Full Description
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.
Contents
Preface to the Second Edition: Black Haze Revisited
Preface to the First Edition
1. Hazing Then and Now
Concern, Change, and Questions
The Influence of the Ancient and Modern Worlds on Black Greek Violence
Falsehoods and Failure: The Epistemic Domino Effect and Ethics in Greekdom
2. Men, Media and Movements
Habermas, the Public Sphere, and a Critical Approach to the Media
Problems with Habermas
BGFS, Social Movements, and Identity
The Politics of Personal Involvement: Gazing through Fraternity Men's Eyes
3. The History of Black Greek-Letter Fraternities
American Greek-Letter Fraternalism
Black Entrance into American College Life
The Exclusion of Blacks from White Greek Life
The Founding of Black Greek-letter Fraternities
Alpha Phi Alpha
Kappa Alpha Psi
Omega Psi Phi
Phi Beta Sigma
Iota Phi Theta
BGF's Political Involvement
The Depoliticization of BGFs
4. The Pledge Process as Sacrifice
Violence Vehicles: Rituals as Social Stabilizers
The Commonalities of Modern Fraternity Ritual
Hazing and the Symbolic Journey
The Lure of Liminality: The Ritualistic Remaking of the Self
5. The Hegemonic Struggle and Domination in Black Greek-Letter Fraternities
Violence, Power, Hegemony, and Domination
Educated Gangs? To Pledge or Not to Pledge
Conservatism and Domination
BGF Ruling Blocs and the Membership Intake Epidemic
6. Acceptance, Freedom, and Identity Construction in Black Greek-Letter Fraternities
Formations of the Black Male Self
Economic Anxiety
Black Identity Fragmentation
The Self, Selves, and the Victory of Consent
Akrasia and Choice
7. Beyond the Fraternal Self
Afterword: Reflections On Failure
For Reputation and Revenue: The Champion and Sandusky Failures
The Organizational Bottom Line
The If Indictment
Acknowledgments
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index