(iPoster) From Critique to Complexity: A Misreading of Black Greek Life

• In Event: Poster Session: Ralph Bunche Summer Institute (RBSI) Scholars

Abstract

This study investigates whether membership in Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs) predicts stronger feelings of linked fate, increased adherence to respectability politics, and/or increased feelings of racial resentment towards other Black people. Drawing on data from the 2024 Princeton-Jackson State National Election Survey, I conducted a series of ordinary least squares regression analyses to test these relationships. Contrary to existing literature, the results show no statistically significant relationship between BGLO membership and linked fate, respectability politics, and there was significantly less racial resentment compared to the greater population. These findings challenge assumptions about the homogenizing effect of Black Greek life and raise new questions about intragroup diversity in Black political identity. This research offers a nuanced view of elite Black institutions and their political and social implications.

Author

• Camrynn Janica Leann Wimberly, Jackson State University