Before y’all start, let’s just get these five points about Divine Nine Greek hazing out of the way real quick. Just for housekeeping purposes:
1. Violently hazing people to join any organization isn’t meaningful, productive, or necessary to showcase the best of anyone involved.
2. Hazing has been a cultural norm in various institutions beyond Greek life for decades – marching bands, political circles, social clubs, gangs, and other various tropes have done such to garner traction.
3. On American campuses, hazing incidents are more prevalent and outstanding by white fraternities, sororities, and similar institutions than Black ones because they simply outnumber us.
4. Points #2 and #3 doesn’t let the Divine Nine off the hook just because “white people do it too” because Point #1 still remains…and last time I checked: Black people should be leaders, not followers.
5. Not that it should matter (because everyone should be able to publicly condemn violence anywhere), but I’m a proud member of a Divine Nine fraternity – not a cult.
Speaking for myself, the untimely and senseless death of Caleb Wilson, a 20-year-old junior at Southern University and A&M College, was devastating. For a young Black man to be killed while pledging a Black Greek-letter organization (BGLO) at an HBCU is a total nightmare.
It has been embarrassing and infuriating to see the mixed responses within the Black Greek community regarding this. Online deflection and/or the silencing of those who speak out against this tragedy resembles the same kind of behavior of police officers when the topic of law enforcement brutality comes up.
Yes, “not all of us” do it – but when some of us do, we must address it.
And again, just because white folks have been doing it long before us doesn’t give us a pass to replicate such problematic behavior. Because in America, it’s Black institutions (HBCUs, holidays, museums, programs, historic sites) that are currently under attack right now more than ever.
Tragedies such as what happened in Baton Rouge serves as the perfect lightning rod for President Donald Trump’s administration to justify further eliminating our Divine Nine and HBCUs.
Unfortunately, most of the public would probably stand back and let them do it because of the lack of outward advocacy from Black Greeks to combat such conduct in public. Now is not the time to turn a blind eye or ignore our community’s legitimate outcry when an innocent life is taken away from us.
If we truly believe Black Lives Matter, it starts in our own backyard. We should be demanding accountability and change when it comes to the necessary protection of Black people – especially our youth – in all things that we represent.
When I decided to be a part of a BGLO, I chose to be a part of a legacy of trailblazers, innovators, leaders, and changemakers – not a cult that cowardly hides when bad things happen and hypocritically points the finger elsewhere to deflect. Most of my experience has fortunately been the former and not the latter – which is why I implore other Black Greeks to step up, speak out, mobilize, and set the example – rather than the norm – when it comes to combating hazing.
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Ernest Owens is an award-winning journalist and author of “The Case for Cancel Culture.” You can check him out at ernestowens.com.