Morganfield
“N—–” is used loosely on campus.
Derived from the pre-Jim Crow period, white people first branded African-born slaves with the term and used it to verbally abuse and belittle them for decades. To many the word is representative of the generations of mistreatment of and insult suffered by African-Americans.
The Department of Mass Communication at GSU will host a panel discussion on Tuesday, Feb 26 in the Grambling Hall auditorium from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The community forum welcomes all dialogue on this controversial word, particularly in this higher education settings.
Dr. Robbie Morganfield, head of the Mass Communication Department, hopes the conversation will expand beyond the campus. Morganfield said he is attempting to promote a dialogue on the racial slur and where it belongs on college campuses, especially historically black campuses or universities.
“I’ve heard it often on our campus,” Morganfield said.
Morganfield said student leaders, faculty and staff are needed to facilitate this conversation.
“As a university, we have a responsiblity to be leaders in thoughts as well as in actions,” Morganfield said.
The department has invited Director of African American Cultural Center of North Carolina State University, Moses T. Alexander Green II to open the discussion that will include students, faculty and administration.
Editor's note: The inital version of this story was changed to accurately reflect several comments attributed to Morganfield. In addition, Moses T. Alexander Green II is the Director of African American Cultural Center of North Carolina State University, not North Carolina A&T as the previous version of this story stated.