American Black Upper Class - Greek Organizations

Greek Organizations

In 1904 Sigma Pi Phi fraternity, also known as the "Boule," was established as the first Greek-letter society for African Americans. Within the decade undergraduate college students established fraternities and sororities as small, selective social groups that later developed an emphasis on scholarship and social activism.

Today, there are a total of nine historically black sororities and fraternities that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council, sometimes referred to as the “Divine Nine.” The organizations include Alpha Phi Alpha (1906), Alpha Kappa Alpha (1908), Kappa Alpha Psi (1911), Omega Psi Phi (1911), and Delta Sigma Theta (1913) and Phi Beta Sigma (1914), Zeta Phi Beta (1920), Sigma Gamma Rho (1922) and Iota Phi Theta (1963).

Some argue that historically black Greek organizations differ from those that are traditionally all-white because of their importance to blacks long after they have left their respective colleges and universities.

Graham said in his book, Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class, that these sororities and fraternities “are a lasting identity, a circle of lifetime friends, a base for future political and civic activism”.