As a graduate student of Sociology, I would like to provide the Daily Helmsman with my honest critique of "Opinions differ on racial segregation in Greek life" in the hopes that it helps the authors and editors to think carefully about all the ramifications of what they publish. I appreciate that the Helmsman wants to tackle such a fraught and controversial topic as racism in Greek organizations, but there were some assertions made in the article that must be challenged.
The absolute worst thing about this article is that it is inadvertently going to be misconstrued by readers, by students of this university. It is problematic to make assertions such as, "the [Panhellenic] Sororities are the white sororities," because this implies that there are only white members in all six Panhellenic groups on campus. Yet, the author stated that IFC and NPHC groups were predominately one race or another. The very wording of the argument implies that neither IFC nor NPHC groups are ALL black or ALL white. Nonwhite Panhellenic women on this campus should be outraged by this article. I am outraged. Moreover, I am outraged at the assumption that racial issues only refer to black and white, and that discrimination is only about race, not other issues such as religion. In sum, the coherency and structure this article lacks makes me sad that it was allowed to be published in the first place. Yet, I truly admire someone who attempts to take a stab at telling the ugly story of racism and its persistence in our society. However, it is so very crucial to understand the fundamental concepts of this issue and its counterparts.
As an aside, I recommend that every reader of my response read Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva.
