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This chapter examines the everyday life of black Greek-letter organizations (BGLOs) on predominantly white institutions (PWIs) and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Drawing on data from publications and interviews with students, it looks at the reasons why African Americans join BGLOs and the perceived benefits of membership. It also probes their experiences within such organizations using socialization theory and explains how intrinsic/extrinsic motivations, investments, knowledge acquisition, and benefits all vary when compared to joining a BGLO at a PWI or an HBCU.

This chapter examines the contributions of black Greek-letter organizations (BGLOs) to the civil rights movement as well as the contradictions in their fight for civil rights for African Americans. It looks at the story of black fraternities and sororities in the civil rights struggle, with an emphasis on their activist and leadership roles. It provides examples of agency—the ability of historical players to act on their own behalf— on the part of BGLOs and considers accusations of passivity against BGLOs—that they did not advocate progress and change due to materialism, elitism, and complacency. It also discusses the BGLOs’s challenges to and endorsements of government policies concerning the African American agenda, how they attempted to make change during the civil rights era by educating the masses, and financing of the cause of civil rights. The chapter concludes by highlighting the internal critique experienced by BGLOs from leaders and members and external critique from black intellectuals.

This chapter examines nonblack members of black Greek-letter organizations by focusing on the experiences of five Asian American women in African American sororities. It first provides an overview of the social structure of African American sororities at Pacific Coast University. It then looks at the relationship between African American sororities and African Americans, those perceived as “mainstream” or white Americans, and Asian American women. It then discusses the social processes underlying the incorporation of the five Asian American women and shows how they were driven by white supremacy and racism to seek membership in black sororities. It argues that participation in African American sororities give Asian American women the opportunity to further develop their identities as women of color and directly challenge racial hierarchies.

This chapter argues that hazing liability will bankrupt the finances and traditions of black Greek-letter organizations (BGLOs) and issues a plea for a return to “pledging.” In order to avert their demise, it urges BGLOs to engage in more dialogue about membership intake, perform organizational studies to assess “acceptable” components of the process, share such information with the general bodies of each fraternity and sorority in order to reach democratic consensus, revisit and possibly raise the standards for membership selection, and strengthen the current anti-hazing policies and procedures. The chapter looks at the roots of the BGLO movement, hazing trends, and the effectiveness of the BGLO response to increased incidents of hazing.

This chapter examines how membership in black Greek-letter organizations affects student satisfaction for black and white students at predominantly white institutions. Drawing on survey and focus group data, it shows that African Americans are in dire need of academic support systems. The chapter first discusses the concepts of social integration and social capital in relation to membership in voluntary associations, as well as how individuals’ integration into a group affects the way they perceive their social environment. It then shows that race affects satisfaction, and that this effect is contingent upon whether or not the student belongs to a Greek organization. It also demonstrates that Greek membership does not uniformly impact college students regardless of the organizations they are affiliated with.

One of the criticisms thrown at black Greek-letter organizations (BGLOs) is their supposed incompatibility with Christianity and their polytheistic worship. Anti-BGLO activists argue that polytheism is at the root of black fraternities and sororities, and so they urge Christians (monotheists) to not associate with such organizations. This chapter examines the resurgence of religion and its intersection with BGLO organizing. It considers the claims made by anti-BGLO activists that faith and fraternalism are incompatible and looks at the BGLOs’ response to such claims by conducting a national survey of BGLO members. It shows that the anti-BGLO rhetoric misrepresents the facts about the faith and spirituality of BGLO members.

This chapter examines the unconscious antiblack bias held by members of black Greek-letter organizations (BGLOs) and shows that BGLO members adopt many of the same pro-white biases as nonmembers. It looks at the use of the computerized Implicit Association Test (IAT)for the study of implicit attitudes, such as racial bias. It also considers whites’ implicit racial attitudes and analyzes whether the implicit and explicit intergroup attitudes of BGLO members differ from those of other African Americans.

This chapter analyzes Stomp the Yard, a 2007 film by Sylvain White, and its construction of memory and identity. It argues that the film, which exemplifies “sounds and sophistication of stepping,” perpetuates a set of mythologies about race, class, urban settings, schools, and the memory of the civil rights movement. It also demonstrates how the film transforms these identities and memories into a kind of shallow and hallow commodity that dulls the sharp edge of black Greek-letter organizations’ past and present activism. Finally, it shows how racism, classism, and sexism are portrayed by the film as individual personality quirks or fraternal rivalry.

This chapter explores the role of critical and empirical scholarship on black Greek-letter organizations (BGLOs) within the framework of jurisprudence and in relation to two strands of legal philosophy, “formalism” and “realism.” It highlights the need for critical and empirical research on BGLOs and explains how theoretical insights from the social sciences can further advance the legitimacy of BGLOs. It also looks at the tension between “professional” and “public” social thought, a tension that has long plagued the development of sociology. It argues that a “public-realist” BGLO scholarship is not only possible but also necessary, and in fact is already taking place. It also discusses the “formalist/realist” and “professional/public” tension by citing the issue of hazing, pledging, and membership intake processes in BGLOs.

This chapter examines the interrelationships among membership, professionalism, and community activism in black Greek-letter organizations (BGLOs) by focusing on the life of Loraine Richardson Green, second national president of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA). More specifically, it looks at the connectivity between Green’s AKA affiliation, the realization of her unique sociology, and her life’s passion and ultimate career as a community servant and activist. The chapter first considers Green’s sociology, especially her paradigm of feminist pragmatism, and how her training as a pragmatist at the University of Chicago and her AKA affiliation gave her a unique perspective. It then discusses her association with AKA and her employment with the Chicago Board of Education, her affiliation with the Chicago School of Sociology, and her volunteer work and activism in the community. Finallly, it highlights the connectivity between Green’s AKA affiliation, her sociology, and her various roles in community activism to include her position on the Chicago public school board.

This chapter examines how Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. attempted to counter racial bias against African Americans with a full-length, Hollywood-style movie entitled Countdown at Kusini, which came out in 1976. Financed by Delta members, the film is a pan-African melodrama that centers on a rebellion against a corrupt colonialist government in the fictional African nation of Fahari. Kusini is a testament to how black Greek-letter organizations can confront racism via popular culture. The chapter looks at the social context in which the story of Kusini unfolds, along with the making and demise of the film.