Hazing For Black Fraternities: A Case Study

Problem Hazing is an act that can happen in so many different ways. There are three different theories as to how hazing flourished into society today as reported by the Journal of Gender, Race, and Justice. It was mentioned that Ivy League schools often participated in hazing and fraternity members in some way, adopted it. Another theory mentioned by the journal was that military hazing was brought to college because of the service members who dropped out. Lastly it was made up by organizations that felt the membership to their club was worthy enough to inflict pain on individuals interested in joining them (Parks 2015). In the early 1900s, the occurrences of hazing seemed to be equal among the White universities and the historically

The purpose of hazing for Black fraternities aligns with the reasons every other Greek organization claims to haze: to stress the importance of membership in the organization and to help the new members form a new self-perception because their old lives are considered to be “flawed” (Jones 2000). “In 1990, the nine members of the NPHC suggested a ban on pledging (in addition to hazing) largely due to hazing deaths associated with Black fraternities” (Parks 2015). However, the suggestion from NPHC was not effective because hazing over the years has seemed to have continued to progress along with the physical harm associated with it. As mentioned above, there were hazing deaths associated with Black fraternities, way more than associated with any other type of Greek organization. At North Carolina Central University, a member of Omega Psi Phi, Nathan Swinson, died after “being forced to run several miles and complete a battery of grueling exercises” (Parks and Spencer 2013). Swinson is only one of many men who have died due to the injuries of hazing but that does not seem to stop the organizations from participating in the hazing