Last month, the Trump administration tried to minimize Black history by removing plaques honoring people enslaved by George Washington. Not to be one-upped by the federal government, the effect of Florida’s legislation is minimizing Black in the present — literally. Florida A&M University College of Law, a law school housed in a historically Black college, had its speech chilled as they tried to draw attention to Black History Month events. Click Orlando has coverage:
Aaliyah Steward says she is in her final year at Florida A&M University College of Law, and she has encountered obstacles while trying to promote Black History Month events for the Black Law Students Association.According to Steward, certain words were flagged during the approval process for event flyers.
“It was ‘black,’ ‘affirmative action,’ and ‘women’ as well,” Steward said. Steward says she was told those words could not be broadcast or published.
If they can’t say Black, are they supposed to say the N-word or something? Negro, I mean.
They were told to abbreviate “Black History Month” to “B History.” Come on, man, even the Trump administration still lets you say Black History Month. If things were slightly normal, the school would have just told the students to go ahead with the flyers and wouldn’t have to worry about funding being snatched from them; instead, the school rattled on about how important it is to stay in compliance with Senate Bill 266 and whatever regulations exist to make adding Black to the list of words you can’t say on television.
If merely seeing the word Black offends your sensibilities, there’s no amount of “Don’t Say Black” law-ing, Kid Rock lip-syncing, or milk chugging that can prepare you for the real world.
‘Black’ Banned From Flyers For FAMU College Of Law Black History Month Event, Student Says [Click Orlando]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
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