AFSA Event Observation Report

Adams Center, Delta Sigma Theta, and Kappa Alpha put on the event on April 28th at the bottom of Adams Center from 6-8pm. The event was open to anyone, and the primary audience was black students and most took place in some aspect of the event, which is really cool. Everyone at the event was quite inviting and made the event enjoyable for me. They started with food that loosely aligned with black culture: gumbo, fried chicken, rice, green beans, mac and cheese, watermelon, and Kool-Aid and punch. It was delicious, and they didn’t run out of food early. The first presentation was a poetry slam about police brutality especially to black individuals. There was also a PowerPoint on repeat that displayed many statistics and facts about the
After the poem was The African Students Association; they performed a group dance that showed off the group as a team and also each individual’s dancing. It was very fun, and a few dances were related to older dances from groups in Africa, and other dances were historical of black culture in America. They explained this near the end of the event when everyone was invited to learn some of the dances. After AFSA’s performance came the Kappa Alpha Psi Inc. stroll. It’s sort of an extremely energetic follow the leader dance, but its better described as a group dance that usually happens to be in a line. Most if not all strolls are paired with music, and this particular stroll used a whistle blown by the leader of the dance group. Using a whistle isn’t uncommon and just adds to the energy and the hype that these strolls are known for. There was a lot jumping and kicking contrasted with smooth controlled “rolling.” I was extremely impressed by the group again. After their performance the Delta Sigma Theta also performed their own step show. Compared to Kappa Alpha Psi Inc. there was much less jumping, but more relaxed dancing. The step shows/strolls have been a very big part of the black Greek community. There are annual competitions, and even today there is another event in the Walk-Adam mall taking place. After the performances, both Greek groups showed us their chants, and head scarves were given out as
The issue is called stereotype threat, and it is the explained by Massey and Owens to be a process where a stereotype in society causes an effect in individuals involved in the stereotype. The specific stereotype discussed and the one that I believe is the most relevant in college today is the stereotype that blacks don’t perform well academically. The stereotype is often in much harsher terms, but the gist is that they aren’t as academically successful as say white students. The threat takes effect when black students are aware of the stereotype. The effect of the threat can manifest itself either internally or externally. A stereotype threat is internalized if a student believes in the stereotype in some way. This internalization is a threat to their academic success, because it is a threat to their self-esteem. To clarify if a student thinks they won’t be successful in school because of the stereotype, then they might (subconsciously most likely) “disidentify” from their own academics. This is liken to the argument “my grades don’t define me.” By students not putting in all of their effort they have an out of sorts so it doesn’t tarnish their self-esteem. If a student externalizes the threat, then it’s a very different process. The student doesn’t actually believe the stereotype, but