-
4 The Pledge Process as Sacrifice
- State University of New York Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
If solutions to the destructive behavior that sometimes manifests itself in BGFs are to be found, we must begin to take different approaches to understanding the impetus that lies at the heart of the pledge process. Critically speaking, when engaging the pledge process one must work diligently to frame it in such a way to view it not necessarily as a directionless anthropological aberration of black men who wish to impose violent behavior on one another. On the contrary, it must be approached as an activity that has been historically viewed as functional. The fact that injured pledges are victims of violent physical aggression is indisputable. Currently, however, we will not focus our attention on these injured individuals, but the fact that the modern pledge process is an operation of historical social import as well as a powerful aspect of black fraternity legend and lore. We must then understand that, contrary to the beliefs of many BGF members, at its heart, this process is a sacrificial rite that BGFs did not create. Therefore, the BGF pledge process is not unique in and of itself. All these factors combine to support the thesis that the modern BGF pledge process is a form of sacrificial ritual and such rites (be they mortal or not) are largely inaccessible to 47 The Pledge Process as Sacrifice Chapter Four intellectual explanation unless one can locate some basis for them in historical and contemporary social reality.1 VIOLENCE VEHICLES: RITUALS AS SOCIAL STABILIZERS As long as we insist on interpreting the violence of initiation rituals in purely individuo-psychological terms, we can only assume (in this case) that BGF members are dysfunctional sociopaths. This view must consequently suggest that members seek some sort of moral justification for their acts after the pledge process is completed by showering the newly initiated neophyte with “love” in the form of verbal and social acceptance or gifts. Upon initial observation , the pledge is simultaneously disdained and coveted because such quick movement from a position of loathing to one of love seems implausible. Pledges are often told by their Deans of Pledges (members who are primarily responsible for the progress and well being of potential initiates), “None of the brothers like you. You have nobody, but each other and me.” Beyond this creation of an illusion of aloneness and adversity, the reality must be that the pledge is somehow loved all along (whether this type of love is pure or healthy is arguable)—even when he is the object of violence from his fraternity -brothers-to-be. This love/loathe ambivalence would seem to be, on its face, nonsensical. When examined more closely, however, it can indeed be explained. Clearly fraternities are filled with rituals. These rituals (written or not) are nothing more than forms of behavior or interaction repeated again and again for the fraternal vehicle to function in a particular manner. Ritualistic processes are often employed to open and close fraternity meeting years, others at weddings, and others still at funerals. Many are performed with no threat of dissolution of the fold if they are neglected for one reason or another. The fraternal pledge process, however, is unique in two ways. First, it stands alone as the ritual perceived by many fraternity men as mandatory. The belief exists that if the pledge process is tampered with too extensively or eradicated, the very fabric of the organization will certainly unravel.2 If proper protocol is not followed at meetings or weddings, the fraternity is not necessarily in danger. The pledge process alone is viewed as that which has the power to inevitably determine the course of the group because it is seen as having an inordinate impact on what the neophyte is. The second reason the pledge ritual is unique directly relates to the first. It is the only rite in fraternities that does not ask for, but demands, sacrifice. This is not necessarily sacrifice of the altruistic type, but of the sort that places the pledge in positions that threaten him emotionally and physically at levels that are, in many cases, unequaled in intensity and largely unacceptable 48 Black Haze [54.172.95.106] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 13:56 GMT) in the larger society. The fact that the pledge process falls into this category moves it to a very different place from which it must be engaged. Most supporters of the ritualized pledge process defend it as central to fraternities’ purposes. Whether this is a truism does...