VH1′s new reality drama “Sorority Sisters” seems like an unremarkable extension of the network’s existing, and successful lineup of shows. If you’ve seen one, you’ve probably seen them all — the “Love & Hip Hop” franchise, “Basketball Wives” and “Mob Wives,” to name a few. They all feature the same general formula: occasionally violent — predominantly female-driven — drama and petty feuds played up for the camera.
But this time, VH1 has awakened a sleeping giant – namely black Americans who are livid that the network’s newest show has dragged black Greek letter organizations into the miry world of reality TV.
That decision has poured vinegar into deep historical wounds in the black community and has prompted protests online and calls for advertisers to abandon the show.
After years of quiet disapproval about reality television’s depiction of black people — and black women in particular– “Sorority Sisters” has managed to bring a simmering anger to a full boil.
“We’ve always been angry,” said Robin Caldwell, who has helped organize the effort to boycott the show’s advertisers. “This is just like the straw the broke the camel’s back.”
The show follows the lives of nine women who are members of the four sororities that comprise the “Divine Nine” black Greek organizations: Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Gamma Rho.
Most of them were founded by black college students at the turn of the 20th century, when they were an elite minority among minorities. For that reason, history of black Greek life is intrinsically tied to the fight for civil and human rights. As any member of those organizations will eagerly tell you, Martin Luther King Jr. was a member of the fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha, and Ruby Dee was a member of Delta Sigma Theta, and Zora Neale Hurston was a member of Zeta Phi Beta. The list goes on and on.
So when VH1 decided to apply its tried-and-true formula to take viewers inside the world of black sororities, the reaction was overwhelmingly negative.
Critics of the show say “Sorority Sisters” couldn’t come at a worse time, with black Americans fighting to draw attention to racial biases and inequities through the “black lives matter” protests sparked by the deaths of several black men in confrontations with white police officers.
Even the breakout star of “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” – a VH1 show that perfected the art of raunchy reality television — panned network’s decision to air black America’s dirty laundry.
“I am a Delta, I have acted a fool on TV; but at the same time, I didn’t do it with a Delta Sigma Theta tatted on my back in front of people,” singer K. Michelle said during a radio appearance last week. “You don’t get on TV in the name of women that came before us and do what you are doing.
“Especially at a time when our black community is struggling so much with things, the sororities and fraternities are the one thing we look to in college that uplift the community.”
K. Michelle is probably the last person critics of “Sorority Sisters” thought they could count on as an ally in this fight, but her comments highlight the biggest grievance against the show, which began airing last week and returns for a second episode on Monday night.
“Sorority Sisters” follows the women years after their stints in school and appears to use their organizational affiliations as a means of separating them into warring social groups. There has been little mention so far of the sororities’ significance and place in the history of the American civil rights movement.
“I think it’s really bothering people because in 2014 nobody knows limits anymore,” said Reynoir Lewis, a Alpha Phi Alpha member who started a petition calling on VH1 to drop the show when the first promotional footage appeared online over the summer. “We don’t have a feeling to say, ‘Hey we can’t go past this level of debauchery.’
“If you’ve never seen a sorority in action and you’ve never seen a fraternity in action and ‘Sorority Sisters’ is the first time you’re looking into the world of black sororities, it’s just a complete misrepresentation.”
Of course, no conversation about “Sorority Sisters” can take place without mentioning its antecedent (and VH1 lead-in) “Love & Hip Hop,” which follows the lives of hip-hop entertainers and their partners.
Similarly, no one can seem to talk about “Sorority Sisters” without also mentioning controversial Haitian American television executive Mona Scott-Young, who created “Love & Hip Hop” and, according to VH1, was a consultant on “Sorority Sisters.”
Scott-Young has become one of very few black women in the top echelons of television production. But her name has become synonymous with a particularly sordid strain of reality TV.
While she isn’t billed as a top producer on “Sorority Sisters,” everyone seems to hold Scott-Young responsible for how the show depicts black women.
“Mona, I’m not holding you independently responsible for the muck that is America at present,” one blogger wrote recently. “I am holding you responsible for the subpar depictions of young black women on television.”
Scott-Young hasn’t spoken out publicly about “Sorority Sisters.” But in the past, she has been a vocal defender of what her critics call “ratchet” reality television.
“I’m fine with it,” Scott said in 2013 when asked about the depictions of black women on her shows. “I sleep good at night.”
Scott-Young made a name for herself by managing the images of hip-hop stars such as Missy Elliot and Busta Rhymes. Her shows seem to be an extension of that expertise: They feature fame-hungry characters who give the reality audience the drama it craves in exchange airtime on a prominent television platform.
“Do I try to provide [cast members] with a platform to help, you know, promote, leverage, take them to where they’re trying to go? Absolutely,” Scott-Young said in that same 2013 radio interview. “Do I always agree or subscribe to the way they choose to get here? No. But again, I’m not here to pass judgment.”
That hasn’t stopped her critics from doing just that.
“I think that this outrage should be towards all the shows on VH1 that are portraying black women in a negative light,” Tierra Clemmons, a 2012 college graduate and member of Zeta Phi Beta, told The Post in an interview. “We see this so much that it’s become normal.”
In the past, Clemmons said, some black Americans quietly expressed disappointment with VH1′s lineup, but it never led to organized opposition.
This time, VH1 hit closer to home.
“I’m just happy that people are getting mad in general,” she said. “If this is what it takes for people to see that we don’t need anything like this on TV, that’s fine.”
In a statement to The Post, VH1 said it stands by the show.
“There are currently no plans to change the series and it seems to be connecting with its audience,” a spokeswoman said in a statement. “During its premiere – the episode was seen by 1.3 million and was the #1 non-sports cable program in the time period among Women 18-49.”
“Love & Hip Hop,” which comes on before it, was the top-rated non-sports cable program last Monday.
With the second episode of “Sorority Sisters” airing Monday, activists have turned their attention to discouraging rubber-necking, which could inadvertently result in higher ratings. And they have continued to put the full force of “black Twitter” behind the effort to pressure advertisers to pull out.
“Any time I see black women using their voices to degrade or demean other black women — the worst case scenario is the physical violence — to me that’s an extension of ‘black lives matter,’” said Caldwell, a member of Sigma Gamma Rho. “I don’t want us to be depicted that way. I don’t want to sanitize our image but I want it to be full bodied and multidimensional. There’s a historical context that’s been overlooked here.”
The heat against VH1’s Atlanta-based reality show “Sorority Sisters” from actual sorority and fraternity brothers and sisters has been intense but VH1 has held firm so far.
Ratings for the second episode this past Monday fell 23 percent from week one to 1.04 million. Retention fell from 54 percent from its lead-in of “Love and Hip Hop” to 48 percent. A petition to stop the show now has 77,000 names.
My colleague Ernie Suggs, who last week wrote vehemently to tell folks to not watch the show, passed along this column by former Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson’s‘ daughter in law:
By Michelle Gordon Jackson
Despite a petition of thousands to ban the show before its launch, VH-1 decided to debut its newest reality show “Sorority Sisters” on Monday, which features several local Atlanta women claiming to be members of various black Greek sororities, including Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Sigma Gamma Rho, and Zeta Phi Beta.
“Sorority Sisters” is no different than many reality shows that cater to sensationalism. But at what cost? The show brazenly makes a mockery of century-old, sacred traditions held by prestigious black Greek Letter organizations. These sororities and fraternities have been respected pillars in the black community since the early 1900s with members pledging lifelong commitments to service and leadership. As a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (Alpha Chapter), I pledged to uphold these noble traditions; and so, I was outraged by the exploitation of our sisterhood.
For less than 60 minutes of fame on drama TV, these women sold out our historic legacies. As I watched, I couldn’t help but wonder “what would Ethel Hedgeman Lyle (a principal founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha) and Mary Church Terrell (a writer of the creed of Delta Sigma Theta) think of this buffoonish display of uncivilized and “un-sisterly-like” conduct?
“Sorority Sisters” is just another extension of a concerted effort on the part of mass media persuasion to promulgate negative stereotypes of black women. Reality TV is leading this campaign in its frequent depiction of black women as classless, contentious hoodrats, who shout expletives at ease and are always looking for a fight. Why the producers of this show felt the need to stoop even lower, by attempting to desecrate the image of sororities whose members most often embody the essence of black womanhood, I do not know.
And to the creator of the show, Mona Scott-Young, I ask: Are we so pressed for notoriety and so morally broken as a society that we have no shame in sacrificing sisterhoods that encourage black women to strive for excellence in academics and civic duty? [Editor’s note: Although Mona Scott Young, who creates “Love and Hip Hop Atlanta,” was rumored to be a producer of the show in an earlier incarnation, her name is no attached to he project anymore.]
I asked my soror, Atlanta attorney Bernie Lawrence-Watkins, what she thought of the show and she expressed similar sentiments. “As an Entertainment and Intellectual Property lawyer, I have negotiated a lot of reality TV deals and understand these shows are somewhat based on reality and not scripted television. As a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., I was curious to see the reality show ‘Sorority Sisters.’ I, however, was shocked to see grown women screaming at each other, cussing, calling each other names and in the same breath calling out the name of their Greek affiliating by saying, ‘I’m a proud member of _____Sorority, Inc.’ Although such name calling and ratchet behavior is common in most reality TV shows today, the difference is the other reality shows are not using someone else’s trademark as a platform. ‘Sorority Sisters’ portrays a falsehood of what the sororities belonging to the Divine 9 represent. We are non-profit organizations with profound histories. Our main principles center around leadership, scholarship, community service and sisterhood. My first thought was these women are using the name of their sorority for financial gain; and the only one who should be able to do so is the person or entity holding the rights to such trademark. Even though none of the Greek letters were displayed on the show, the constant verbal use of the sorority name throughout the show, in my opinion, infers to the viewing audience that this show is about black Greek sororities belonging to the Divine 9. This is clearly a case of commercial exploitation of the sorority ‘brand’ or ‘trademark.’ Are the national offices aware of this show? Did they approve of the constant use of their organization’s name being promoted throughout the show, even though the show has nothing to do with promoting the values and principles of the black Greek sororities? Did someone in the leadership offices grant clearance? If not, in my opinion, there has been a misuse of the national ‘brand’ belonging to our historical black Greek sororities and the proper cease and desist letters need to be issued or a call to action against the advertisers in support of this show. Either way, those of us in the black Greek organizations want answers.”
Recalling that as a student at Howard University years ago, there was a closeness and mutual respect among the Greeks, I asked my friend Dr. Jan Eula, assistant professor at Bowie State University and a 28-year member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., to weigh in on the collegiate atmosphere today and the behavior exhibited on the show.
“Unfortunately, as a college professor, I am seeing a generation of mean girls and boys, emerging from our institutions of higher learning, who may look up to the ideals (and statuses) of the Black Greek Letter Organization (BGLO) sororities and fraternities,” said Dr. Eula. “Hurt girls grow up to be hurt women. But rather than beat up on the young women on the show, I appeal to the members of our sororities to FIX this ‘hurt’ that these and other young women are manifesting in themselves and in their interactions with each other and other women.”
We didn’t stand alone. Immediately upon airing, black voices took to social media outlets on Monday to express disgust and urge people to boycott the show. The backlash was swift and soon trending on Twitter, prompting sponsors including Carmex, Hallmark, and others to pull their ads in an effort not to offend consumer conscious viewers. Ava Duvernay, director of the movie “Selma,” (nominated for 4 Golden Globe Awards) and an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., has requested that ads for her upcoming film not air during the show’s time slot.
As the fall out continues, “Sorority Sisters” is set to air again on Monday. But what producers of the show should know is that black Greeks have always been at the helm of effective advocacy and social change, and that in as much as they seem determined to continue airing this farce of a show, we too are determined to protect and uphold the integrity of our organizations. At Howard University, the black sororities and fraternities always worked together, and we will all work together now, to get this show pulled off the air.
And in the wake of such gross misrepresentation of everything black Greek Letter organizations stand for, it seems fitting that our members re-affirm our standards and re-dedicate ourselves to service.
Michelle Gordon Jackson is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the author of Light, Bright and Damn Near White: Black Leaders Created by the One-Drop Rule. Her book is available at Amazon.com.
http://www.lightbrightleaders.com
She can be reached at: jacksonscribe@gmail.com
On Twitter: @MikkiAngelo8
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