12 Opinion
T H E C A R D I B E FFECT b y M a d e l y n S t a rk s A few months ago, a video surfaced of Cardi B discussing why she, as a Dominican-Trinidadian woman, is allowed to use the n-word, in her music and in her daily dialect. In an interview with DJ Vlad, Cardi did not identify as black, even though she is, but also stated that other minorities should be able to say it because all minorities were treated horribly by white and European populations, during the time the word was introduced.
then be categorized as Afro-Latina, because her race is black but she has a Hispanic heritage.
This response sparked a debate on social media on whether it’s appropriate for Latinx or Hispanic people to use the word. According to the American Sociological Association, race is a social construct in order to categorize humans into specific populations. Race can be determined by a person’s physical appearance, family history or ancestral geographic location. Ethnicity is normally based upon a common trait of a specific area or group of people, such as a culture, heritage, language or dialect. Cardi B would
Due to social class, institutionalized racism and slavery, the n-word was used as a degrading term in order to psychologically enslave black people into thinking they were less than human. Today, black people (especially in the Hip-Hop/Rap industry) use the word with an “-a,” in order to prove that black people are no longer psychologically enslaved and we choose to profit and give power to the word the same way white people profited and powered off of our bodies and labor.
As a black American, I honestly don’t care if Cardi does not personally identify as black. But how is she then going to associate with all the cultural benefits of being black? Due to this understanding, if you are not of the black race, you are not allowed to say the n word (this also includes all non-black minorities).
A C T I V E L Y E N D I NG IT by Amber Borden Last April I handed in a research assignment that has led me on a journey to fighting for black empowerment. “The Notorious Ubiquity of N---er” was a compilation of reports from 100 St. John’s students (black and non-black/ male and female) expressing to me their history with the n-word and the reasoning as to why they say it or choose not to. The answers students shared with me were shocking. A majority of students were comfortable using the n-word, or they believed that it was wrong to say but still chose to say it. A minority of the students who did not say the n-word or thought that it is wrong to say gave me the push that I needed in knowing that I was not alone in my stance. Over summer 2017, I took my re-
Black History Month may be over, but the conversation continues long after February. This word, perhaps the most heinous in the entire English language, regularly appears in pop culture and in regular conversation among people of various races and cultures. Is that okay? When four Opinion writers and one sociology professor — all black women — came to me with their viewpoints on the use of the n-word, I felt compelled to share the conversation with the rest of the student body. After all, as a black woman on a very diverse campus, not a day goes by where I don’t hear the n-word. Yet, even in 2018, it’s not “just a word.”
— Morgan Mullings, Opinon Editor
search assignment further and decided to create a campaign called “Ban The N-Word.” I made a video series on YouTube that shows the viewer the problem and a solution. This video series corresponded with a website fleshing out the history of the n-word and ways to #breakthehabit. The NAACP’s (National Association of the Advancement of Colored People) “Bury The N-word” campaign in 2007 symbolically buried the n-word in Detroit during its annual convention. The beautiful truth is that I am not the first person to create a campaign or a website wanting to ban the n-word. Even though banning the n-word is not popular because people make their own choices, I believe it is needed.
N O T E V E N I N A SONG? b y B e a t r i z d a Co s t a Would the world be better as a whole if nobody, regardless of race, said it? I feel comfortable saying probably. However, as a sophomore in college I realize how unrealistic it is to ask the world’s population to not say it. Consequently, I also understand that expecting only black people to use the n-word is unrealistic as well. I understand that a lot of people truly “don’t see color” so they don’t see the harm in using the term despite not being black.
However, as a person who has heard the n-word too many times to count from people who aren’t black, whether it was a part of a song or not, the first thing I feel is dread, and soon after that I feel uncomfortable. I see how my words may be confusing, however, this won’t take away the feelings a Black person has when a non-Black person says “my n***a” or anything similar. Among us, when a black person uses it I don’t believe the black