Racism in Comedy Essay

This word “Nigger” is also known as the N-word is being expressed into everyday world of language when speaking to friends or strangers. During the 1870’s and 1880’s before the civil war, many showed racism and how people treated color skin people and how slavery became such a problem. By looking at In Defense of a Loaded Language by Ta-Nehisi Coates and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, one can analyze that this loaded word is important because a fact so basic to human speech that without it, human language might well collapse. “In Defense of a Loaded word’’ by Ta-Nehisi Coates document which acknowledges that the “Nigger” word is being stated as violent and offensive. ““Nigger” is different because it is attached to one of the most vibrant culture is inextricably linked to the violence that birthed us (source #1).”

News media and Hollywood are the main two vehicles of identity theft among African people. In Hollywood, blacks are always shown in a position of reluctant assistance or sub servant i.e. Butler, Helper and or slave. Equally, News Media almost always show us as animals and criminals of the lowest morals. Consequently, through the system of programming, constant repetitions of demoralizing images are perpetuated, and with no other source of reference to rely upon blacks often consciously and subconsciously accept those images. Moreover some people, rather most become not only to accept those images, a lot of Black disassociate themselves with their race, because who wants to be from a race of ”nobodies” and by default has to capture the identity of the European race. One must keep in mind that racism is a system of power that is employed by White people, thus one must ponder, who owns and operates Hollywood and new media.” I agree with Trevor Musa black often see them self as invisible because of media which is a cause racial prejudice.

This word became the noun, negro, describing a black person in English, and simply defining the color black in Spanish and Portuguese” (Niggers, a Brief History). No matter what meaning the word had before, it all changed in the 1800’s. The words nigger and negro suddenly transformed from a harmless connotation to a spiteful term used to tarnish the black community. It was now a new favorite among the vocabulary of racist whites, who held first place in thinking the absolute lowest of the African American race. In the United States, "nigger" was first regarded as pejorative in the early nineteenth century. In the era of enslavement, the words "nigger" or

White minstrel actually used to visit plantations to study the way blacks interacted with each other. When performing, these white Minstrels would take coal and color their faces black. Their performances consisted of skits that including music and dance routines , which imitated blacks. Initially minstrelsies weren’t brought about with the pure intent of poking fun at Blacks. But after the Civil War things changed. Whites stopped visiting the plantation for new material. They began to use the same negative material over and over again. This is what gave birth to many of the Stereotypes that African Americans are victim to, even today. James Bland was one of the African Americans who gained popularity by performing and composing in the black face. After being a part of white minstrelsies, Bland eventually had the opportunity to play in an all black Minstrel called Haverly's European Minstrel Show. After the performers departed from that group, Bland decided to stay in Europe While living in Europe Bland was allowed to perform in shows without having to put on the “black face”. He became extremely popular. Eventually he returned to the U.S. where he couldn’t fit in because American Music had taken a turn since the time that he left. Another group of people that also tried to sing (what I’ll call) “acceptable” music are The

Although documentation is fragmented regarding the these circuits, according to Nadine George-Graves, “... scholars... must do more investigative work than is necessary for other topics in order to locate resource materials” (xii). A Black vaudeville evolved among other types of shows, specifically minstrel. However, for artists of this period, it was one of the only means of upward social mobility (Dahl 10). While a few entertainers were able to play on the white circuits, the majority were not, that is, until the Black circuits were developed for a Black audience. The Rabbit Foot Minstrels and Silas Green from New Orleans were early troupes who put on a “real musical experience” in jook joints which is said in an interview by Barry Lee Pearson to J. Otis Williams in his book, Jook

I do in fact agree with Randall. “Nigger: it is arguably the most consequential social insult in American History, though, at the same time, a word that reminds us of ‘the ironies and dilemmas, tragedies and glories of the American experience’” (Kennedy 1). (Please note that my points are absolutely debatable). I do indeed believe that in today’s world, even though there is still racist lurking around us, you can use the N word if it’s in the right context. I would in no condition use this manner when speaking to an adult. I also would never use this word if I were at school or work. But I would use it with my friends, or having a casual conversation with someone my age. During my senior year of high school my English teacher asked us to write an essay using our everyday terminology. She made it clear that we could use foul language. In my essay I including the N word and the next day I was called into the office. My principle explained to me that my English teacher believed I was being racist and only chose to use that word because I had the freedom to say anything I put my heart to. I got into a big argument with the principle on how the word is used differently for my generation and I was not going to apologize or accept any type of punishment. I had to write letter for the board explaining myself. I won this conflict because I stated that if my teacher was not capable of handing this kind of paper, she should have never asked for it in the first place. I

A 1700 quote by judge Samuel Sewall uses the term in a denunciation of slavery. Gradually, however, polite discourse increasingly used the term negro (which dates to at least 1555) and nigger became relegated to the vulgar tongue, increasing in offensiveness over the centuries.

The N-word is an insult to our ancestors; the content in which you use the word doesn’t deny it’s derogatory meaning. What’s the point of bringing back and using a word that white people used to use to degrade people of color? It’s so much more than just a word, there’s a sad and depressing history associated with this word. A professor once said, “ The poison is still there. The word is inextricably linked with violence and brutality on black psyches and derogatory aspersions cast on black bodies..a word that has tormented generations of African-Americans...Among many young people today-black and white-the N-word can mean friend”. We live in a society where the word is so common; it’s often used by the descendants of the people who had to

Opponents of the n-word argue that due to the term’s close association with oppression and slavery of African-Americans in the U.S., the word is still a vicious racial slur. According to Source A, after the abolition of slavery in the mid-1800s, “the word continued to haunt African-Americans, particularly in segregated

or Fredrick Douglass. It never once crossed my mind that a genre of theatre was indeed a major contributor to the prosperity of African Americans. Marvin McAllister wrote deeply about influences of Minstrels in his book: Whiting Up: Whiteface Minstrels and Stage Europeans in African American Performance. McAllister is now an African American studies Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina, a location which promotes his credibility in his first major assertion that whiteface minstrels arose in Charleston, South Carolina. In his first chapter, McAllister claims that during the colonial and antebellum periods, whiteface minstrel shows derived from the living conditions in South Carolina. In comparison to other the other cities at the time, Charleston was relatively lenient towards slaves. An example of this is how South Carolina’s dependency on skilled Africans made room for negotiations. What McAllister is trying to do is inform the readers about the origins of how minstrels arose, an appropriate move for the introduction. These conditions, argued McAllister, allowed slaves to negotiate living out, which allowed for black slaves to move away from the master’s plantation and this created Charleston’s first black neighborhood: the Neck. Although I agree with McAllister, I would like to add that living out was the first form of unification of African Americans and advancement of their rights. Moving away from slave owners and coming together was essentially how whiteface minstrels

Over the years, we, the African American community, took the word and turned into a word of endearment, something that we use to speak of or to another black man/woman. Growing up, I lived in two of the most diverse cities in America. Queens, New York and Houston, Texas, so I personally have never experienced racism in my life, until my family and I stopped at Vider, Texas for gas. As a young child, my older cousins would say the word nigger or nigga as frequently as the word bro or dude. It is a way to refer to your fellow African American.

From live theater to cinema, from the banjo to hip-hop, from whites in blackface to blacks in blackface, America has imitated and exploited black and has since then not gone back. Many of the adjectives persistently used today to describe African Americans, “lazy, ignorant, buffoonish, superstitious, joyous, and musical” were the same words used to describe African Americans throughout the duration of the minstrel shows’ history centuries ago (“The Mammy Caricature”). Real-life black circumstances were satirized and exploited in musical theater, becoming known as ‘minstrelsy’; with its emergence in the 1820’s—and its continual rise after the Antebellum era—minstrelsy easily and quickly became the most popular form of American entertainment

I always got annoyed when African Americans would use the word nigger all the time in their conversations, songs, and raps; but if any other race uses the word, its RACIST.

With slavery still legal, southern Americans showed great hatred towards African Americans. The n-word was a common racial slur used by white southerners to create a feeling of superiority above African Americans. In an interview with The Guardian, Dr. Churchwell points out that “the point

People, please do not be confused with the N word (Nigga). See in the hood we spell it with a at the end of the term instead of er, therefore, nigga is a term of endearment, that we use in the hood, not to be confused with the derogatory term which is nigger. I am doing this not so much for you professor, cuz I sure you know the difference right? However, I am doing this to be politically correct in case anyone else reads this and takes offense to me using the term nigga in this reflection piece. I just wanted to make that clarification :)