A recent article in the Cuban publication Cibercuba questioned that nation's practice of nicknaming people on the basis of their physical flaws or distinctive characteristics. (It is actually a Latin American practice, not limited to Cuba.)

The author, Yare Grau, wrote her piece in reaction to a TikTok video by influencer Randely Valdés, who claims that the nickname culture “strengthens Cubans against external criticism.” Grau is concerned that it disguises bullying and is a “common form of violence…[that] can have negative effects on the self-esteem and emotional development of the victims.”

To the extent that such nicknames “can have negative effects” on the victims, the statement is obviously true. Sure, they can. However, we live in an age that holds multiculturalism in the highest regard. We are encouraged to especially value the cultures of non-white, traditionally oppressed populations. If Latino culture promotes the nickname practice, culturally sensitive people must ask themselves why.

Additionally, we live in an age in which liberal minded people denounce "colonization," the process by which more powerful societies—typically Western—take over weaker "oppressed" ones. Antibullyism, which is strictly a product of modern Western universities, has spread like wildfire throughout the nations of the world, though it contradicts all native wisdom. The basic premise of antibullyism is that no one has a right to hurt........

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