and their putting out this video?
So if there were some AA in the video all would be good in your mind?
I just looked at a couple of black sorority recruitment videos and did not see any whites, Asians or Hispanics. Is that ok?
There are a ton of these out there, but hereās another with bikinis.
Your barking up the wrong tree, as the historical power structures are entirely different. The more relevant question is whether any white or any other ethnicity, for that matter, wanted to join these groups, and if so, were they systemically eliminated because of race? If you are not already that was the case of many black women, and fairly recently, which is both documented and proven history at many sororities in the south.
@Vladenschlutte So, you want me to explain the entire juxtaposition of southern universities and historical discrimination against blacks and how they might remotely have a nexus to the waspy confines of the Greek system? Maybe I should also do a book report on Bull Connor and why they didnāt honor him at the last BET awards???
@boolaHI 23 years (1992) is a lifetime ago. I would argue that the world has changed dramatically in that time (but still has much room for improvement). BTW- I have talked to many AAs at work and been told that they have no desire to join any Greek organization other than one of the historically black institutions. They tell me that the racial make-up of srats and frats is probably more a function of that, than of institutional Greek racism. My white DD doesnāt even want to be around that kind of a homogenous group. Do you think most minorities would want to?
Itās hard to say, as I came up in the early and mid 80s at one of the UCs, and it was still uncommon to have blacks joining a fraternity. My Ds are entirely different, one as they are biracial, and two attended schools they have a limited Greek presence (CAL and Yale). But, like with most things, socio-economic factors also play a large part in the comfort level of either joining or entertaining membership. Societal changes especially in quasi social entities take a while for them to be fully functional, just ask Condi Riceā¦
@boolaHI Iād like a simple explanation of what issue you have with either this sorority or this video. I still donāt understand what it is, unless your problem is that theyāre White.
Iām not generally a fan of sororities, but Iām honestly baffled by the response to this video. Iām not going to get into the racial dynamics here - which may be problematic, but probably have a lot more to do with history than with discriminatory behavior on the part of these particular girls ā but all I see is a group of young women having fun. I donāt think they are doing anything embarrassing, and I donāt think any of this precludes them also being fine, intelligent women. I have a sterling educational pedigree, and I also take silly pictures with my friends. We have deep philosophical discussions too, but those donāt tend to lend themselves to selfies. And while I see no need to post my pictures publicly online, in context, I donāt think appearing in a sorority promotional video in pretty ordinary beachwear should come back to haunt these women.
Highly racially segregated sororities do not appear to be rare, and are not confined to schools in the south (just look at chapter photo albums on web sites). Fraternities appear to be slightly less segregated than sororities (again based on chapter photo albums on web sites).
So, regardless of what you think of that, it is not unique to ĪĪ¦ at Alabama.
āSocietal changes especially in quasi social entities take a while for them to be fully functional, just ask Condi Riceā
She was an Alpha Chi Omega!
so throw in a few teenage Halle Berrys in bikinis to that video and everyoneās reaction would have been hunky dory?
Come off it. Thereās s objection to the video based on objectification, bikinis etc and itās being commingled with the lack of diversity.
I have to say I am missing the logic there, @LOUKYDAD. Arguments like āHow come it is OK to have the NAACP but if we had the NAAWP it would be called racistā (and it is, it is called the KKK) completely fail to take into account the very plain history of racism in this country and the fact that these kinds of organizations, all the way down to the college level, are an attempt to deal with the centuries of discriminatory behavior minorities have faced and continue to face. Of course if there was never any racism there would have been no need for these organizations or HBCUās. But that is completely reversing logic and reality. The more that racism is eliminated, the less need there is for such organizations and schools except for historical context. However, as many recent events show, and as the history of minority membership in sororities at Alabama and elsewhere seems to show, we are a long way from reaching that goal.
I have no objections to the original video. If thatās how you want to present yourselves, thatās your problem. Superficiality and sororities seem to go together.
And as for the fact that the girls all look alike, well, this is a sorority and this is Alabama. What do you expect? The black girls have their own houses, and the Jewish and Asian girls (if there are any) who were looking for a sorority to join probably took one look at the composition of this chapter and crossed it off their lists because, well, if you were Jewish or Asian, would you want to live there? Or would you prefer a house where at least some of the girls look like you?
Now this one I vehemently object to because it shows girls riding in an unsafe way in a jeep ā with some of them standing in the back, not restrained in any way.
When my kids were little, two high school kids were killed in a horrific accident in our neighborhood when they rode in a jeep that way and the jeep flipped on a sharp turn, crushing them under the vehicle.
@LOUKYDAD I found your comment to be somewhat ignorant and supporting the faulty argument of āif thereās a BET why isnāt there a WETā and things of the like that @fallenchemist . The reason black Greek societies exist in the first place is because it was (And IS) hard for Black people to get into predominantly white Greek houses. Ole Miss still holds blackface parties, UAlabama had the sorority fall out recently.
In actuality SAE at Oklahoa GREATLY explained why there is no diversity in black fraternities/sororities. As they stated: āthere will never be a (n) in SAEā so if SAE doesnāt want me, let me go somewhere where Iāll be accepted.
Black Greek Houses donāt exist simply to be fraternities/sororities that are accepting of blacks. In some school they are some of the only houses blacks have a chance of joining.
āThe more relevant question is whether any white or any other ethnicity, for that matter, wanted to join these groups, and if so, were they systemically eliminated because of race?ā
You canāt simultaneously think that these girls are trivial, trifling, shallow bimbos and in the same breath be bummed that you canāt join them. wanting to join them must mean that they are appealing, no?
YK personally Iām kind of put off by the prancing in bikinis because we just never did stuff like that. I googled some other Alpha Phi videos from northern schools and you might see the girls wearing t shirts and jeans, sweatshirts with the college or sorority logo, etc. but to me thatās just a function of regional climate / dress. Northern girls wear t shirts, sweatshirts and jeans to football games; Southern girls dress up. Our casual clothes are different simply because of climate. Once I get past that the plethora of swim suits, though, I really donāt see what to object to.