Racial discriminative terms through N Gram (20701 김민경 20712 이서연 20713 이예은)
1. Introduction : research motive Although we know the words that belittle black man, such as " nigger ", we have never heard of the words that demean the other races. So, we wondered whether there was a word that demeans the white man. While searching for this question on the Internet, we found the story that KKK which is the first white supremacy group burned down the black house and assaulted black men. In addition, that story mentions much about the word that depreciates white man called ‘Cracker’. Other stories of terror directed toward blacks also include ‘Cracker’. Through these stories, we came to know that when the terror directed toward blacks happened, the use of words that depreciate white man such as ‘cracker’ increased. So we wondered if the words that demean other races were used frequently when events related to each race occur. Our team can surmise that words which depreciate each race were more frequently used when events related to each race occur. And we decided to look into whether our supposition is true or not through N-gram.
2. White derogatory term(백인 비하 용어)
2-1. Definition of the words
▶Cracker : A usually derogatory and/or offensive term for white people, especially poor rural whites in the Southern United States. It is sometimes used in a neutral or positive context or self-descriptively with pride.
▶White trash : A racial slur referring to poor white people,
The use of the term nigger can be used as a amicable greeting between two blacks, or as a “hideous pejorative” (Marriott 94) towards blacks. Marriott notes that the use of nigger is usually condoned and used by younger blacks as a “term of endearment” (98), in hopes to gradually alter the meaning of the word. Their goal is to normalize the usage of nigger between blacks to “dull its edge whenever whites use it” (Marriott 95). This has been proved somewhat efficient, as most whites dread the word and express feelings of disgust whenever it is heard from the mouth of whites. Many younger blacks believe their efforts are stimulating a progression in society, but older blacks and the majority of whites assert just the opposite- it illustrates “anything
The Europeans no longer used the word to describe a color, but used it to describe a people. No matter what the origin, this word was used as a weapon to destroy and kill the mind and spirit of a race, and has become the self-fulfilling prophecy for many African-Americans today. So many people have forgotten or either do not realize the destruction behind this racial slur; that it has simply become another by-word with a forgotten history.
Does the N-word remind people about slavery? In English-speaking lands, this term can be misunderstood as an insult without people’s consent, especially in today’s society. The word “ nigger” is one of the most controversial factors in the Black and White communities. Nigger is an infamous term in American culture. The meaning of nigger is extended to “an ignorant person” (Nigger, 2018). Many people like to be polite, and they prefer to call it as “the N- word. Besides that, the Entomologists online dictionary also shows readers that “nigger” originated from an English word “neger” and later reformed to “Negro,” the Spanish term for blacks (Kenny, 2004). In the early 1780, the terms “nigger” has created criticism and disrespect for Blacks.
In the English language, nigger is an ethnic slur usually directed at black people. The word originated as a neutral term referring to people with black skin, as a variation of the Spanish/Portuguese noun negro, a descendant of the Latin adjective niger . It was often used disparagingly, and by the mid-20th century, particularly in the United States, its usage became unambiguously pejorative, a racist insult. Accordingly, it began to disappear from popular culture, and its continued inclusion in classic works of literature has sparked controversy.
Issue Presented: How can the societal issues of racial disparity be addressed on the state and local levels?
The essay “The Meanings of a Word” by Gloria Naylor discusses the many definitions of a word and how its meaning can change according to context and delivery. She made this point by telling a story of her childhood and the first time she heard the n-word used by a white person in a derogatory, demeaning way. She described her this situation that took place when she was in third-grade and a boy in front of her in math class called her the n-word. She had no idea what it meant to be called that in a negative way because the people she grew up around only used it as positive and empowering. At the end of her essay, she once again emphasized how easy it is to change a word into something hateful simply depending on who says it and their
In “Mommy, What Does Nigger Mean?”, author Gloria Naylor explains throughout her piece that reality shapes language and language can shape reality. Naylor explains this, “chicken or the egg dispute” (Naylor 1) through her experiences with the word nigger. Gloria explains how she starts on one side of reality and shaping her language, then comes to another understanding from the boy in her third grade class. Language can be how words are used, what their meaning is and the purpose behind that selection of words. Reality is everyday life and experiences. When in third grade Naylor encounters nigger as a racial derogatory when a boy said “nigger” to her while receiving graded tests back. To Gloria it was anything but a racial put down since
Racial slurs can have great cultural impact, but their origins are not always widely known. The term Nigger is widely believed to come from the Latin word for black, niger, and no matter’s origin, it has been used as a derogatory slur used against those of African descent by Whites in the United States (The Racial Slur Database Nigger). The term was used throughout the history of American slavery and is filled with hate and oppression, and it has few, if any, places in modern U.S. society. Kaffir is a similar term that identifies Black Africans in South Africa, it came to popularity during the country’s era of apartheid (The Racial Slur Database Kaffir), and has its origins in the Arabic term Kafir that in itself is
“Racism is a bad thing, you find it everywhere in the schools, the clubs and also in the streets.”
The word "nigger"is the most inapporiate racial slur according to dictionary.com, which has meant to belittle African Americans. Leaving many individuals to be beat, lynched, or even the victim of arson based upon racially motivated attacks within black communities; for instance “the reaction towards the news of Booker T. Washington dining in White House, Senator Benjamin Tillman of South Carolina predicted (Kennedy, pg 15), “The action of President Roosevelt in entertaining that nigger will necessitate our killing a thousand niggers in the South before they will learn their place again”(Kennedy, pg 77). Allowing countless features of the slur within countless jokes, cartoons, and the performing arts; which reflects stereotypes and encourages the downing of Afro-Americans. Essentially the signature phrase of racial prejudice, specifically in racial identified court cases of black individuals. Leaving the United States to accept the public display of inhumane actions and verbal usage; for instance, Supreme Court in Dred Scott v. Sandford, which ruled “that African Americans were permanently ineligible for federal citizenship”(Kenned, pg 63). These decisions and lack of appeals surrounding the cases allowed for racial insult and oppression of a national policy that make a specific race “inferior”. However, like most words the context for the derogatory word is in the moment of reclaimed by the black community and beyond. Although, the lack of evidence when the itself term
When the Atlantic Slave trade began the term nigger was used to describe black people. Throughout history, most minority groups were branded by degrading terms. Nigger was and still is a term of disrespect. Slavery contorted the term from the Spanish definition to its dark degrading hateful insult for African Americans. This slur
White people have been the superior race since the very beginning of America. Throughout history white people have owned and ruled almost everything about American culture. Although white people are still the majority and have most of the wealth in America, there is one thing they do not own, the n-word. This one word has caused controversy and conflicts between races in society. The essay “Why Do They Get to Use the N-word But I Can’t” talks about the issue of who can say this word and why are only certain races and social groups allowed to say it.
Today, a serious problem exists all over the world. Racial oppression takes place in the poorest and the richest countries, including America. Racial oppression is characterized by the majority, or the ruling race, imposing its beliefs, values, and laws on the minority, or the ruled race. In most areas, the ruling race is upper class whites that run the “system”, and have a disproportionate amount of power. In other areas, it may not be the white race, but it is still the race that is comprised of the majority, makes the laws, or has the most money. These are the keys to domination over the weaker minorities that don’t have the power to thrive under the majority’s system according to their own cultural beliefs,
Abstract- Racial discrimination happens all the time and most of us are unaware of it. The most common place for this to happen is in the workplace. Now people can be discriminated against because of their race, religion, or any other numerous things. Also, discrimination can occur during the job interview or even after you got the job. This paper will shoe the effects of racial discrimination and how it can be prevented. In addition there are some very important laws that deal specifically with discrimination, like the NAACP or Affirmative Action. These both will be discussed.
America has had discrimination against minorities for a long time and it will continue to have it until people treat minorities with respect. Discrimination is when people treat minorities bad because of their skin color, ethnicity and the place they were born. For immigrants, the problems they had to arrive to America were not a good experience only by the struggle to gain acceptance among the population. Most immigrants came to the U.S. to have a better life and give education to their children. Almost all immigrants have experienced discrimination at some point in their life and even some are still experiencing it today. Most Latinos don’t have a choice but to deal with it because they know they are illegal and they can’t say anything