The Impact of Colorism on Historically Black Fraternities and Sororities
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Nova Southeastern University NSUWorks Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses CAHSS Theses and Dissertations and Dissertations 1-1-2013 The mpI act of Colorism on Historically Black Fraternities and Sororities Patience Denece Bryant Nova Southeastern University, [email protected] This document is a product of extensive research conducted at the Nova Southeastern University College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. For more information on research and degree programs at the NSU College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, please click here. Follow this and additional works at: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_dcar_etd Part of the African American Studies Commons, Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Educational Sociology Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Share Feedback About This Item NSUWorks Citation Patience Denece Bryant. 2013. The Impact of Colorism on Historically Black Fraternities and Sororities. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences. (20) http://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_dcar_etd/20. This Dissertation is brought to you by the CAHSS Theses and Dissertations at NSUWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of NSUWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Impact of Colorism on Historically Black Fraternities and Sororities By Patience Denece Bryant A Dissertation Proposal Presented to the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Nova Southeastern University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Nova Southeastern University 2012 Dedication My dissertation is dedicated to my parents Andrea and Jimmie. For without their support for almost three decades I would not be here today. Despite being born into a world that often said that being black and being a female automatically put two strikes against me, they never told me what I could not do, but only encouraged me to be the very best at what I wanted to do. So thank you Mommy and Daddy, I love you. Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank the Lord for helping me get to this point. This has been a very long journey and there were times that He was the only person that I had to listen to me. He kept me. Special thanks to my dissertation committee chair Dr. Berna who pushed me to reach limits that I did not know that I even had. Thank you for ignoring me when I fought you and for believing in me and my goals. Thank you to my other committee members Dr. McKay and Dr. Campbell; it has been a pleasure being your student over these past few years thank you for sitting on my committee. I wish that I could personally thank everyone who has supported me throughout this process, from my family to my coworkers to all of my friends scattered around the United States, you all played a part in helping me get through this whether you know it or not. Thank you would not be enough for all of the love, laughter, wisdom, encouragement, support, and even food that was given to me in order to ensure that I completed what I started. There were times that you all believed in me more than I did and for that I once again would like to say thank you. Abstract This dissertation study was conducted in order to examine and gain an insight on two topics that are considered to be highly under researched: American historically black fraternities and sororities and colorism within the back American community. The purpose of the study was to examine the impact that colorism has had on black American collegiate Greek letter organizations. Using the qualitative phenomenological approach, 18 graduate or alumni members, two from each of the nine historically black Greek letter organizations that make up the National Pan-Hellanic Council were interviewed using open ended questions to see what impact (if any) colorism has had on historically black fraternities and sororities. During the interviews the following five major themes emerged: discriminatory practices between black Americans, stereotyping black Greek letter organizations, stereotyping skin tones, colorism as a part of American history, and colorism as being permanently a part of the black American community. The following theories were also explored during the study: Social Identity Theory, Double Consciousness, Primary Identification Theory, and Conflict Caused by Colorism, to further see what impact colorism had on historically black fraternities and sororities. Through these five themes and theories, it was found that colorism has had and continues to have a significant impact on not only members of historically black fraternities and sororities, but also that of members of the black American community as a whole. Table of Contents Dedication……………………………………………………………………………..………….. i Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………….……. ii Abstract………………………………………………………………………………….………..iii Chapter One: INTRODUCTION…………………………………...……………………...….…..1 Statement of Problem…………………………………………………………….…….….4 Purpose of Study………………………………………………………………….…….…6 Definitions……………………………………………………………………………..…..8 Chapter Two: REVIEW OF LITERATURE……………………………………………….……13 Introduction………………………………………………………………………….…...13 History of Colorism and Black Americans…………………………...……...…….…….14 History of Social Organizations and Black Americans……………...……………….….25 Student Organization s in Higher Education…………………………………………….26 History of Higher Education in the United States……………………………….26 Collegiate Student Organizations……………………………………………..…28 History of Collegiate Greek Fraternities and Sororities in the U.S……………...31 Black Greek Letter Organizations……………………………………………...….….…34 Results of Colorism………………………………………………………...……………49 Summary…………………………………………………………………………………59 Chapter Three: METHEDOLOGY………………………………………………….…….……..60 Restatement of the Problem and Purpose……………………………………….…….....60 Restatement of the Research Questions………………………………………………….61 Design of the Study……………………………………………….………………...……62 Interview Questions……………………………………...……………………....64 Subjects…………………………………………………………...……………………...66 Alpha Phi Alpha……………………………………...…………………………..66 Alpha Kappa Alpha………………………………...…………………………….68 Kappa Alpha Psi………………………………..………………………………..71 Omega Psi Phi………………………………………………...………………….73 Delta Sigma Theta………………………………………...……………………...74 Phi Beta Sigma……………………………………...……………………………76 Zeta Phi Beta ……………………………………...…………………………......78 Sigma Gamma Rho………………………………...…………………………….79 Iota Phi Theta……………………………………...……………………………..81 Procedure………………………………………………………………………………...84 Data Collection…………………………………………………………………………..86 Chapter Four: Analysis of Data and Theoretical Framework……………………………………87 Overview………………………………………………………………………………....87 Organization of Data Analysis…………………………………………………...88 Subjects…………………………………………………………………………..88 Presentation of Descriptive Characteristics of Respondents…………………….90 Research Questions………………………………………………………………92 Interview Questions……………………………………………………………...92 Analysis of Data…………………………………………………….……………………95 Research Questions Research Question One…………………………………………………..95 Research Question Two………………………………………………….97 Research Question Three………………………...……………………..100 Research Question Four………………………...………………………102 Major Themes………………………………………………………..…………104 Discriminatory Practices Between Black Americans………..…………105 Stereotyping Black Greek Letter Organizations………………….....….108 Stereotyping Skin Tones………………………………………..………111 Colorism as a Part of American History………………………..………114 Colorism as Being Permanently a Part of the Black American Community……………………………………………………….…….116 Research Findings……………………………………………………………..………..119 Theoretical Framework…………………………………………………………..……..121 Social Identity Theory…………………………………………..………122 Double Consciousness………………………………………………….123 Primary Identification Theory………………………………….……….124 Colorism the Cause of Conflict…………………………………………127 Chapter Five: Discussions, Conclusions, Implications, and Recommendations…………...…..131 Overview………………………………………………………………………...……...131 Purpose of the Study…………………………………...……………………….131 Review of Methodology…………………………………..…………………....132 Discussions……………………………………………………………..………………134 Discriminatory Practices Between Black Americans…………..………………135 Stereotyping Black Greek Letter Organizations……….…………….…………136 Stereotyping Skin Tones……………………………………………….……….136 Colorism as a Part of American History………………………………….…….137 Colorism as Being Permanently a Part of Black American Community…….…137 Theoretical Framework…………………………………………………………138 How Colorism Causes Conflict………………………………………...140 How Colorism Continues to be Passed on Among Black Americans….142 Challenges and Limitations Faced by Black Americans Due to Colorism Conflict……………………………………………..…………………..145 Challenges and Limitations……………………………………………………..147 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………..148 Research Question One…………………………………………………149 Research Question Two………………………………………………...150 Research Question Three………………….……………………………150 Research Question Four………………………………………………...151 Implications……………………………………………………………………………..153 Recommendations………………………………………………………………………154 Recommendations for Implications………………………………….…………154 Recommendations for Future Research………………………………………...155 Final Thoughts………………………………………………………………………….157 Appendix