Some students are not aware the word "picnic" is said to have originated from a historically racist phrase. That's why Ball State University's Multicultural Center will allow discussion of this topic today during its final Brown Bag discussion of the semester. The event, titled "Breaking Myths: A Pic-Nic or a Bar-B-Q," will take place at noon.
"It is just an opportunity for us to discuss the different word choices we choose to use that might have more meanings behind them than we think," Derick Virgil, director of the Multicultural Center, said.
Lashonda Fuller, assistant director of the Multicultural Center, said the word "picnic" was sometimes said to have originated from slavery times. According to the "World Wide Words" Web site, a common story is that the word was originally derived from the term "pick-a-nig," a gathering for slave traders and their families centuries ago. They would get together after slave trading and have a big party, called "pick-a-nig," according to the story.
But Fuller said she hoped students become aware that no truth exists in the stories that attempt to link the origin of such words with slavery.
"They can feel comfortable with using the words after we express that these are myths and they're not true," Fuller said.
Though the word "picnic" is not necessarily linked to slavery, Virgil said "picnic" was linked to the Jim Crow days when many blacks in the South were being lynched.
And according to "World Wide Words," a common story was that "picnic" was a shortening of "pick a nigger" and referred to an outdoor community gathering during which families ate from box lunches while a randomly-chosen black man was hanged for the diners' entertainment.
Virgil said he hoped students walked away from today's discussion with extra information about word origins they might have been unaware of. He is sure quite a few students don't know about the topic since they are so far removed from the Jim Crow era, he said.
"It's good for us to examine historical norms and just to add that to our knowledge so we don't repeat the ignorant mistakes of the past," he said.
As the Multicultural Center wraps up its Brown Bag series this year, Virgil said the center was also planning ahead for next year, when Brown Bag events will serve as more of an open forum for current events.
"We'll have some specialized topics like in the past," Virgil said. "But next year we'll open up a bit more so people coming in can discuss what's on their minds and on their hearts."
With the average attendance for Brown Bags this semester numbering eight to 12 people, Fuller said she hoped next year's events would also draw a better crowd. Having a packed room provides more energy, Virgil said. But at the same time, having a small group isn't all that bad because it provides for an intimate setting.
"We'll see how it goes next year," Virgil said.
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