“They Expect You to Be Better”: Mentoring as a Tool of Resistance Among Black Fraternity Men

Abstract

This study examines the role of mentorship in black Greek letter fraternities (BGLFs) in resisting cultural and institutional oppression. Based on 20 interviews with black male college students, we build upon the works of others that have sought to examine the functions BGLFs play among black men in college. We suggest that BGLF participation offers collegiate black men mentorships with older members who motivate them to succeed personally and academically, support in integrating them into the black student community, and helps develop their professionalism and leadership. This mentorship allows young black men to contest the negative controlling images of black men culturally, and the lack of institutional support at predominantly white colleges and universities.

Citation

Armstrong, J. and Jackson, B.A. (2017), "“They Expect You to Be Better”: Mentoring as a Tool of Resistance Among Black Fraternity Men", Oppression and Resistance (Studies in Symbolic Interaction, Vol. 48), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 175-190. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0163-239620170000048012