Doesn't the word "Greek" look really funny if you look at it for a long time?
Stereotypes of Greek organizations, supposedly held by RCs, professors and white students have angered some Black students who happen to be Greek. Those who question Black Greek stuff point to tradition and rules against Greek organizations on campus. Those rules and tradition are actually moot because all Greek organizations are based off campus, yet have members on campus. There's no law against Greek organizations or any organization, based off campus and serving members on campus. Those who complain about the logistics of Greek organizations on campus are wrong or ignorant. Period. Oberlin can't, and doesn't claim to want to stop you from joining the Klan or the Psychic Friends Network, but it can prohibit those groups from establishing chapters on campus. All this, and the views like those of Ron Kahn and Nancy Dye, who think Greek organizations can be"elitist" and "wield disproportionate power", have helped create the aura of majority nonacceptance of Black Greek organizations on campus.
This perceived wave of nonacceptance of Black Greek organizations has wielded spliced half-true responses from black students who happen to be Greek. Where's the other half of the truth? Black Greek organizations, though different in scope and mission, are like White Greek organizations in many ways - acceptance, money, connections, brotherhood and sisterhood, in varying forms, are at their root. There's variation in each, but some similarities exist. Also, all black students who happen to be Greek aren't the same. Sororities and fraternities, Deltas, AKAs, Sigmas, and Alphas are comprised of different people, and cannot functionally be placed under the generic rubric of "Black Greeks."
The passionate rumblings of the black students who happen to be Greek point to the assumption that only white students and faculty have problems with Greekdom."Blacks understand" while "white people react from an only white context," claims senior Diepiriye Kuku. Most of us, black, east Asian, white, or Hispanic, don't care about Greek life. Haze till you drop if you want. Feed the nation ... whatever! But what is this "white context"? Do the black students who might not agree with Black Greek organizations have or represent a "white context"? No, they represent their individual context and multiplicity, the same unspoken multiplicity within Greek organizations. No Greek students mentioned this, but it's understood that there is often thick tension between and within black Greek organizations. Perceived subjugation by the majority or authority seemingly necessitate reactions that aren't self-critical. Trust, moral content and truth are forsaken for cornered reactionism. This is not to say that there are not gaping ideological differences between white and black Greek organizations. There are. But community service and this understood "brotherhood and sisterhood for life" stuff are just parts of the equation. Is it just as valid to assert that Black Greek organizations base their acceptance on popularity, ass-kissing and social degradation as it is to say that people join Black Greek organizations for community service? Both assertions seem half truths.
Within all of this Greek talk, unspoken Oberlin sanctities are clashing ... conscious attempts by majority/authority are not supposed to be made to make black students uncomfortable, but Oberlin liberal/nontraditional tradition is not supposed to be challenged by any group. Half truths are weird things. Coming out of the mouths of historically marginalized groups and directed towards liberal guilt-ridden folks, these half-truths become uncriticized full truth. They're taken as authentic reactions to some ominous reigning hegemony. Inconsistency and selective authority are weird things, too. Authority fails to see why it should have to legitimize its action to those it has reprimanded, in spite of its inaction on seemingly larger issues. In both scenarios, devotion to clarity, truth and care are neglected for devotion to self interest and self aggrandizement. The whole Black Greek vs. Oberlin tradition/authority thing reeks of this.
Here's a solution: Student government needs a boost, so why not let students vote on whether Greekdom should be a part of Oberlin life? Then we could see how important this is to the rest of the campus. Count the number of votes. What do you want to bet that the 30 or so folks who vote will be the hand-full of black Greeks on campus, 3 or 4 tenured professors and administrators ironically worried about elitism and unproportional power, and maybe six or seven drunk as hell students who won't know what they're voting for?
Doesn't the word "Greek" look really funny if you look at it for a long time?
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