The sight of four African-American young men clad in black dropped off an unconscious African-American young man, presumed dead, draped in the same attire at the emergency drive thru. The nurse in frantically asked, “Was he shot?” to one of the young men; he hesitates before responding, “No.”
This vivid scene appeared on screen in the end of the 2017 released Sundance Film, “Burning Sands.” In this case, the normalized association between young African-American men with violence on numerous media outlets and social network platforms is frequent. Through the lens of a college campus, the fictional film navigates the cause and effect of violence within fraternity hazing.
The newly launched Netflix film captivates the livelihoods of five youthful African American men eager to pledge to a fraternity within the National Pan-Hellenic Council, NPHC. While films like “Stomp the Yard” demonstrate campus life and much more for African American individuals, they certainly don’t go as far to explicitly showcase the emasculating and sometimes even deadly process of pledging to a fraternity much like the director of “Burning Sands,” Gerard McMurray did.
In a recent interview with New York Times, McMurray said “showing the violence was essential to convey the movie’s message. The truth is the truth, I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it or water it down. It was important to show those things so people could know this is reality.”
In a university setting, it isn't surprising that Greek life's vibrant presence, however, less known is the existence of alleged hazing within the chapters - including at Longwood. Seven years ago, Longwood University was the spectacle of an investigation due to allegations of hazing within the Rho Kappa chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. At the time of the investigation, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported, "The investigation has led to the arrests of 16 members of TKE and others associated with the organization.” However, the university thoroughly upholds its Anti-Hazing Policy in which explicitly encourages ones to abide and report.
Throughout “Burning Sands," questions arose surrounding why individuals endure these behaviors. To answer, Lawrence C. Ross Jr., author of “The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities," stated in an interview with New York Times, “You have people who will try to do anything in order to become validated, and so there’s a value in them pledging.”
Ross added, “On the other side is the feeling and allure of power on the person who is the big brother or sister with this idea that hazing is transmitting some sort of values.”
As the film ends, the question remains of whether the main fraternity will recognize how heavily their traditions impact their participants lives and the need for change.
Although “Burning Sands” shows some students may have few solutions for reporting what they endure, Longwood University students do through the a Hazing Hotline and support from the Longwood University Police Department.
Trevor Jackson stars as Zurich in the recently released fictional film, "Burning Sands," which strives to shed light on the climate of hazing in Greek life on college campuses.
