Patrick Ruffini's "analysis" of fraternity life suffers from the same intellectual weakness as the racist practices he decries. Noting that the University of Alabama has a famously segregated Greek system, he then extrapolates that all "frats are wrong," using reasoning like this:
Conservative contrarians on campus have long gone to prodigious lengths to criticize minority self-segregation. And they’re right. Now, it’s time to stand up and condemn white self-segregation, and indeed all self-segregation based on qualities other than individual merit (that’s why I’m queasy about all fraternities who sort people out based on accidents of birth). Granted, the number of minorities clamoring to join overwhelmingly white fraternities and sororities isn’t large. But if we’re really upset about minority self-segregation, shouldn’t we allow minorities who actually want to be a part of the establishment in?
Well, leaving all the freedom of association arguments aside, I suspect Patrick has no idea what he's talking about on a campus-by-campus basis. The University of Alabama's Greek system is famous nationwide not just for its segregation, but also for its domination of campus politics such that it has earned the moniker "The Machine" in national media. Their system is unique and the problems there cannot be fairly attributed to Greek organizations nationwide. Instead of accusing all "frats" of harboring white segregationists, Patrick would do well to look a lot deeper.
For over ten years, I've been a volunteer for my fraternity, working with chapters all over the country. I've seen chapters from the Midwest to the South to the Mid-Atlantic, not just of my own organization, but of many others as well. I have seen first hand that many of these so-called "white" groups actively recruit new members of a variety of races - not to fill quotas, but to fulfill their own ideals - and run up against many obstacles. Some minority students are afraid to join mainstream organizations due to heavy peer pressure from their ethnic groups; many have preconceptions and misconceptions that are difficult to combat; many prefer the existing groups that exist to support ethnic community; others find the history of the mainstream Greeks too daunting.
Most of the fraternity and sorority world outside the University of Alabama has progressed beyond the 1950's - some groups further than others, and a handful not at all. Patrick apparently never joined a fraternity, so he probably does not realize that "minorities who want to be part of the establishment" can find plenty of opportunity in most Greek systems.
Posted by wasylik at January 30, 2002 08:34 PM | TrackBack