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Root columnist opines her thoughts on African-American soroities

Opinions expressed in this column are those of the writer.

 

Black sororities are a cisgender, straight women’s club. There, I said it! And as a straight, cisgender Afro-Caribbean woman, I noticed how my privilege shielded me from certain challenges as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

I say this about my organization and others when I say it’s time to revisit what it means to be a National Pan-Hellenic Council, or NPHC, woman. And by that, I mean it’s time to stop clutching our pearls about lifestyles we don’t “accept” or “understand,” and admit that we have created a culture that is the antithesis of liberating black people. And I’m not the only one who sees that.

As organizations rooted in Christianity, sororities follow certain traditions that underscore heteronormative and feminine ideas about women that make it difficult to fit the mold. For 35-year-old Rachel Crouch, this made it difficult to “pass” or simply be an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. Continued here

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank Nuwer is the Alaska author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, High School Hazing, Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader. He has written articles or columns on hazing for the Sunday Times of India, Toronto Globe & Mail, Harper's Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His new book is Hazing: Destroying Young Lives from Indiana University Press. He is married to Malgorzata Wroblewska Nuwer of Warsaw, Poland and Fairbanks, Alaska. Nuwer, former columnist for the Greenville (Ohio)Early Bird, finished a stint as managing editor of the Celina Daily Standard to accept a new position as managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.
Nuwer was named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists columnist of the year in 2021 for his “After Darke” column in the Early Bird. He also won third place for the column in 2022 from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Gosia, recently of Union City, Ind., have owned 20 acres in Alaska for many years. “The move is a sort-of coming home for us,” said Nuwer. As a journalist, he’s written about the Alaskan Iditarod sled-dog race and other Alaska topics. Read his musings in his blog at Real Alaska Daily--http://realalaskadaily.com.

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