I hate that we even get to apply the word “segregation” to anything these days, but here I sit, in the year 2013 talking about it.

Coming out of the University of Alabama this month, there have been some pretty severe issues with what we would typically call “segregation,” but I am just going to go ahead and call it racism. Some might consider it “traditional,” but I believe that tradition is one of the most offensive aspects of life, unless we are talking about singing Christmas carols around an old piano with your grandparents or something because tradition allows us to continue practices that should have long long ago been destroyed. In this particular instance, let us talk about sorority life.

At the University of Alabama, the greek system is still almost entirely segregated. That means that there are Black sororities and white sororities, and I am sure there are sororities with women of other ethnicities, as well. “Why still segregated?” a normal person might wonder. Melanie Gotz, a girl with a clear head on her shoulders, and a heart in the right place, has literally raised her hand and asked this question of her sorority recently, though the answers are as muddled as why we have to talk about this in the first place.

Recently at the University, a young woman’s acceptance into Tri Delta was denied assumedly because she is Black, though the alums–who in a sorority are typically largely in charge of acceptance (ironic word choice)–cite nonsense reasons like “procedure” and “policies.”

I consider these non-reasons because procedures and policies can and should be changed continually as time goes by. If procedures and policies never changed, women would not be allowed to vote, and we would all have different water fountains to drink from, right? Procedures and policies are not written in stone, nor are they finalized in any particular way. Nothing in life is. Everything and everyone has the ability to change.

Fifty years ago, James Hood and Vivian Malone were the first Black students accepted into the University of Alabama, and though it is a chill-inducing and significant piece of history for the world of academics, and for our country in general, it is slightly devalued when stories like this one are brought to our attention. Our ancestors did not fight for us to continue to rely on “procedures” and “policies” that treat any individual human as less than that. Malone and Hood broke racial barriers by fighting their way into a school that had never before allowed Black students to attend, but is is true acceptance if we are attending the same schools, but on different sides of the hall?

Gotz, one of the many girls who raised issue with the Black woman’s pledge being denied, claims that the sororities on campus are “too scared of the repercussions” of integration. I believe she hit the nail on the head, for I want to believe that not everyone who accepts intolerance as the norm is a bona fide racist human being, but likely afraid of making a big change. It is scary to do anything unfamiliar, or potentially controversial. There are those of us who go boldly into territories that are not necessarily acceptable based on the guidelines of a job or an academic structure, and there are those of us who shy away and walk the straight line, eyes down and head not held so high.

Clearly, I am the kind of person who pushes the limits of acceptability. Like Gotz, I am the kind to raise my hand and talk about the uncomfortability of life, and not to toot my own horn too loudly, but without us, where would the state of the nation stand today? I am the first person to force realization that our country is still years behind where we should be with the acceptance of others–we are still fighting for marriage equality, which is shameful and stupid–but I am also the kind of person who can look back on our history and learn from my elders.

We learn and grow through uncomfortable situations. Race is an uncomfortable subject for many people. White people are often unsure how to act or what to say in regards to racial justice. It is difficult to speak from a level of privilege to any minority, so many would rather avoid the subject. As a minority (and yes, I am a minority), it is difficult to not let emotions and personal life experience take over. To put it plainly, it is hard to not be pissed off all the time.

This sorority thing is embarrassing. Not that I had any respect or interest in sororities in the first place, but if I had, this realization that a bunch of white girls won’t let a Black person–an extremely “qualified” Black person, at that–into their club makes me irritated. To be totally honest, I think my irritation lays strongest in the fact that this group of soon-to-be-college-educated young women think that their discrimination is important. By not allowing a Black woman into a group of people,  these girls are not making a point or changing the world or challenging society, they are simply reinforcing the fact that our country is despicably behind the times.

“Someone has to break the rules to make a change, and everyone is scared to do that,” Gotz commented.

Ain’t that the truth. I challenge everyone to break the rules, and make the changes. By any means necessary.

Featured image via rawimage, Hood and Malone image via nydailynews, Hood quote image via truentimages.