Black fraternities and sororities were designed to uplift and support our communities. Most Greek organizations claim to do this without hazing, a degrading way of initiating new members. However, too often this European tradition leaves young people like Caleb Wilson dead or seriously injured.
Hazing dates back to ancient Greece. In 400 B.C.E., the philosopher Plato noticed his students tormenting and humiliating each other as a ritual of bonding.
Black fraternities borrowed hazing from white fraternities in the mid-1900s. It was believed that these rituals of initiation gave new members a sense of identity and exclusivity. One sociologist described it as Black men’s internalization of how society has historically treated them. But does that make it okay?
As members of a community, we owe it to ourselves to cherish and protect each other. Hazing, even in the name of bonding or solidarity, is not just a matter of “boys will be boys.” When we lose brilliant Black minds like Caleb Wilson’s, we lose a part of our future. And we can’t afford that.