Racial Discrimination in Fraternal Organizations

Russell C. Wintersteen's headstone resides just outside of the iron fence in the Brown's Memorial Cemetery.  Unlike most of the headstones in the cemetery, Wintersteen's headstone has more information than just his name, birth, and death dates.  A Masonic emblem is placed just next to his birth and death dates, indicating that he was a member of the Freemasons.  The emblem on his headstone indicates that his membership with the fraternity was a defining part of his identity.  This emblem led me to research more about the Freemasons, a not so secret society that traces back to the middle ages and is the oldest fraternal organization in the United States and the world.  

My research led me to uncover sources detailing behavior practice by Masons that does not align with their emphasis on brotherhood and charitability.  Instead, I uncovered accounts of racial discrimination and segregation.  After finding many accounts of racial bias within the organization, I decided to broaden my research to racial discrimination and segregation within fraternal organizations in the United States.  Unfortunately, there was no shortage of accounts of racial discrimination within American fraternal organizations, especially on college campuses. In Tyra Black's article about racism in fraternities, she writes about college fraternal organizations:

"Although black and white fraternity members claimed that their parties were open to everyone, they all reported that fraternity parties tend to be racially segregated.  Black fraternity members reported that that white men had never pledged their fraternities.  One black fraternity member reported this with some disgust, notitng that his fraternitie was 'all' black, despite the fact that it had been labelled 'interracial' since 1945.  Both white fraternity and sorority members attempted to make these racial divisions seem 'normal'. At the same time, all the black participants reports a racially hostile campus and white Greek system."

--Tyra Black, "Racism, Sexism, and Aggression: A Study of Black and White Fraternities" p. 368

Although racism within fraternal organizations is not as blatant as it once was, it still exists and is used as a way to segregate black and white members.  When fraternal organizations continue to practice traditions steeped in racial bias, racial eqaulity within the organization is impossible to achieve.  If these traditions are not ammended, racial discrimination and segregation will continue to persist in fraternal organizations. 

Source: Tyra Black, Joanne Belknap, and Jennifer Ginsburg. "Racism, Sexism, and Aggression: A Study of Black and White Fraternities." In African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision, edited by Brown Tamara L., Parks Gregory S., and Phillips Clarenda M., 368. University Press of Kentucky, 2005. http://www.jstor.org.mutex.gmu.edu/stable/j.ctt2jctpn.18.

Racial Discrimination in Fraternal Organizations