Letter to Those Considering ‘Perping’ a Black Fraternity or Sorority

Have you ever thought about lying and telling people that you are a member of a Black fraternity or sorority when you are not in order to impress the people around you or beef up your resume? Well guess what? That is probably a bad idea.

Believe it or not, there are grown adults who lie about being members of black fraternities and sororities. In Black greek culture, these people are referred to as “perps,” a shortened form of the word “perpetrators.”

Maybe you are at a party where no one knows you and you decide that you’ll be able to get attention by saying you’re a member of a certain fraternity. Or you’re looking to make your Instagram bio look better and decide to add the letters of a sorority that you don’t belong to. No matter what you do, it is only a matter of time until you get caught.

This is because while there are people out there “perping,” there are also members of Black fraternities and sororities who have established private networks to catch and expose these perpetrators.

It turns out that in most cases, someone who “perps” is usually not only lying about their greek affiliation, but some other important aspects of their life. Getting caught for perping is usually the tip of the iceberg. Often, while these perp-searching networks are doing their background research on perps, they find a whole web of lies that the said person has weaved. This could be that they are a scammer, thief, adulterer, or have falsified important documents in order to get better job.

Contrary to popular belief, perps are not just recent grads. A lot of time, the people caught perping are middle-aged men and women who own businesses, are leaders in their community and think that no one will notice.

During the 2016, Pastor Mark Burns, a televangelist from South Carolina, caught the notice of one of these perp-catching networks after giving a speech at the Republican National Convention. Burns was a prominent surrogate for Donald Trump and had been used by the Trump campaign to speak on behalf of Trump and introduce him on the campaign trail.

Here is a video of him leading an “All Lives Matter” chant at the GOP convention:

In the bio section of his personal website, Burns had claimed that he was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., and this came to the attention of the network of Black greeks who specialize in catching people who claim to be greek but are not. The group did a background check and things went downhill from there.

Word got out to CNN who flew Damon Davis, a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi, Fraternity, Inc., who prides himself in catching these perpetrators, to their CNN Headquarters in Atlanta for an interview. It turns out that after realizing that Burns had lied about his membership with the fraternity, other aspects of his bio also turned out to be false including the fact that he had a bachelor’s degree from North Greenville University and that he was a member of the Army Reserve for six years.

Watch the video of the CNN interview below:

We at WatchTheYard.com reached out to Damon Davis and he told us that perping like this from high-profile people is not uncommon:

“This is the second big political guy caught up in a [perping] situation like this and this is about the 6th celebrity,” he stated in a message to us. “There is no need to misrepresent yourself as a member of these organizations in life and/or on social media. We will find you, we will put the entirety of your life and any other lies out there for public consumption no matter the irreparable damage it may cause to your personal life, finances, or work. Be yourself.”

If anything, this story about Mark Burns is proof that perping is a bad idea.

People like this get caught and exposed all of the time. We hope this serves as a helpful example for those who are considering faking as if they are a member of a Black fraternity or sorority to stop and think twice what they are considering.

It is in your best interest not to perp.

Don’t perp.

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