Black haze : violence, sacrifice, and manhood in Black Greek-letter fraternities / Ricky L. Jones.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Jones, Ricky L., author.

Series:

• SUNY series in African American studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Greek letter societies--United States.
• Greek letter societies.
• Hazing.
• African American college students--Conduct of life.
• African American college students.
• United States.
• Hazing--United States.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 202 pages ; 23 cm.

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Albany, NY : SUNY Press, [2015]

Summary:

Expanded and revised edition of the first book devoted solely to black fraternity hazing. Are black men naturally violent? Do they define manhood in the same way as their counterparts across lines of race? Are black Greek-letter fraternities among the most dangerous student organizations on American college and university campuses? Can their often-dangerous initiation processes be stopped or even modified and, if not, what should be done about them? In this second edition of Black Haze, Ricky L. Jones takes on these questions and more. The first edition was an enlightening and sometimes disturbing examination of American men's quest for acceptance, comfort, reaffirmation, and manhood in a world where their footing is often unstable. In this new edition Jones not only provides masterful philosophical and ethical analyses but he also forces the engagement of a terrifying real world process that damages and kills students with all too frequent regularity. With a revealing new preface and stunning afterword, Jones immerses the reader in an intriguing and dark world marked by hypermasculinity, unapologetic brutality, and sometimes death. He offers a compelling book that ranges well beyond the subject of hazing--one that yields perplexing questions and demands difficult choices as we move forward in addressing issues surrounding fraternities, violent hazing, black men, and American society. Ricky L. Jones is Professor and Chair of the Department of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville and the author of What's Wrong with Obamamania? Black America, Black Leadership, and the Death of Political Imagination, also published by SUNY Press.

Contents:

• Chapter 1 Hazing Then and Now 1
• Concern, Change, and Questions 2
• The Influence of the Ancient and Modern Worlds on Black Greek Violence 7
• Falsehoods and Failure: The Epistemic Domino Effect and Ethics in Greekdom 10
• Chapter 2 Men, Media, and Movements 15
• Habermas, the Public Sphere, and a Critical Approach to the Media 17
• Problems with Habermas 19
• BGFs, Social Movements, and Identity 20
• The Politics of Personal Involvement: Gazing through Fraternity Men's Eyes 22
• Chapter 3 The History of Black Greek-Letter Fraternities 27
• American Greek-Letter Fraternalism 29
• Black Entrance into American College Life 32
• The Exclusion of Blacks from White Greek Life 33
• The Founding of Black Greek-letter Fraternities 37
• Alpha Phi Alpha 39
• Kappa Alpha Psi 40
• Omega Psi Phi 41
• Phi Beta Sigma 42
• Iota Phi Theta 43
• BGF's Political Involvement 44
• The Depoliticization of BGFs 48
• Chapter 4 The Pledge Process as Sacrifice 51
• Violence Vehicles: Rituals as Social Stabilizers 51
• The Commonalities of Modern Fraternity Ritual 57
• Hazing and the Symbolic Journey 59
• The Lure of Liminality: The Ritualistic Remaking of the Self 66
• Chapter 5 The Hegemonic Struggle and Domination in Black Greek-Letter Fraternities 75
• Violence, Power, Hegemony, and Domination 78
• Educated Gangs? To Pledge or Not to Pledge 82
• Conservatism and Domination 96
• BGF Ruling Blocs and the Membership Intake Epidemic 102
• Chapter 6 Acceptance, Freedom, and Identity Construction In Black Greek-Letter Fraternities 109
• Formations of the Black Male Self 109
• Economic Anxiety 110
• Black Identity Fragmentation 112
• The Self, Selves, and the Victory of Consent 114
• Akrasia and Choice 119
• Substitution of the Fraternal Self 124
• Chapter 7 Beyond the Fraternal Self 129
• Afterword: Reflections On Failure 135
• For Reputation and Revenue: The Champion and Sandusky Failures 136
• The Organizational Bottom Line 140
• The If Indictment 143.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

• 9781438456737
• 1438456735
• 9781438456720
• 1438456727

OCLC:

886880103