The Word Thig

Naylor describes how the word can have a positive or a negative meaning depending on the situation or who is speaking the word. Speaker The speaker of this narrative is a black woman who does not find concern or mortification in the use of the n-word; a word that is known to put African American’s, like Naylor, to shame. Naylor also describes her past and is characterized as a young girl who has had experience with the n-word, mostly by her family. The n-word had not effected her as a child and still has not effected her today.

Johnson uses words like “disdainful”, “magnificent”, “pompous”, “incompetent”, “imitate”, “supercilious”, “arrogant,” “meed,” and bold to describe the Negro in Harlem and to show their ‘supercilious’ nature towards other cultures.

In today’s society curse words and insults are used in many people’s regular vocabulary. Most of these insults, if not all, are being said without prior knowledge of the meaning behind the word. An example of an insult like this is porch monkey, a derogatory term for African Americans. The people that use derogatory terms like this are often ill-informed and unaccepting of other cultures.

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

From rappers to hip hop stars to young black men, the word “nigga” is often used in a positive manner. However, with a strong association to the word nigger and thus the historical oppressive nature, the true meaning of the word nigga is much more complex and overall less clear. This raises the question: does the word nigga have positive or negative connotations? In light of this, in this paper I will show how the word nigga is a cultural rich point by primarily focusing on how black men and what it means to them. Using ethnographic research analysis, I will show that the meaning of the word nigga is situated in generational standpoint within the black community. Moreover, my analysis will reveal how this generational gap coupled with overall relative changes in society have facilitated the difference, thereby furthering the “richness” of the word.

Back in 1926, in the edition of; “H.W. Fowler’s Modern English Usage” the ‘N’ word was used as slang for african americans and considered offensive if applied to non-african americans. Some have observed that the ‘N’ word was/has become one of our most intolerable and endurable

The n-word presents several connotations. It originates with the Latin word “nigre”, which translates to black, and led to a derogatory term for African

What is a nigger? That is the question that contributed to the loss of my innocence. I was nine years old when I asked my friend Nick what a nigger was and in order for you to understand why on Earth a nine year old kid would ask one of his friends what a nigger was, I need to tell you the story of what led up to this question and the aftermath of this question. Also just to inform the reader, I am not racist, I do not encourage the use of this word and if you are offended by the use of the word nigger in this paper then I say “good.” I hope you are offended, because the word “nigger” is a racial derogatory term, and the use of the word “nigger” to insult another being should not be used anymore. However the use of the word nigger in this assignment

Introduction: Everybody has a different perception on how the N-word should be used. The N-word was first used during the nineteenth century to categorized African Americans as “black”. The N-word used as “Nigger” or “Nigga” has evolved to have many different meanings. “Nigger” and “Nigga” have two different meanings. “Nigger” shows the offending discriminative background that was used when African Americans were slaves. This was used to downgrade them as humans. “Nigga” holds the meaning of friendship within this new generation. It is not used in an offensive way nowadays. Some people see this as a non offensive word as others see it as offensive. If many people, including African Americans, use the N-word then why is the word so offensive?

You think of a group of hoodlums who tote guns, sell drugs, and ruin neighborhoods as thugs, and gang members. These are things not tolerated or seen as good in society so it’s considered a violation of social norms. A street gang is group of people that form an allegiance based on various social needs and engage in acts that can cause harm to public health and safety. Members of street gangs engage in, or have engaged in gang-focused criminal activity either individually or as a group, they create and fear and intimidation in the community. They are punished by society and the consequences are different depending on the types of crimes committed. Societies “punishments” on the crime committed is what sociologist consider deviance; and

Words can differ in meaning depending upon the community. Some may take specific words as an insult while other realize that it is something that might be positive and useful to them. The word “nigger” means the color black which is why during slavery, slave owners called the black slaves nigger. They used it to insult a person of color and to shame them. But in today’s society, almost everyone from every single race call each other “nigger because it is mostly used in a friendly way. The African American community use “nigga/ nigger” as a way to show pride in their race. Before the 21st century, other races used it as a way to describe a person of color in order to offend them. Therefore, when they call a black person or call each other a “nigga/ nigger”, African Americans get angry.

24 Nov. 2015. Scott, Jeanita W. Richardson & Kim A. "Rap Music and Its Violent Progeny: America's Culture of Violence..." Journal of Negro Education. Summer 2002: 175-192. SIRS Issues Researcher.

The word "nigger" is a key word in American culture. It is an extremely distressing racial slur meant to denounce African Americans and on occasion, it also has been used to oppose people associated with ethnic or racial groups. It has been a significant characteristic of several of the worst incidents of injustice in American history. It has occurred with countless beatings, acts of arson, lynching’s, and other racially inspired charges upon blacks. It has also been characterized in numerous animations and quips that both display and motivate the prejudices of blacks. It is the signature expression of cultural and racial prejudice.

To be sure, the bias implicit in seemingly innocent words and boorish probes may not be intentional or deliberate. Nor will the occasional use of derogatory words explode into a full-blown crisis. But the cumulative effects of ‘linguistic death by a thousand word cuts’ should never be underestimated in perpetuating racial hierarchies (Hill 2008; Sue in Fitzgerald 2015). And while it’s an exaggeration to say that language determines our reality, as an uncritical Sapir-Whorf hypothesis might imply, it certainly establishes a cultural frame of reference for defining who is important and what is valued. As Bourdieu (1991) would likely say in confirming how language transmits a meaning beyond the speaker’s intention since words possess a social context, the power of language is not in the words that hurt, but about those patterns of power perpetuated through word play and language use in everyday discourses and daily practices. This assertion alone makes it doubly important to expose how the language of words exemplified by racial micro-aggressions constitute a discourse in defense of dominant

The essential affair America has always had is its history of bigotry and racism. Many people in society frequently tend to use derogatory comments towards African Americans. The word that is uttermost unacceptable, outside their own community, is the N-word. Kendrick Lamar, a Grammy Award Winner, has been quoted in saying "Where [were] you when I was walkin, now I run the game got the whole world talkin'...everybody wanna cut the legs off him, Kunta Black man taking no losses." Whichever way society wants to degrade African Americans, inclusion of using said word, they will still prosper and find a way to not lose. With that being said the general public shouldn’t use the n word because of these three reasons it is xenophobic, corporate executives are guiding society in the wrong direction, and it is simply unethical.