A Pampanga-based catering service earned online buzz for its business name.
Kusinegro Catering Events and Services was talked about after social media users learned of its name when it changed its Facebook profile picture last February.
Despite the update happening months ago, its post continued to gain traction as people turned to the comments section to express their recent reactions to the business name.
It also features a dark-skinned chef on its logo.
“Kusi-what,” a Facebook user wrote on April 18, tagging a friend.
“Kusinigga,” another Pinoy commented on the same day.
“Hahaha, ano ba ‘yan, negwo,” wrote a different user, tagging a friend with emojis of a loudly crying and rolling-on-the-floor laughing faces.
“Kusineg-what????” exclaimed another Pinoy.
“Not racist,” wrote a different user in jest, injecting sarcasm in the comment.
Meanwhile, in a Facebook post on Thursday, the catering service shared positive feedback from different clients on its Facebook page. It is unclear whether the post is a response to the recent comments about its business name or not.
“IBA TALAGA KAPAG TATAK Kusinegro Events!! GRABE MGA FEEDBACKS NG CLIENTS!! BACK TO BACK TO BACK FEEDBACK,” the catering service said on Thursday.
There are also other local businesses that have similar names.
There is KusiNegro, a food business in Taytay, Rizal that offers Filipino food. It also calls its patrons “mga Ka Neggi.”
Another food business in Cavite that offers Pinoy food has a similar name — KUSI NEGRO.
A business that sells pizza, burger and shawarma also calls itself Kusinegro’s Kitchen.
“Kusinegro” contains the word “negro,” which is considered offensive especially in the United States as it is seen a racial slur meant to stigmatize African Americans or other dark-skinned people.
An associate professor of African American and African Studies at the University of Minnesota previously said that young Black activists in the US started using the term “Black” in the 1960s to leave the term “negro” behind.
“Negro” referred to dark-skinned people of African descent.
However, American political activist Stokely Carmichael argued in his 1967 book, “Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America,” that the term implied black inferiority.
“Among black activists, Negro soon became shorthand for a member of the establishment. Prominent black publications like Ebony switched from Negro to black at the end of the decade, and the masses soon followed,” Jim Crow Museum noted.
In the Philippines, there are indigenous groups who are called “Negritos” who are known for their short stature, curly hair and dark skin.