If you think the word “marijuana” is racist, does that make you a racist?

Washington state lawmakers recently passed legislation to remove the word “marijuana” from several parts of the Revised Code of Washington, replacing the word with “cannabis” instead. The reason? Racism of course!

The Denver Channel reports;

Washington State Assemblyman Melanie Morgan testified, explaining the word’s racial past: “As recreational marijuana use became more popular, it became negatively associated with Mexican immigrants,” Morgan said.

“While it seems simple because it’s just a word, the reality is that we’re healing the wrongs done to blacks and browns related to cannabis,” she said. – Source

Representative Morgan continued;

“It was … Anslinger who said, and I quote, ‘Marijuana is the most violent drug in human history. And most marijuana users are Negroes, Hispanics, Caribbeans, and entertainers. Her satanic music, jazz, and swing all result from marijuana use.’” she said.

However, all of this is perfectly true – the question remains…is the word marijuana racist?

Personally, I don’t think it’s a racist word, and rather “taking it for racist” is the real racism. I hope that by the end of this article you too can see why “removing marijuana” from the books does little to counter actual racism and seems more like a “whitewash” of the past trying to distance itself from guilt.

The racist roots of marijuana

The word “marijuana” isn’t racist… but it was a racist who popularized the word. In fact, the word “marijuana” is just a Mexican slang word for cannabis. In fact, the word even appears in the famous song “La Cucaracha” – which could be about corrupt politicians, a Mexican general who became president, or the soldiers who died during the Revolutionary War.

One part specifically refers to “marijuana,” which reads;

the cockroach the cockroach,

Can’t walk anymore

Because you don’t have it

because missing

to smoke marijuana

In English –

The cockroach, the cockroach,

Can’t walk anymore

Because it hasn’t

Something is missing

smoking marijuana…

The Mexican Army used cannabis during the Revolutionary War before going into battle to reduce their fear of battle, which is why the lyrics were added to the song. In fact, there are numerous versions of the song.

The question is…how did Anslinger—a fat white supremacist with a thirst for power—even hear of the word?

To unravel this mystery, you need look no further than his sidekick – William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper mogul who owned much of the land on the Mexican side of the border. On this land, which is mainly used for timber, he was frequently ambushed by a man and his crew named “Doroteo Orango”.

But you all probably know him as Pancho Villa!

Pancho Villa, a Mexican revolutionary hero famous for paying Americans in gold to fight in his army, also had no problem taking resources from Hearst’s land…that’s probably how Anslinger and Hearst came up with the use of the word ” Marijuana” as their primary means of demonizing cannabis.

Villa’s crew most likely smoked quite a bit of sticky as they weren’t “official revolutionaries” but more of a gang of mercenaries. If you’ve ever read The Friends of Pancho Villa, you know what I’m talking about.

Now that Anslinger/Hearst had the ammo, they fired the gun!

Anslinger was the bureaucrat, Hearst was a newspaper mogul, and together the government and media worked to demonize the most useful plant in America and essentially make it illegal over the course of 27 years.

In order to convince the rest of the public to abandon their most useful crop, Anslinger and Hearst didn’t have to go too far to do so. All they did was stoke the racist tendencies in the hearts of the general population, and before you knew it “Orders were passed” to keep the “devil’s weed” out of the hands of unsuspecting youth.

Wild stories of black and brown people have been plastered in the media stating that they became almost obsessed with cannabis, leading them to do violent things. This worked for a decade or more…but after WWII and with the advent of the Cold War – cannabis is meant to turn you into a passive communist lover…ideas still being perpetuated by the same crew.

However, according to Nixon, it wasn’t until 1971 that cannabis officially became “Public Enemy No. 1”, who used the new powers conferred on him – by himself and his pharmaceutical lobby – to crack down on minority groups in particular and to break up protests. Since 1971, more than 20 million people have been arrested for marijuana-related crimes, and to this day, some people are still being arrested for the plant.

Predominately minority communities have also been hardest hit by the war on drugs, reaffirming the notion of racism in drug prohibition.

When did marijuana become “racist”?

I just walked you through the brief history of cannabis prohibition and how racism was used to make the plant illegal. However, the question remains – is marijuana racist because it is being used by a racist for personal gain?

I do not think so. On the contrary, to believe that marijuana is racist is to believe that Anslinger and Hearst were right. If the word “marijuana” was used to trigger the racist tendencies of Americans in the 1930s, then the legislators who decided the word was racist agreed with Anslinger…

I’m sure someone is reading this right now and saying, “I think marijuana is racist and I disagree with Anslinger!” On the other hand, Anslinger took a word from Mexicans, flipped its meaning and used it as a weapon to get racists into it to vote against their own interests.

Reaffirming that “marijuana is racist” is technically reaffirming that you see the world through a racist lens — a word still commonly used by Mexicans without racial connotations — and then glossing over your guilt by saying you denounce any instance of it from official records.

Is Marijuana Racist? No, it’s racists who believe marijuana is racist…

Also, the cannabis counterculture appropriated the word and stole it from the racists…

Cheech & Chong turned marijuana into a symbol of resistance

During the 1970s and 1980s, comedy duo Cheech & Chong made a series of “stoner flicks” in which they smoked “marijuana” and were often at odds with Jonny Law. Marijuana was seen as a counterculture, and regardless of race or gender, people from all walks of life came together to smoke… “marijuana.”

The counterculture has turned this “racist word” into a symbol of resistance to “the man.” The “man” is Anslinger, Hearst, DuPont. The “man” is racist.

It’s the same lawmakers who now want marijuana off the public books that voted to make it illegal in the first place.

Marijuana isn’t a racist word, but it certainly taints the political class — these are often the most racist individuals who flatter people simply because of their race. Remember when Pelosi wore traditional slaver uniforms to show her respect for slaves in America?

Yes, the scarves they’re wearing are essentially a pro-slavery affirmation, but hey – the photo op looks like they care, and that’s what counts! You can read all about the Kente scarves here.

The word “marijuana” and smoking “marijuana” became a symbol of resistance to the political bullshit that was being sold en masse through the “morality” and “safety” filter. Marijuana is the great unifier that transcended racial lines and brought together a group of misfits, outcasts, outcasts, etc.

This “undesirable” class of citizens was often the target of state-sponsored propaganda that created the “stonehead stereotype” in hopes of deterrent use. It was cannabis users who took that stereotype, made a punchline of it, and then used cultural heaviness to legalize cannabis for medicinal purposes in 1997.

And now, after a few decades of growing marijuana popularity, politicians are stepping in again to “make things right,” even though they were the ones who “got things wrong.”

The word marijuana has a history worth remembering!

Has a racist used the word marijuana to get racist Americans to vote against their self-interest? YES!

Have politicians used the marijuana prohibition system for political gain, claiming they are tough on crime?

FOR MORE ABOUT RACISM AND THE WORD MARIJUANA, READ THIS…

IS MARIJUANA NOW A RACIST TERM OR HAS IT BEEN TURNED INTO ONE?

OR..

NOW HOW DID THE ‘M’ WORD BECOME A RACIAL MATTER?