Watch: Bowman Says the ‘N-Word’ Gives Black People Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, Obesity

Former Democratic New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman now believes he can diagnose what people’s words can do to others’ personal trajectories, especially as it involves race and identity in America.

This is an unfortunate time for him to learn such a thing; last year, he didn’t seem to think that his seeming embrace of the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” meant the annihilation of the state of Israel or was an anti-Semitic dog-whistle. Jewish voters in his district disagreed, making him one of the two members of the progressive “squad” to be defeated in the primaries without even making it to the general election. More’s the pity.

Oh yeah, and there was that thing where he got charged with and pleaded guilty to pulling the Capitol fire alarm to delay a vote like he was a miscreant 8th grader trying to avoid a test.

BREAKING: The video of Jamaal Bowman pulling the fire alarm to stop a vote has been released.

In his initial statement, Bowman claimed that he was rushing to get to a vote and did it by accident.

The video shows him removing the warning signs and not even attempting to open the… pic.twitter.com/IGzmZo72xp

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 26, 2023

That’ll never get old. Anyhow, he’s now figured out the effect words have on people. And Bowman’s discovered that one of the reasons black Americans suffer from higher rates of heart disease and obesity and cancer  is — drum-roll, please — the “N-word.” And CNN aired it without pushback, because of course they did.

During a panel discussion on CNN’s “News Night with Abby Phillip” — aka, “that show that’s unwatchable whenever Scott Jennings isn’t on screen” — Bowman gave his grim etymological-medical diagnosis.

“The problem is we are not dealing with America’s original sin and its disease of hate and racism towards black and brown people, and sexism towards women, and anti-LGBTQ sentiment,” Bowman thundered over Marc Short, former chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence, during a segment about Zohran Mamdani’s win in the New York City mayoral primary.

“We are not dealing with that! Your colleagues in the Republican Party do not hold each other accountable when it comes to the racism that comes from the party on a consistent basis,” he continued.

Short tried to interject about assassination attempts, but Bowman was having none of this.

“You can’t be calm about this!” a very un-calm Bowman said. “I’m a black man in America. The reason why heart disease –“

“I’m white. I can’t comment on it?” Short said, rather half-heartedly. Wrong answer, pal!

“Listen to what I’m saying,” Bowman instructed. “The reason why heart disease and cancer and obesity and diabetes are bigger in the black community is because of the stress we carry from having to deal with being called the ‘N-word’ directly or indirectly every day.

“If — if your colleagues would listen and try to learn and engage and grow and stop being so hateful, we could have a better country.”

NEW: Jamaal Bowman says black people suffer from heart disease and obesity because they carry the stress of being called the N word every day.

“The reason why heart disease and cancer and obesity and diabetes are bigger in the black community…”

“Is because of the stress we… pic.twitter.com/GOEUmhBX3g

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 26, 2025

Former California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado tried to talk him down off the ledge, only to effectively be told that the ledge was a remnant of architectural racial bias.

“Jamaal, I feel your passion, and I understand where you’re coming from sincerely. I really, really do,” Maldonado said. “It happens on both sides, Jamaal. You might think it happens more on your side.”

Bowman wasn’t having it: “I don’t want to qualify or quantify pain. That’s not what I’m talking about,” he said, before talking about quantifying pain racially. “Everyone goes through pain. But the racism in this country is the disease that will destroy us, and it’s destroying us right now as we speak.”

So, this is a unique diagnosis indeed. Apparently, you can either call Bowman the “N-word” literally — which I’m sure some vile individuals have, most of them I would assume unbalanced — or you can do it indirectly through a structural “N-word”-saying. This is indeed a novel application of critical race theory, which I’m deeming it since it’s 1) a theory, and a bad one at that, which 2) is about race and 3) everyone should be critical of.

Think perhaps black heart disease is based on higher rates of obesity, which black Americans have historically had? Well, what if the obesity itself was caused by racism? That problem can’t be inequity, since it presupposes that someone isn’t undernourished and doesn’t have to work an exigent job where those calories are burned off.

And the reason? That perfidious “N-word” — perhaps the most awful word in the English language, or at least certainly among them, but not known to cause any disease unless you consider utter disdain toward anyone who uses it in anger a disease. (I do not.)

It’s nice to know, however, that Bowman now believes words can hurt, literally. If only he’d figured this out before his words killed his chance at being re-elected, he wouldn’t be humiliating himself on CNN but on the House floor, where that kind of humiliation is afforded far more dignity.

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