# Is Kamala Harris the first to draw so much on her membership in a Greek organization? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** kamala-harris\ **Created:** [August 1, 2024, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086 "2024-08-01T00:31:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/21 "2024-08-01T05:14:27Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > First, I think it’s far from clear that she is spending an unusual of time on her background as a sorority member, but I’m open to evidence that this is the case. As I noted a few posts ago, in the eleven days since she became a candidate, she’s made appearances at two different Divine Nine sorority conferences. But, I’m not sure that I’d call that “an unusual amount of time,” and at least one (if not both) of those appearances was scheduled prior to Biden dropping out of the race, so the timing may simply have been coincidental. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/22 "2024-08-01T10:40:17Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I’m not sure if the OP’s question is intended to imply some kind of sinister intent if she does, but it certainly implies nothing inappropriate to me. No intention of implying sinister intent. I wrote the OP while she was speaking at the sorority event yesterday. And, previous candidates have been members of Greek organizations or Freemasons or Bonesmen but I don’t remember that being mentioned by the candidates themselves. Note that in 2004 both major party candidates were both Bonesmen so I don’t think either received support from it. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/23 "2024-08-01T11:01:27Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > This is not a guy playing fourth dimensional chess; he can barely play _Chutes and Ladders_. He’s playing checkers on a chessboard. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ztc7o0NzFrE/maxresdefault.jpg "The Wire Chess Scene - How To Play Chess [HD]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztc7o0NzFrE) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/24 "2024-08-01T13:30:14Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The difference might be that previous candidates didn’t get uniform support from their fraternities; That’s not about what the candidate chooses to do, that’s about who other people in the fraternity or sorority choose to do. I suspect that the contrast between the candidates and their likely impact on members of other societies wasn’t so stark in most prior elections. I mean, if they are both members of Skull and Bones, their presidencies will likely both be okay for members of Skull and Bones ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/25 "2024-08-02T05:21:46Z")
Black Greek houses are not like white Greek houses. They take the notion that being a member of I Phelta Thi or whatever is a lifelong commitment much more seriously, presumably because they have been a primary avenue for professional networking for Blacks, as opposed to being only one of multiple options for whites. It’s not uncommon for African-Americans to be regularly attending Greek events decades after graduation, whereas it would be considered odd bordering on pathetic for white people. So it’s not surprising that Harris’ sorority sisters are backing her in a more prominent way than any white candidate has ever benefited from. (AFAIK Obama was not a frat boy) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/26 "2024-08-02T09:43:20Z")
Thank you. That may explain the difference I am seeing. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/27 "2024-08-02T12:22:03Z")
This, 100%. I wprk with a lot of Black professional women in Education, and there is no white equivalent. They put tons of time and money into organizations that helped them, and they really do see it as paying it forward. They also take representing the organization very seriously. 20k women attended the AKA convention this summer. As a percent of black women with degrees, thats a huge turnput for that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/28 "2024-08-02T12:42:35Z")
Thanks to both of you. So there is a real difference here. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/29 "2024-08-02T18:51:13Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > (AFAIK Obama was not a frat boy) This is correct. Barack Obama attended school at Occidental College before transferring to Columbia University for his BA in Political Science. He then graduated magna cum laude from Harvard’s law school. He was not a member of a fraternity at any of those schools. (He was, however, the first Black president of the _Harvard Law Review_ which is pretty cool.) So if anyone wonders why this didn’t come up for Obama when he was POTUS, that’s why. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/30 "2024-08-02T19:16:54Z")
Incidentally, when Barack Obama first came to prominence (I think while running for the Senate), I searched the archives of the New York Times for the first mention of him. It was in [this February 1990 article](https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/06/us/first-black-elected-to-head-harvard-s-law-review.html) on his election as law review president. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/31 "2024-08-02T20:44:22Z")
Yeah, but what has he done _lately?_ ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/32 "2024-08-02T22:07:28Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Thank you. That may explain the difference I am seeing. What you might also be seeing is a reaction to Trump’s bonkers claim that until recently she said she was Indian and then switched to Black. Her being in a Black sorority 40 years ago shows that she was not representing herself as Black as well as Indian her entire adult life and almost certainly before. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/33 "2024-08-02T22:31:25Z")
Not switched to black, “she happened to turn Black.” Like she woke up one morning, looked in the mirror and said, “Guess I’m black now.” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/34 "2024-08-02T22:37:25Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Her being in a Black sorority 40 years ago shows that she was not representing herself as Black as well as Indian her entire adult life and almost certainly before. I think that there may be an unintended “not” in this sentence? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/35 "2024-08-02T22:40:10Z")
**Is Kamala Harris the first to draw so much on her membership in a Greek organization?** I think Dukakis did more. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/36 "2024-08-02T22:45:25Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I think that there may be an unintended “not” in this sentence? Yeah, this sentence is awkward no matter how I phrase it. Posted the combination of two versions there. Let me try again. Trump has claimed that Kamala Harris always represented herself as Indian until recently, but the fact that she was in a Black sorority 40 years ago shows that she was representing herself as Black and Indian her entire adult life. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/37 "2024-08-03T01:49:45Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > What you might also be seeing is a reaction to Trump’s bonkers claim that until recently she said she was Indian and then switched to Black. Her being in a Black sorority 40 years ago shows that she was not representing herself as Black as well as Indian her entire adult life and almost certainly before. This isn’t just as random as it might seem, though. Trump (or whomever is advising him) is trying to tap into a sentiment among certain areas of black demographics to view someone with some Asian heritage as being “not really black”. That this backfired on him (because it is a minority view) is unsurprising. But it isn’t nearly as stupid as going to a National Association of Black Journalists meeting for an interview and complaining how “nasty” and “horrible” he is being treated. Even if he did it specifically to get attention and dog whistle to White Nationalists and the like (which I suspect was the point), he just looks like a pathetic whiner that he couldn’t even hold his own for a couple of minutes before breaking the glass on the self-pity box. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/38 "2024-08-03T04:10:06Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > he just looks like a pathetic whiner that he couldn’t even hold his own for a couple of minutes before breaking the glass on the self-pity box. Whaddya mean? He “CRUSHED IT!” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/39 "2024-08-03T21:38:14Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > **Is Kamala Harris the first to draw so much on her membership in a Greek organization?** > > I think Dukakis did more. 😉 Dukakis downplayed his ancestry in his first run for Governor of Massachusetts, but emphasized it the second time around. The Mass. GOP had buttons made reading, “I knew Mike Dukakis before he was Greek.” ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086/40 "2024-08-03T22:45:59Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > > > he just looks like a pathetic whiner that he couldn’t even hold his own for a couple of minutes before breaking the glass on the self-pity box. > > Whaddya mean? He “CRUSHED IT!” Ok, he CRUSHED the glass on the self-pity box. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-first-to-draw-so-much-on-her-membership-in-a-greek-organization/1005086.md?page=3)