Much of the Rhodes weekend social scene is focused on fraternity and sorority events such as frat parties, greek formals, and Panhellenic philanthropy events. We attend these events and rarely stop to think about the disproportionate number of students of color, and the possible racial implications behind these numbers.
It would be difficult to find a Pan or IFC member that would willingly to admit to discriminating on the basis of race during rush. This is because there is not a population of people that actively reject students of color into their organizations based on the race or ethnicity, but rather the problem is that students of color rarely even go through the process Pan or IFC rush, and if they do they are surrounded by a sea of white faces. When the lack diversity is brought up as a topic of potential change, it is generally dismissed as a Greek life norm.
It is easy for Greek representatives to take this approach when they are not actively participating in discrimination, but the "innocent bystander" approach is almost as detrimental as actively denying students of color entry into certain organizations. This is the mentality that promotes districting segregation, that causes white students to sit on one side of the room while students of color sit on the other side, and allows for segregation in the age of colorblindness.
We are in a period of time where we must actively seek diversity. It is not enough to passively agree with the foundations of diversity. We must actively work to engage outside of our comfort zones in the name of racial integration, so as to pave the path for positive race relations in the future.
As current President of the NPHC (at least until the end of this week lol) I can say that a simple way to reduce the "innocent bystander" approach is to actively seek out Black leaders on campus here at Rhodes College and ask them their opinions of IFC and PHC here at Rhodes College. I do not wish to speak for everyone, but for myself and my organizations that I represent (Alpha Phi Alpha, NPHC, BSA, S.O.B.L) would say to you that one problem the Greek organizations here have is how narrow your scopes are. The parties that you throw play music that nobody cares for or nobody likes to dance to in my community. The Formals that you all through generally exclude the black populace entirely because we simply are not in the same social circles. Communication is key to breaking down these social barriers that our Rhodes society has created, but you must understand the onus is not on us to seek you guys out. We are the minority here and it is on you all to take those first steps into truly making Rhodes Campus an inclusive community.
ReplyDeleteBTW this is Tyler Jones
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