Whew! New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has some explaining to do. Radio listeners were shook this morning when he said the n-word during an on-air conversation that started with Medicaid and somehow changed to discrimination against Italian-Americans.
Cuomo was speaking with public radio station WAMC in Albany when he changed the subject from a question about the New York’s delayed Medicaid payments and then cited the New York Times’ editorial use of the derogatory term.
Cuomo, noting he was referencing a New York Times editorial about the racist language used to describe Italian immigrants in the past, said his ancestors were often referred to as “n—-r w–s,” NBC New York reports.
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“Pardon my language, but I’m just quoting the Times, n—-r w–s, n-word w–s,” Cuomo said.
To give background to what Cuomo was referring to, on Saturday, the NY Times published the op-ed “How Italians Became White” in which the derogatory slur is found. The op-ed analyzed the discrimination faced by Italians in the United States in the past.
His office had no immediate official comment about his use of the word as of early Tuesday afternoon.
The comment came a day after Cuomo celebrated Columbus Day. He also pledged his full support for a memorial for Mother Cabrini – an Italian-American nun — in New York City.
Keep in mind, this is not the first time Cuomo has used controversial language in public. In March, when he visited a predominantly Black church on Palm Sunday, he shocked people when he suggested that Jews could not dance.
“I’m a Catholic,” Cuomo told parishioners at Harlem’s Mount Neboh Baptist Church, the NY Post reported at the time. “Catholics basically believe the same thing as Baptists believe. We just do it without the rhythm. But we try. We try. We are not as without rhythm as our Jewish brothers and sisters.”
We’ll keep you posted on any updates, Roommates.
