The Princeton Review recently released negative comments from Mississippi State students about race relations and Greek dominance on campus.
I checked the Web site and found that the listed comments about race were few and equally negative and positive. One student said that our campus routinely “exemplifies Southern hospitality.” Other characterizations included were that the students observe “Deep South racial tension.”
Of course, they also noted that Greeks run the campus.
These notions are true, but you have to take into account certain circumstances.
Attitudes about Greek involvement is obviously strong. I haven’t seen so many students get enraged over an article since last year’s Reflector editor, Wilson Boyd, accused sororities of “horse trading” Homecoming nominations.
There is a reason that Greeks seem to “run the school.” As Mama Joe said in “Soul Food,” “One finger pointing blame can’t make no impact, but five fingers balled up can deliver a mighty blow.” This is the philosophy of an organized group. Alone you can do little; together you can conquer the world.
When a student at a university makes the Greek cut, they are encouraged from day one to be involved on campus, whether it is in student government or in some other activity. It’s a concerted effort to bring acclaim to their organizations and to enrich the college experience of their members.
The same could be said of any truly organized group, ethnic or Greek. The central goal of any social or Greek organizations is to form a fellowship of members who will do positive things in unison.
Sometimes the need to produce leaders turns into a need to dominate every single “important” organization. This happens and it breeds resentment, which leads to negative perceptions.
For independents to be on par with the Greeks, they first have to develop a commitment to be as involved as serious as the Greeks.
To the few Greeks that think their “manifest destiny” to totally dominate every SA office and campus organization, it’s not. This narrow-minded hubris is what breeds resentment.
No matter what you say about the Greeks, at MSU, more than any campus with a Greek presence, I have observed a more cordial independent-Greek relationship. Let’s continue that.
What about the “Deep South racial tensions?” The race problem is not about hatred. Instead, this race problem is about cultural divisions.
No matter where I go, from the most diverse places like D.C. and Florida to Mississippi, I find separate cultures based on race. This is an occurrence called group identification. Sociology tells us that people tend to gravitate to those who act alike, share the same politics, share the same religious beliefs and many other indicators.
The difference between here and many other places is that there is little occurrence here of what I like to call “the third group.” The third group of people, without regard to political correctness or racial connotations, embraces a circle of people outside of their groups. These are people who break bread with, worship with and socialize with others outside of their normal group. They don’t do this out of a need to show they are racially progressive but instead to embrace people with a sincerity of true friendship.
We need to build that third group. As long as there is a visual and social concept of race, our society will have group identification.
What’s the dilemma?
The problem I run into is that the people who complain about racial divisions in our society or those who say that it is nonexistent are the ones who can’t name a single person outside of their race who they have broken bread with, worshipped with or socialized with.
Many will wonder, “Why is my environment so racist?” or “What’s the big deal with race?” Think to yourself and ask what you have to do to improve the situation.
Edward Sanders is a junior political science major. He can be reached at [email protected].