Another Inhumane Moment in Pledging History

In a story that reads like one I’ve read before, a young man had a gigantic hole beaten into his ass by the brothers of Kappa Alpha Psi at Florida A&M University.
Oh yeah, I have read this before. Just in Baton Rouge at LSU.
I’ll skip the pleasantries–this shit has to stop, and it has to stop now.
Those that know me are aware of my distaste for the black Greek universe. Beyond my issues with phony, ascribed notions of elite brotherhood, I just can’t reconcile any practice where beating the shit out of people is treated as beneficial or where getting the shit beaten out of you is supposed to be noble. Fuck that.
But on campuses all over the country, young men are assaulted–and allow themselves to be assaulted–in order to join a frat and get all the liquor, weed, and trim that come with letters.
Oh yeah, and they get brotherhood also…though it’s clearly a strange definition of brotherhood considering how many people have to get their asses beaten.
But there’s no point I can make about hazing that hasn’t been made a million times over. No one really believes that shit is cool. But people do perpetuate the practice because they believe the rigors of getting mollywopped were essential to making them the people they ultimately became.
Such is one of the follies of youth, I suppose. Kids are more likely to look at an end result, check some of the things that took place on the way to that destination and determine that everything that happened on the way was essential to making them the people they ultimately became. That’s well and good, but I’m sure there has to be a better way than this for frats and sororoties to create bonding on lines.
But there’s no need to belabor that point. Let’s check some great quotes from the FAMU situation. This is from LeNedra Carroll, the PR chief at FAMU.

“Secondly, we want to make it very clear that hazing is not condoned, supported (or) tolerated here at Florida A&M University. It’s illegal; it’s against the law.”

And try this one from Sam Hamilton, Kappa Alpha Psi’s polemarch.

“Kappa Alpha Psi has a zero tolerance of any behavior involving hazing. It’s something that has no place.”

For the both of them, I have one word–bullshit.
That’s right, bullshit. Stop pretending as though hazing isn’t condoned or tolerated because it is. Every black fraternity I know of has a ridiculous process, one where getting beaten is just par for the course. Lines are “underground,” but everybody knows the deal. I’m tired of these organizations and schools pretending like they don’t know what goes on during pledging processes because they do. In fact, many university administrators endured these same processes themselves, so they’re just trying to piss on my head under the guise or rain when they say they don’t tolerate this stuff. Schools have spent years turning blind eyes to students walking around like zombies because they don’t get sleep, probate shows where the neos wear shades to cover the bruises on their faces, kids walking around with limps and hair that hasn’t been cut in weeks and kids going ghost from class for weeks because they can’t be seen in their physical conditions because it would give away that they’re on line.
So save that shit for someone that doesn’t know the deal. If schools and organizations really want to do away with hazing, they can. They can supervise intake processes and establish stronger penalties against those that abuse pledges. They can do better jobs of protecting those that decide to report the abuses they suffer while on line. Basically, they can do something.
But really, they don’t. That’s why this prehistoric system continues. And until someone with some clout takes a stand, it will never stop.
But how sad is it that people are willing to put themselves through these things just to be members of an organization? The easy argument many Greeks put forth is that students willingly enter into processes, so they take whatever they get when they walk in.
Nice try.
Now that I’m closer to 30 than 20, I look at college kids differently. Basically, they’re morons. I don’t mean as badly as that sounds, but they are. They do stupid things, make stupid decisions and typically have fucked up priorities. Just because a 19-year old kid is willing to get his ass beaten to join an organization doesn’t mean it’s cool to beat his ass.
Cats mostly pull this shit in pledging because they can. When grown men decide to pledge, I guarantee you they don’t go through the same hell that the kids in college do. Why? Not only do they have too much to do to be dealing with all of that, they also ain’t goin’ for that shit. Run up on a 35-year old man and threaten to hit him in the face and see how that shit really goes down. Go ahead, try it.
And if he takes it, he’s a stone cold bitch. Yeah, I said it (first time I’ve used the word “bitch” in that context on this site, so you know I mean it).
So I pose this to Kappa Alpha Psi, Alpha Phi Alpha, Omega Psi Phi, Iota UPS, and Phi Beta Sigma–if you really want hazing to stop, if you really don’t condone or tolerate it, then make it stop. Go to these schools and put the fear of God into these kids and make it stop. And those old heads that come back for the privilege of whoopin’ ass, send them home. Put them out. After they get out of jail, that is.
That’s what you can do. If you really want hazing to stop, that is. But if you all think that abuse is a necessary part of being in a Greek organization, just shut your fuckin’ doors. If that’s the only way to do it, kick rocks. You all contribute a great deal to the community at-large and to college campuses. But if you can’t do it without dehumanizing those that want to be members, than keep your service and programs and get off every yard on campus.
Had this kid at FAMU been my son, someone would be dead right now. Might be me, might be one of the brothers, but it’s unlikely we all could have walked out of a room breathing. And I think it’s a matter of time before something like that happens.
So get it right or get gone.
And I’m done.