I went to my first probate this weekend and yes, I am a white girl. I know you’re shocked, but you shouldn’t be. A whopping 2 percent of that audience in Tillman Auditorium was white.
The thing that confuses me is why there weren’t more races there besides African Americans. The whole show was very entertaining and fun. It could be the fact that, I didn’t even know what a probate was until recently. Maybe this is the problem but this is why I am here to tell everyone about it now.
A probate is like an initiation and reveal ceremony for NPHC fraternities and sororities. There is a lot of step dancing involved, followed by the initiation and reveal of the new members of a particular organization. They come in stepping and wearing masks and unveil their faces on stage to everyone.
Before the show, everyone is excited and pumped because no one actually knows who the new members are until they reveal themselves. Other NPHC fraternities and sororities also come for support and they do some stepping and strolling before the ceremony starts. I guess you could say it is pretty “lit.”
The point I am trying to make is that the whole experience was fun and educational. I went to a step show, which included the CPC and IFC sororities and fraternities the day before and saw a video that explained the history of stepping and how it originated in Africa during slavery.
Brian McCollum, the arts and education director for Step Afrika, who spoke in a YouTube video called The Art and History of Stepping, said, “It’s not just for African Americans. It’s not just for college kids. It’s for anyone who loves to dance.”
Step Afrika was actually a group who performed at Winthrop’s Welcome Week last year. It was a cultural event and many people of different races showed up but do we really need these events to be cultural events for us to show up? With Winthrop being such a multicultural university, I feel like we should be genuinely interested in other students’ cultures and traditions. As a bonus, step shows are very fun and entertaining.
There is no reason for us to not support events that are predominantly for another race. White people should attend events about black culture just as black people should attend events about white culture. We are not segregated. We are Winthrop students.
Sam Whiteout, a white man in an NPHC fraternity, spoke at Winthrop about a week ago. I think many students went to his event to hear him speak mostly because he is hot, but did anyone actually listen to what he was saying?
I know the main reason that we don’t go to events or places that are for another race is because we will feel uncomfortable being the minority, but I say give it a shot. I promise it won’t hurt to go. The more people that are interested about learning about other people’s cultures and attending these events, the more integrated we will become.
If you’re too scared to attend these events yourself, hit me up. I’ll go to the next probate or step show with you. Just follow me on Twitter and Instagram.
Shoutout to my shameless plug.
