Mean Girls

Vibe recently released an article entitled “The Mean Girls of Morehouse”. If you haven’t read it, here’s the link: Mean Girls.

The title alone was enough to warrant a response from President Franklin. Link here.

I’m not going to summarize the article or the response, because I have a lot to say, and it’s better that you read it for yourselves than take my recapitulation as fact.

I’m not here to talk about whether the Plastics are victims or not. I’m here to explain why their reasoning and their actions are fundamentally opposed to each other, and why this Vibe article is nothing but the bitter backlash of [wo]men scorned. And just to clarify, when i say “you” I mean those, and only those, presented in the article. I am referring to them as a group.

First and foremost, the Plastics knew what they were getting into when they came to Morehouse. One of the facets of Morehouse society that its reputation is contingent upon is the school’s image. A component of said image is the student attire. They told you when you applied. They told you during NSO. They told you every week in Crown Forum that you’re expected to dress a certain way here. What, you thought you were going to get here and they were going to say, “Oh. They’re different. They don’t have to dress that way”? …No. You signed up for this. You or your parents paid for this. You can’t come here and decide suddenly that you don’t want one small part of what you came here for. Morehouse is what it is because it excels both at portraying a certain image, & molding its students to do the same. You can’t expect to gain those benefits without first adhering to the image yourself.

You say the dress policy is not universally, or justly applied. That is a bold-faced lie. I have witnessed several occasions in which those who are wearing hats or du-rags have been addressed, and those wearing heels and skirts have been overlooked, likely because those in a position to say anything about it are either clueless as to what to say, or too eager to avoid seeming to be intolerable. Which is a large part of why the dress policy was enforced in the first place. No one knew how to deal, so they needed rules. But I digress.

You’ve heard of the Morehouse mystique. If not before attending the school, then during. What made you believe that dressing as a woman fulfilled that mystique? How many guest speakers came to us in women’s attire? How many of your brothers did you see sauntering in heels on Spirit Night? Not one of the many bow-tie workshops we were offered had a side session for those of the purse carrying persuasion. To quote my friend Dante Miles, “It is impossible for you to live up to the expectations of a Morehouse Man if you want to be a WOMAN..”

Now that we’ve established that you were in no way tricked, scammed, bamboozled, hoodwinked, swindled, or anything of that nature; that you knew very well that you’d be ostracized once you got here, lets talk about your reasons for leaving.

You claimed to aspire to be a leader in the same vein as our illustrious alum. There’s a fundamental issue with what you said, and what you’ve done. Because what you’ve done is fled. The previous leaders of Morehouse didn’t flee from the establishment when they were restricted. They fought against it. You claim to want to be like the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., but you can’t even stay in a homophobic school. King couldn’t go anywhere without persecution. King went to jail for fighting against that persecution. You went to another admissions office.

If they came at you with dogs, firehoses, jail, etc, would you fight? Or transfer? You’re not a leader. All they did was tell you to change your clothes.

There is a distinct difference between a leader, and an attention hungry person. There are also many similarities. Both tend to think, and act, in unconventional ways. Both are apparently in attendance at Morehouse. The discrepancy comes, however, in the person’s nature. Whether that person embraces fight or flight determines whether or not they are a leader. Again, you are not fighting. You are fleeing. And whining.

What were your intentions when you spoke to Vibe? To let people know of your existence and what you’ve been through? Or to ask people to assist you in standing against what you’ve endured? I’ve read the article several times. I’ve found no plea for help. Only self-indulgent cries. Why tell Vibe that you’ve considered suicide? Morehouse hasn’t encouraged that in any way. Your suicidal notions are, again, a means of fleeing. And if you disagree, tell me. Which one of the alum that you wish to be like has committed suicide?

Yes, many of our alum’s actions were done for the sake of attention. But that attention served a higher purpose: the liberty and just treatment of a people. Your actions call for attention, yet ask for no resolution. You claim to want change, but are unwilling to facilitate it. I’m curious to know if you were one of those who participated in the sit-ins at Woodruff library my freshman year, or if you merely complained about it and fled to Douglass, or your room. I’m inclined to believe the latter. But again, I digress.

“I don’t know why a Morehouse man can’t become a woman.” The answer is quite simple. You are not a Morehouse Man until you graduate, which you have yet to do. You are a man of Morehouse who at one time aspired to be a Morehouse Man. To be a Morehouse Man is to reach the apex of the Morehouse matriculation experience. It is to embrace the Morehouse mystique in some way. It is to be a leader. Which, again, you are not. A Morehouse Man could, arguably, become a woman. But you are not a Morehouse Man.

I have no qualms with accepting your claims of wanting to change the world. But the ways in which you have gone about it are not indicative of that claim. In fact, you merely contributed to the detriment of an institution that has produced leaders you profess to admire. You are aiding and abetting the image of black men that those leaders fought so hard against. And, moreover, you’ve only made homophobia an even more pressing issue at Morehouse. What have you solved?! What have you done, besides initialize your own means of indulging in your own desires under the guise of righteous anger?!

If you want to make a change, work on altering the issues of gender expectations in our country. Make an effort to alter the ways in which our communities expect men to conduct themselves. But do not assert that you are fighting for change when in fact you ran from an ideal opportunity. Do not pick an easy target like Morehouse, which is already conservative as far as the make up of its student body goes, and then run away and complain to the press about the establishment that you did nothing to alter.

You say that Morehouse was not ready for you. Quite the contrary, my brothers. You were not ready for Morehouse.
--Silenthate. Lovescreams.

Pretty much. Well said. That is all.