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Whoops: Students staunchly support renaming 'Black Friday' — and then they learn the term has absolutely nothing to do with race
Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images

Whoops: Students staunchly support renaming 'Black Friday' — and then they learn the term has absolutely nothing to do with race

Some students at the University of Florida supported changing the name of Black Friday when they believed that it might have some sort of negative connotation with regard to the black community. When they learned that race has nothing to do with the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy, they largely changed their minds.

What are the details?

Campus Reform reporter Ophelie Jacobson visited the Gainesville, Florida, college campus, where she surveyed students about their thoughts on the Black Friday moniker.

Citing a recent article from the Chicago Tribune, which published a reader-generated column of opinions claiming Black Friday discriminates against and profiles the black community, Jacobson said, "One of the sections claimed that Black Friday discriminates against or profiles black people, and that we should name the day to be 'Holiday Buying Day' or 'Spending Day.' What do you guys think of that?"

"Black Friday sounds offensive," one student told the reporter.

Another insisted, "I don't like the name Black Friday. I never really have, ever since I was small. Whenever I would go to the stores, everything would just be jam-packed, and I would see, like, workers kind of — it sounds wrong, but they would lean more toward the lighter skinned people. They would assist them."

Another added, "I'm cool with changing it."

"I never saw it that way," another student admitted, "but I don't have that lived experience. So if enough people think that it should be that way, then I don't see a problem with it."

What happened then?

Jacobson then went on to tell the students what Black Friday actually means.

"What if I told you that the term Black Friday has nothing to do with race?" she said. "When stores are in the red, it's said that they're not making any profits. So a lot of stores say they're in the red before the day after Thanksgiving, and once Black Friday hits, they're in the black, meaning they're turning profits now, because of all the sales. Should we still change it?"

One student responded, "Knowing what it actually means ... I don't think this is actually something that is offensive. People getting offended by it seems a little ... stupid. ... It has nothing to do with offensive or race or anything like that."

"I wouldn't change now, knowing the origins of Black Friday," another admitted.

Another student added, "No. I think nobody should overanalyze it. If it’s not about skin color, then I don’t see that there’s a problem.”

"If you just want to rename it to spare the feelings, that's not helpful," another student insisted.

Students Support Renaming "Black Friday", Until They Find Out The Name Has Nothing To Do With Racewww.youtube.com

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