EDITOR’S NOTE: This column contains strong language. It does not reflect the views of The Daily Reveille or its editorial board.
After these first days of class, there’s no doubt you’ve seen the masses of ponytailed, tank-top wearing sorority members walking in groups around campus.
You might think they’re cute, you might not understand the big deal about being a Greek or you might be one yourself. But you probably wouldn’t have thought of them as racist.
Early last week, a Snapchat screenshot surfaced on social media sites depicting three Chi Omega members from the University of Alabama with the caption “Chi O got NO niggas!!!!!” followed by several emojis.
When is a better time to use emojis than when you’re being a casual, blatant racist?
I normally would reserve this space to offer up some cheap shots about Alabama, but it seems some of the students there also disapprove of this behavior.
Not only did the University of Alabama’s newspaper, The Crimson White, cover the Snapchat incident, last year they published an entire exposé on their University’s racially biased Greek organizations.
The piece details the tension among black recruits, the non-black sorority members who support them and the non-black sorority members and alumnae who keep UA’s Greek life segregated.
“The UA Greek system is still almost completely divided along racial lines,” The Crimson White reported.
It has been more than a decade since one of the university’s sororities have accepted a black student, and it was like seeing pigs fly.
An anonymous Chi Omega member told The Crimson White a black recruit, who received perfect scores during rush, was “dropped” by the chapter’s rush adviser.
It’s looking as if the University of Alabama’s Chi Omega “got” no black women on purpose.
The president of LSU’s Chi Omega chapter did not respond to a request for a comment on this issue, which leads me believe that solidarity with fellow Greeks might be more important than bringing your sorority into the 21st century.
I even have to question the countless anonymous sources used in The Crimson White’s story. Many of these sorority members clearly see an issue with preventing black women from joining their sorority, yet they would rather quietly disagree than do anything about it.
If you look at any Greek’s Facebook feed, you’re bound to see them refer to their fellow sorority or fraternity members as their “sisters” or “brothers.” A current fundraising campaign for the Chi Omega sorority is even called “Sisterhood Never Stops,” but it is clear for some of the members sisterhood stops at one thing: being black.
If being Greek means finding a family outside of your own bloodlines, why stop at recruiting people who only look like you and have a similar experience to you?
In Chi Omega’s official mission statement, the organization mentions words like “friendship” and “integrity.” However, there is no integrity or sense of friendship in the actions of these Chi Omega members.
Having a fraternity or a sorority composed entirely of upper-middle class, private school-educated white people is not only racist and classist, it ensures every new generation of that organization looks the same as it did over a hundred years ago.
In a twisted way, Greek organizations are preparing its members for the real world  — if you’re white, you’ll fit in just fine.
According to The Fraternity Advisor, nearly every president and vice president, over 75 percent of Congress and the Senate and leaders of 43 of the top 50 corporations in America were all Greek.
It’s probably no coincidence that the makers of often-racist policies in American politics got their start in organizations that seem to thrive by regularly excluding black members.
There is no excuse and no forgiving the Chi Omega members who prided themselves on being part of an all-white sorority. This is old-school racism at its absolute worst.
SidneyRose Reynen is a 19-year-old film and media arts and art history sophomore from New Orleans. You can reach her on Twitter @sidneyrose_TDR.