Chapter 10: The Experiences of Desi/South Asians in Black Greek-Letter Organizations

Harpalani (2013) notes that Desi-South Asians are often racially mis-or dis-placed, particularly in the context of a racial binary. This becomes even more complex when taking the diversity of the South Asian diaspora into consideration. Das Gupta et al. (2007) calls for the need to reimagine how we discuss the South Asian community, because of the impact colonialism had in the displacement of South Asian people. In the context of fraternity and sorority life (FSL), South Asian fraternities and sororities exist; however, they are relatively new and are navigating organizational obstacles (Badruddin, 2020). Understanding there has been an increase of nonBlack members of Black Greek-letter organizations (BGLOs; Hughey, 2007; Renee, 2020), this chapter will highlight the experiences of two individuals from the South Asian diaspora in BGLOs.