Opinion: More Than Just a Word
This article is an op-ed published as part of The Voice’s “Controversial Issue” 2023. Please see the Editor’s Note on this year’s edition.
It is 2023 and it is completely unacceptable to still be using slurs. It’s time for SSSAS to take a temperature check on the use of vulgar and offensive language. New year, new vocabulary!
The N-word dates all the way back to 1619. It was used by slave owners who attempted to justify their degradation of the people they saw as their property. Over time, society realized and reckoned with the wrongs of slavery and also reckoned with the wrongs of using the N-word. It comes from a history of treating Black people like animals, completely stripped of basic human rights.
BBC News reported about the N-word in 2020 featuring Kehinde Andrews, a professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University. He stated that anytime the N-word was used, it was used to dehumanize Black people.
So if it’s meant to dehumanize Black people, why do Black people say the N-word? BBC included a Tweet by race expert Dr. Jacqui Stanford. Part of her Tweet answered this question saying, “Black people have successfully divested the N-word of its original offence (sic) and in our struggle to survive the devastation it occasions, gave it new meaning, made it approachable, survivable.”
But, non-Black people continue to use this hateful slur. I’ve heard white people in our community say it, and I’m sure you have too.
But this isn’t the only slur I’ve heard in our community, the F-slur is thrown around by people outside the LGBTQ community.
“It’s just a word,” say the defenders of this slur. No, it’s really not. The Burnett Foundation reported on the history of the F-slur, debunking myths about its origins. It dates back to the 1500’s as a derogatory term for women. It was later used as a put down in the Oxford English Dictionary for gay men.
Since then, the slur has been associated with homophobic hate crimes and used as an adjective to describe individuals who are viewed as weak. A survey provided by the Trevor Project, an organization that provides 24/7 digital crisis support and LGBTQ research and information, further confirms this negative stigma society has caused around being gay. According to the results of their survey 45% of LGBTQ youth have seriously considered suicide in the past year.
So no, neither of these are just words. They are physically and emotionally harmful. In fact, they affect the very people in our community.
Don’t just take my word for it. There have been many instances fellow students have shared with me about these slurs being used. Mikki Taye ‘23 shared a recent instance about a student claiming to use the N-word. Mikki’s story follows:
One time I was carpooling with someone to a sports game, and in the car they openly admitted to that word (the N-word) being in their vocabulary… And they’re white. When I looked shocked, this person recanted and begged me not to tell anybody.
Obviously my first instinct was to tell everybody and hold them accountable. I was so confused on how he could possibly be confused that I was offended. In 2023, no one should be able to plead the ignorance card on this word, and what it means. He affirmed “that everybody says it” as if this was some type of justifiable excuse. I thought to myself, ‘he can’t possibly be that stupid that he doesn’t know the word means something different coming from his mouth.’
From that day forward I’ve never looked at this person the same.
A queer student, who would like to remain anonymous, also shared an experience about hearing the F-slur being used in our community. Their story follows:
I was at a Saints football game with friends when I heard it. A male student called some students from the opposing school F-slurs. Full word. I screamed at him not to say that and he simply laughed in my face.
My immediate instinct was to burst out in tears and remove myself from the bleachers. So many students were there and no one said anything. I hear the F-slur at least once a week at school and yet no one speaks up.
As someone who has been closeted for years, I barely feel comfortable standing up to those people, especially when my friends don’t have my back. Hearing that word makes me feel so small, so disgusted, and so hurt. And I hear this word on a regular basis. I’ve struggled with being queer for years and coming to terms with my identity, people who say this word just make that so much harder.
A couple years ago, a friend told me that if I were friends with people who said the F-slur, I was enabling homophobia and I was part of the problem. Hearing that hurt. I didn’t want to be considered someone who was hateful or hurting other groups. So I listened to her words. Words have meaning, especially these hateful words. Laughing along with friends who make racist or homophobic jokes adds to a larger problem. It enables hate to grow and leads to greater issues like hate crimes. Hearing a slur and not speaking up enables others to continue to use hate speech and consequently is hurting people in our community. So it’s not just a word, it’s so much more. Allowing racist and homophobic language to be used without consequence adds to the issues of racism and homophobia. Speak up or continue to enable this problem.
