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Why Can’t You Say the N-Word?

August 8, 2017 by Stacy Martinez Leave a Comment

 

Asian, Middle Eastern, and Hispanic people in urban areas have seemingly become comfortable with using the N-word as their expression of friendship with black people which is in many ways insulting. This word has never been used to describe or belittle them and there is no need for it to be part of their vocabulary.

In the Oxford dictionary black (adjective) is defined as “of any human group having dark-colored skin, especially of African or Australian Aboriginal ancestry.” However, black should be defined as people with undeniably African or Australian Aboriginal features such as wide noses, thick lips, kinky hair, and darker skin because they are the “niggers.”

Many people use the excuse that their ancestors were black to use the N-word. A “Negro” is defined as “a member of a dark-skinned group of peoples originally native to Africa south of the Sahara” also relating to black people. Therefore, if someone’s race or culture is technically not black, these derogatory terms do not apply to them.

A black person may use the term as they wish. This is a word he or she cannot escape from because it’s been deeply embedded into this country that this is what “black” is and this is how the world will always see “black.” We are the so-called “nappy haired, horse mouthed, black bucks” that white America shaped us out to be. But we’ve come to own the stigma of being black in America and we have even reclaimed ourselves by referring to ourselves as “Niggas.”

Some people feel like since they’re being friendly, it’s fine to say the N-word. But that isn’t necessarily the case. For example, if two friends from the Middle East were joking around and calling each other terrorists, it would be funny to them being that it’s a word they’ve both felt personally victimized by. However, had one of those friends been of another race, it would be seen as an ignorant remark being that other races are rarely, or never, accused of being terrorists.

Many light-skinned Hispanics that I have confronted about using the N-word say, “but my ancestors were black,” to which I respond, “good for your ancestors.” Simply put, Hispanics are a mix of multiple races and peoples, whether they be African and Spanish or Native and Spanish or African, Native, and Spanish. Therefore, that makes them not one or the other but all. You are not black, your ancestors were. You have been able to escape the same reigns of terror black people have face. There are even black Latinx people who experience racism in their countries and are called “Negra/o” because they cannot escape their black ancestry. They cannot escape because the black African blood runs through their skin and features.

For mixed race people, possibly half black and half white, it is how white passing you are that determines whether or not you have the choice to say the N-word. If your features are predominantly black, you are prone to grow up manipulated by white America, you will fear their system. If your features are predominantly European, you have an advantage and are likely to have privilege.

A black person may as well be defined as someone who is manipulated by white America at birth. Someone angered and insulted by the terms “Nigger” and “Negro.” A person whose dark skin and African features apparently defines the content of their character. A person so connected to their African ancestry that they would have either been on the plantation or in the house looking after the white man’s child. And if you can’t personally relate to any of this… You’re not black.

Filed Under: Commentary, Commentary and reviews, Culture and Entertainment, Lifestyles, race and culture, Uncategorized Tagged With: culture, opinion, Race

Redress the Dress Code

August 5, 2014 by NIKKI LEE WADE

 

Public school dress codes seem to exclusively target girls.
Public school dress codes seem to exclusively target girls.

 

Already  in the middle of summer, New Yorkers find the weather outside increasingly hotter and hotter. The dramatic change from an intense frozen winter to a sweltering summer calls for a new wardrobe of shorts, tank tops and flip-flops.

With the transition in clothes, public school students (mostly girls) find themselves called out for disobeying dress codes. School officials enforce dress codes now more than ever, in an attempt to cover up as much of the female body as possible. This includes shoulders, midriffs and legs, body parts you would expect to see in the blistering heat.

Most public school dress codes include the fingertip rule: a girl’s shorts pass her fingertips when her arms are down at her sides. Another common rule is the ban of spaghetti-strap tank tops; all straps must be wider than two fingers. Some public schools have gone as far as completely banning leggings, yoga pants and flip-flops.

Almost all dress codes are targeted towards girls; exposed legs, shoulders and midriffs are all unacceptable. The same cannot be said for restrictions for the boys, for “offensive” clothing on boys is considered baggy pants or shirts referencing drug use. They are not forced to go home and change or wear oversized school uniforms over their clothes. They are simply asked to pull up their pants or turn their shirts inside out. School officials don’t seem to care about what boys wear, but how they see their female peers.

On May 21st, Lindsay Stocker was accused of wearing too short shorts by authorities at her high school in Montreal. Two vice principals walked into her sophomore classroom and asked students to perform the “fingertip test.” Lindsay’s shorts did not pass her fingertips and she was asked to change.

“In front of all my peers and teachers they said I had to change,” said Lindsay, according to the Huffington Post. “They continued to tell me that I would be suspended if I didn’t start following the rules…they told me that it doesn’t matter – I don’t have to understand the rules, I just have to comply by them.”

As a response, Lindsay put up flyers around her school saying, “Don’t humiliate her because she is wearing shorts. It’s hot outside. Instead of shaming girls for their bodies, teach boys that girls are not sexual objects.” There have been similar acts of protests in other schools, of people putting up posters with the same message. One poster read: “Instead of publicly shaming girls for wearing shorts in warm weather, teach male students and teachers not to over sexualize normal female body parts.”

“Slutty Wednesday” was an act of defiance by the students of Stuyvesant High School. The school’s dress code included a ban on exposed shoulders, lower backs, midriffs and undergarments. According to the New York Times, students “…peeled off sweatshirts, revealing tank tops and spaghetti-strap blouses.” Students also passed out flyers with slogans like “Redress the Dress Code” and drew X’s through printed versions of the school’s clothing restrictions.

School officials continue to argue that girls who reveal bare shoulders, legs, midriffs or backs distract male students and teachers. The revealing of girls’ bodies apparently causes the boys to be unable to compose themselves in an appropriate manner. “We could, instead, try having some more faith in young men – they are, in fact, fully-formed humans with the capacity to exercise self control,” says the Guardian.

Public schools are now teaching girls that they must cover up their bodies in order for the comfort of their male peers. When a female student is sent home to change, she is essentially told that her education is not worth that of male students. She is taught to be ashamed of her body, and must cover up every inch of bare skin because she is on display. Instead of teaching girls that their physical appearance must adhere to the comfort of boys, we must teach boys not to over-sexualize female body parts.

With the new school year coming just around the corner, we can hope there are changes in schools targeting young girls for their bodies.

 

Filed Under: Commentary, Commentary and reviews, Culture and Entertainment, Lifestyles, News, News Tagged With: commentary, culture, dress code, dress codes, girls, lifestyles, public school, school, sexism, sexist

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