More Than A Word

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to live a life that never once revolved around the color of your skin, gender, sexual orientation or social status, the issues minorities face might be underwhelming to you at first glance. If it isn’t happening to you in particular it is very easy to overlook a problem that may drastically affect another group.

California Lutheran University was not the first place I encountered an issue of being a young black man in America, and it will most likely not be the last. I am a new transfer to this school and was simply hoping to enter CLU to get my classes done and graduate on time. My first roommate, however, had different ideas of how he wanted to handle his education. He is a young white male who to the average eye looks almost harmless and conventional, and for the most part he was until he decided to express his own views to my roommates and me. He spent most of his time sleeping, drinking, smoking or playing video games. These pastimes I could rarely indulge because I have two jobs, classes and extracurriculars. My roommate never understood why I worked so hard however and probably never really will. He came from a very privileged lifestyle with money, support and stability. Thus, he never really saw any issues in the world because they weren’t affecting him in anyway.

The n-word is something my parents have never ever tolerated in any shape or form. Whether it was in a rap song, or spoken of in a political topic, they have always held a strong stance on never using it at all, regardless of our own skin color. The history of that word is excruciatingly painful to the black community. It was systematically used as a tool to dehumanize who we are as human beings. My roommate however was educated differently on the power of the n-word. While he made claims that his parents never supported it, they also never were able to stop its use in his own life, which then resulted into his ignorance on the word.

“It's just something my black friends would say, and they never cared when I used it,” he claimed on numerous occasions. “I don't mean anything by it at all… it’s just a word to me.”

That was the most powerful thing for me to hear from him. It was just a word to him because he never had to experience life from the perspective of a black person. His whole life has shrouded the belief that the n-word, racism, systematic injustice, kneeling for the flag, or any fight for equality had any relevance in his whole life. That, I think, is unfortunately such a detrimental problem in the fight for justice and quality. If it isn’t hurting you at all then why should you feel like you need to stop the cause in any way? It is that mental acceptance that has allowed people to be racially subject to intolerance everyday of their lives.

When my roomate first used this word I was taken back because I had never encountered a problem like this. I was stunned but also uncomfortable because I didn’t know what to say. I left that room shortly after because I couldn’t bear hearing my roommate or his friends scream “n****!” while watching NFL football players score a touchdown, but then whine when they saw some players kneeling during the anthem. I found it odd, hilarious and infuriating to witness such ignorance in my own eyes, but also powerless that even if I expressed my own views they would never get it. They would never try to understand my perspective because they were never going to live through it. I also had to realize that I would never understand the perspective they were coming from to see through their ignorance and disassociation to the cause. At CLU I wish there was more effort at the beginning of the term to emphasize not allowing horrible racial and discriminatory terms on campus. Without addressing this problem, it allowed my roommate to find power in voicing his own ignorant views.

What I have learned though is that even at school that portrays itself as “diverse,” still only 3.8 percent of the student body at CLU is of black heritage according to stats found on College Factual. Due to this, there is always going to be a larger number of ignorance from communities that don’t know the black perspective. At CLU the white community is basically half of CLU’s student body at a staggering 49.1 perecent. There will be students, white in particular, who don’t know the minority struggles students like myself endure each and everyday, not only on campus but in the real world. Being black in America isn’t a chance to pull the “race card” when you feel injustice. The color of our skin in this country and on campus presents a stereotype we have to overcome each and everyday just to be seen half as capable as we already aren’t expected of.

“My parents told me no matter where I am going to ensure the safety of my surroundings because I will usually be the only black girl in the group,” says CLU junior Nicole Thompson. “I have to work 10 times harder than my white classmates to make sure that in my future I can find success and not be left behind. My friends won’t understand that struggle though, they never have to experience being black.”

It is not just enough to say there is problem anymore however on college campus and in American society. There has to be an effort made to educate students at CLU of the black community and all minorities to ensure ignorance is not the leading cause of hate on this campus. My roommate may have seen the n-word as slang term in his favorite Migo’s song, but to me it was a deliberate example of white privilege and the lack of acceptance of that ignorance. If there isn’t a fight against this, we are simply asking ourselves as a society to repeat the same mistakes we have seen time and time again.