More than 30 attended the NAACP meeting, “The Evolution of Bitch,” hosted by the MSU chapter of the NAACP on Feb. 11.
Organizers said they wanted to present the evolution of the word, “bitch,” from the early 1900s to today, to see if students thought this word was evolved because of society and if they wanted to try and stop this word from being used.
Tyera Breeze, respiratory care junior and a president of the MSU chapter of the NAACP, attended a Southwestern Black Student Leadership conference last month that discussed the topic.
“I wanted to present this topic to the students to see what they thought, and to see if it would motivate them to try and stop using the word bitch,” Breeze said.
The majority of the students said the word was evolved through music, social media, and even everyday use. Gordon said he will do his best to stop using this word in his vocabulary, and he hopes the rest of the students will too.
Brandon Gordon, kinesiology senior, said, “I believe we, as a student body, should stop using that word in our vocabulary. Also, if any of the people we associate ourselves with say that word around us, then we should tell them, ‘Hey, I’m uncomfortable with that word, could you please not use it around me.’ I think this could really raise awareness to stop using these kinds of words.”
Marco Torres, history senior, also had something to say about it.
“I believe if a body of people bring this to attention, whether it be through conversations with others, or even through forms of social media, then we may be able to help make a difference,” Torres said.
But the more lively discussion occurred after the meeting.
While students did respond to the topic, some said they were discouraged since the leaders at the meeting said nothing about Black History Month or the white supremacy signs passed out last semester.
Gordon said, “They should’ve brought up the sign thing. Stuff like this is a big deal, and it needs to be brought to awareness.”
In response to these comments, Breeze said the issue is not being ignored, and they are teaming up with Torres’ #NOHATEMSU campaign to discuss it. However, Torres said he was upset that it wasn’t brought up in the meeting.
Another concern that was brought up was that nothing was mentioned about Black History Month.
Torres said, “They should’ve done something more related to Black History Month.”
Jalal Elrosoul, exercise physiology junior who is thinking about joining the NAACP on campus, also said he was disappointed that they didn’t bring up Black History Month.
Elrosoul said, “I wish they would’ve brought it up. I mean, yeah, I agree that it shouldn’t just be a month because everyone should be treated equally and fairly, but we only get a month, so we should do what we can to show our appreciation.”
Breeze said Black History Month wasn’t brought up because the Black History Month committee is already discussing it in other events and through social media.
“I understand that it is a big thing and it should be appreciated, but we are already doing a lot for it as is, and I didn’t think it needed to be brought up in the meeting. However, since students want it to be brought up, we will do our best to say more about it,” Breeze said.
The next Black History Month event, Feb. 17 in Wichita I and II at the Clark Student Center at 7 p.m., will be a showing of Selma, a story about Martin Luther King’s campaign to help gain voting rights for African Americans in Alabama in 1965.
