WATCH: Students want to rename ‘Black Friday', until they find out the name has nothing to do with race

With Black Friday right around the corner, Campus Reform reporter Ophelie Jacobson went to the University of Florida to talk with students about the name. 

In 2019, a reader-generated column of opinions was published in the Chicago Tribune, which included a section that claimed Black Friday discriminates against or profiles against Black people.

Jacobson asked students at the University of Florida if they would support changing the name of the day to something less offensive. Most students said yes.

“I’m cool with changing it,” one student said.

“I never saw it that way, but I don’t have that lived experience but if enough people think that it should be that way, then I don’t see a problem with it,” another student said.

“Black Friday sounds offensive,” one student said. 

Jacobson then told students what the name “Black Friday” actually means. 

According to history.com, in the late 1980s retailers began marketing the day after Thanksgiving as “Black Friday” because after an entire year of operating at a loss (“in the red”) stores would supposedly earn a profit (“went into the black”) on the day after Thanksgiving. 

Students then admitted that we shouldn’t change the name anymore.

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

“Knowing what it actually means...I don’t think this is actually something that is offensive,” another student said.

“I wouldn’t change it now that I know the origins of it,” another student told Jacobson. 

Watch the full video above to hear what some students had to say about cancel culture as a whole.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @OphelieJacobson