Greeks Breakdown Stereotypes of African-Americans

By Broadside Reporter Ethan Vaughan
Photo by Broadside Photographer Teddy Meyer

Brothers 2 Brothers, Sisters 2 Sisters, a forum focusing on gender and racial roles within the black community, took place on Thursday, Feb. 28, in the Johnson Center’s Rooms 249 and 240A.

The gathering was sponsored by a number of campus organizations, including the Office of Diversity Programs and Services, the African Students Association, Phi Beta Sigma, Inc. and Zeta Phi Beta, Inc. The two Greek chapters, a fraternity and a sorority, are primarily black in composition.

The program lasted from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. and attracted, by estimate of its organizers, between 20 and 30 participants.
Upon arrival, the students were divided into two groups, one male and one female, and then led for the first half of the event to separate rooms where each discussed the different perceptions and roles of their gender within and outside of the black community.

Various organizers supervised the event, among them Thomas Epps, President of Phi Beta Sigma; Akilah Jones, a Resident Director; Calvin Haney, an official with the Office of Diversity Programs and Services; and Dr. Mark Kidd, Associate Dean for University Life. Once the students had been divided by gender, they began an exercise in imagery and mental associations.

Around the floor in the center of each room were scattered various popular portrayals of African-Americans, along with words written on large cards. In the men’s group, adjectives like “lazy” and “illiterate” lay alongside pictures of everyone from belligerent-looking young men to artists, such as Tyreese.

The men reacted strongly to these widely-held views of them and commented on the social norms that had given rise to the prevailing beliefs about black males.

“I focused on the words [more than the images],” said junior Justin Nyekan.

He remarked that “lazy” reminded him of his mother’s complaints, while “success” brought to mind visions of family. The group laughed when Nyekan said that, for some reason, the word “thug” made him think of O.J. Simpson.
D’Leon Barnett, another student, said that the word “free” initially evoked the word “freeloader,” but he then reinterpreted it to mean that “life is free.”

Acknowledgment of the problems facing blacks, with hope towards what that demographic could achieve, was typical of the night. Many were realistically optimistic.

“I looked at the words, and I thought about characteristics of a black man,” Epps said. “Then I saw ‘illiterate,’ and I thought, ‘Why are we still illiterate?’”

While some spoke of the negative ideas circulating about black men in mainstream American culture, others struck a more positive note. One said that he thought black men were seen as creative, stylish, driven and hardworking.

Some students focused more on achieving personal goals and receiving a good education rather than worrying about what others thought of them.

At one point, Kidd put forth his own opinion, “There’s so many things we can be.”

A similar and more vigorous debate took place in the adjoining room, where the women confronted stereotypes that they say are an everyday reality for black females. There, photographs of Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé Knowles gazed up from the floor, while the words on placards were things like “bitch” and “bossy.”

Some expressed concern that women of color were supposed to conduct themselves in a more promiscuous way, with one voicing the opinion that women who assert themselves and “set [themselves] apart from that kind of behavior” become known as “bitches.”

“How come when a woman’s strong and stands up for what she believes in, she’s a bitch?” inquired another, citing Democratic presidential candidate and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as frequently being targeted with the label.

The women believed that some role models, such as Beyoncé, represent a standard of beauty difficult for most to attain. In addition, the division between light and dark-skinned blacks, a kind of self-segregation, was brought up.

Light-skinned women are often portrayed as more attractive than dark-skinned ones, a characterization that is considered unfair.

The forum participants considered general faults as well.

“African-American women have a little too much diva syndrome,” Jones said, going on to declare that the attitude in that bloc should be improved.

Afterward, the two groups were united to share what they had discussed.