Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 4-15-2018 "Fifty Shades of Black": The lB ack Racial Identity Development of Black Members of White Greek Letter Organizations in the South Danielle Ford Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Educational Leadership Commons, Higher Education Commons, and the Higher Education Administration Commons Recommended Citation Ford, Danielle, ""Fifty Shades of Black": The lB ack Racial Identity Development of Black Members of White Greek Letter Organizations in the South" (2018). LSU Master's Theses. 4697. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/4697 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “FIFTY SHADES OF BLACK”: THE BLACK RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT OF BLACK MEMBERS OF WHITE GREEK LETTER ORGANIZATIONS IN THE SOUTH A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in The School of Education by Danielle Ford B.S. Louisiana State University, 2012 May 2018 Don’t Quit When things go wrong as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all up hill, When the funds are low and the debts are high And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest if you must, but don't you quit. Life is strange with its twists and turns As every one of us sometimes learns And many a failure comes about When he might have won had he stuck it out; Don't give up though the pace seems slow— You may succeed with another blow. Success is failure turned inside out— The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, And you never can tell just how close you are, It may be near when it seems so far; So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit— It's when things seem worst that you must not quit. - John Greenleaf Whittier ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “It always seems impossible until it's done.” – Nelson Mandela T.G.I.F.! Thank God I’m Finished! Thank you to everyone who has ever supported me during this journey. Words here cannot express my appreciation and gratitude. There are some people specifically I’d like to recognize. To my mother Olivia: Mama, you’re the Queen of my heart. I miss you so much. My life changed the day yours ended. Since then, you have been my constant source of motivation and inspiration. The greatest compliment anyone can give me is when they say how I remind them of you. YOU were the greatest woman who ever lived and to be compared to you is an honor. I love you. To my father Arthur: Daddy, you are the best father anyone could have. Even when you embarrass me to others with stories, I still smile inside because I know that means you care. Thank you for always being there and for supporting me. I love you. To my siblings: Sam, Dionne, Joey, Darryl, and Keith, thank y’all for always being there for me and for continuing to support me throughout the years. I love y’all. To my closest friends: Katrice, Gena, Tara, Deleon, and Heather, thank y’all for always being there for me to vent, to cry, to complain, to entertain, and just being the wonderful friends you are. To my committee: Dr. Chen, Dr. Clayton, and especially my Chair Dr. Blanchard, thank you so much for taking the time to assist me in process. I literally could not have done it without you. To my participants: “AJ”, “Alexandra”, “Andy”, “Caroline”, “Dawn”, “Heath”, “Melvin”, “Rose”, and “Raphael” – thank you for your candor, openness, and honesty. I learned so much from you all and sincerely thank you for my participation. To Lawrence Ross whose book Blackballed inspired the topic of my research and who told me on the day we met to “write truth to power”. I will carry your words everywhere. To Victoria Archangel, my undergraduate Academic Advisor who served as the catalyst for my desire to be a higher education student affairs professional. Thank you for all that you did for me. You were confident in me when I was not confident in myself, and because of you, I want to be to a student what you were to me. May you Rest in Power. To all cats and kitties: I just really wanna acknowledge cats here. They’re awesome and underappreciated. Adopt a cat today! iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 7 Statement of the Problem .............................................................................................................. 10 Purpose of the Study ..................................................................................................................... 11 Research Questions and Study Design ......................................................................................... 11 Significance................................................................................................................................... 12 Theoretical Frameworks ............................................................................................................... 13 Subjectivity Statement .................................................................................................................. 14 Concluding Thoughts .................................................................................................................... 16 Terminology .................................................................................................................................. 16 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ....................................................................... 19 History of Fraternities and Sororities ............................................................................................ 19 Student Involvement ..................................................................................................................... 24 Racial Identity Development ........................................................................................................ 30 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 35 Research Design............................................................................................................................ 35 Trustworthiness Statement ............................................................................................................ 40 Participants .................................................................................................................................... 40 Researcher Bias ............................................................................................................................. 41 Limitations .................................................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS ..................................................................................................... 44 Major Themes ............................................................................................................................... 44 I-E-O Model and Nigressence ...................................................................................................... 62 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 68 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS .......................................................... 69 Research Questions Addressed ..................................................................................................... 69 Recommendations for Advising ................................................................................................... 71 Recommendations for Future Research ........................................................................................ 73 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 74 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 76 APPENDIX A: INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVAL ......................................... 83 APPENDIX B: RECRUITMENT POST ON FACEBOOK ........................................................ 84 iv APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW PROTOCOL ................................................................................. 85 APPENDIX D: CONSENT FORM .............................................................................................. 87 VITA ............................................................................................................................................. 88 v ABSTRACT It could