William Paterson Student in Racist Video Releases Comment
wpunj.edu
April 23, 2018
William Paterson student Jasmine Barkley, who appeared with a Penn State University student in two racist videos that surfaced on social media early Sunday morning, issued a comment on Monday evening after she was removed from her sorority, Delta Phi Epsilon.
The videos show Barkley asking in a poll if it is OK to say “the n-word” if it’s contained in song lyrics, referring specifically to Lil Dicky’s song “Freaky Friday.”
Her statement comes just days after Barkley was elected the Vice President of the Greek Senate. The Beacon will be following this story as it continues to develop.
Romona Frazer • Apr 24, 2018 at 12:50 am
As a black person, I don’t accept that attempted apology followed by her saying that no one should be allowed to say the n word. She isn’t in the place to school us on what we as a black community can and cannot say. This is her third apology attempt and honestly I’m tired of it.
David Rodriguez • Apr 23, 2018 at 11:47 pm
To be fair, I do agree with her point about music and of course context matters. The question, can a non black person use the n-word in a song is a valid question. Just saying the word to just say it has bad implications. However, in a song it’s what the lyrics are and are sung by those who know the words. Just like the word was used in To Kill a Mockingbird and various other books, the word is said because it is part of the art and the art itself isn’t racist so the person reading from the book is not racist by just saying those words. That’s why context matters and should be priority investigating incidents. Additionally I agree that letting some use the word while others can’t is a problem and does raise freedom of speech debates. Having this divide of who can and cannot say it is ridiculous because there’s too many variables. For example for people that are mixed race with blacks but don’t look black, can they use the word or no? Is it by skin color or race? It may seem like a foolish question but this question is for debate because no one agrees on one or the other. I’m Dominican and I prefer not to use the word because I do not feel the need to use it. I’d sing it in a Cardi B song but that’s becasue I enjoy her music and a couple other artists. So before people go bashing others for this question need to take a step back. I am not justifying her use of the word in the first video because it is was not offending anyone nor used as something to lessen another. In general, I think we have to stop thinking that the n-word itself is derogatory and instead look at context and background of situations. A word should not be allowed to be said if only a certain group of people can use it and others get reprimanded because it creates a divide. This is my reaction to the first video and the statement given only.