Essay about The n-word - Critics. opponents. Defenders

Some people will call this a term of endearment, others will call it the abbreviated way of calling someone my ‘Nigger’. The thing about this commonly used term, however, is that it is really just fueling a fire that needs to finally be extinguished. How can WE as African-Americans be expecting a change in others perceptions if we ourselves are feeding into this fire of hatred.

When some think about the word nigger they immediately think about negativity and some might even venture to say that it is a "bad" word. It takes you back to a time when blacks were oppressed and demoralized. When blacks were looked at as inferior and not worthy to obtain equal rights in America. But that was decades ago and it is now the 21st century. Not only have we changed the spelling of the word, by dropping the er and adding a, but the definition has changed also. According to Gloria Naylor, we have took our "past history of struggle and present survival against the odds" and transcended the word nigger into a "victorious statement of being". So a word that was used to depict

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

After reading the responses, I took note that for many people in the city, the word "nigger" is a regular saying. In the responses I've read from Data Collection 1, there were many narrators that resided in the big city area that claim the word is perfectly safe to use by any race. In passage eight a narrators writes "the word can be heard anywhere around New York City." "In New York City the word is used so much, but in a positive way" (Passage nine). This was a continuous pattern in the responses. But why do so many people of different races use the word so frequently in New York City? In Passage Seven, the narrator wrote "people in New York City along with myself has transformed the whole meaning." Once again, because it is not used destructively it is an acceptable term. New York City is a place where many different cultures come together. The usage of this word by people of different races is common. Age is also a component of the usage of the "n" word. Most of the people using the word "nigger" are young, mainly because older people are more accustomed to its former meaning which, as we know, was used to demean black people. "People in New York City, along with myself have transformed the whole meaning". This provides an explanation of why the word appears to be used so much and by so many people. Author Randal Kennedy explained in his book entitled nigger that young people

The word ‘ni**er’ is a pejorative directed to people of whom have a black skin tone. It was used very widely and was prevalent in the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries. The term was mainly used by white plantation and slave owners and was directed towards said slaves. In today’s day and age, there is still an abundance of racism and the n-word is still used.

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.

In modern society, racism is on a fast track to becoming a buzz word. Terms such as “cracker” and the “n-word” as racial slurs hurt feelings, but that does not make them racist. The racism comes from the historical context of the word and its reinforcement through time. “Cracker” is an example of racial prejudice but not racism because the word originally means someone in the south that refused to integrate after the civil war. However, the “n-word” is both racial prejudice and racist due to its historically oppressive context of slavery and association with the status of black bodies as animals of domination. While everyone is hurt by racial prejudice, this divergence is critical when addressing issues of race. This difference removes all chances of reverse racism that many whites claim as a means of victimization in order to claim their oppression of minorities is reciprocal. Essentially, racism is prejudice from a position of power and privilege.

The word in general has no other use but to refer to a black person, in a complete derogatory way, and if everyone’s equal why is the word used, when it’s main reason is to differentiate one race from another offensively?“We have indirectly given a pass to a lot of people — to just say it and sing along,” and it’s confusing why only some see this as a problem. (Thompson) The word isn’t in the dictionary for it’s good name, it’s in there to show the negative image it once held strongly against black people. “The shackles had been taken off the ankles and wrapped around the mind.’ And she would say that we were continuing the oppressors’ work,” to put it another way, black people fought for equality for the longest, and now in the 21st century, the use of the word nigger is repeating the words and discrimination black people worked so hard to overcome.

I don’t agree with the use of the “N” word being verbalized out of anyone’s vocabulary because it’s very offensive, especially to the older class baby boomers as well as the working-class generation that is still in our existence today. The word was used as a derogatory statement to address people of color during very dark and immoral times. Although, slavery and segregation have been abolished the meaning behind that word will always remain. The hip-hop culture somehow found a way to embrace the “N” word and when Brownfingaz uses the word and then tries to justify his reasons why he’s allowed to use it is completely absurd. First, he believes that the word isn’t just for “ghetto” African American youth, and that he has the right to use

Also, the readjustment of the N word to slave is an idea that should not be allowed to resume knowing that people who have read Huckleberry Finn before will notice the shift of tone throughout the book and will point out that the significance of the author using slave throughout his novel is not truly his purpose due to the fact that he had originally used the N word instead of the word slave in order to get his message across to the reader. However, other individuals may view this in a different perspective knowing that it has lowered the sensitivity for many readers since they would get offended with the N word when they would read the book and also when their teachers would read some parts of the book out loud to the entire classroom. Nonetheless,

First of all, I want to say that I really enjoyed this clip and I think it is great for educating people about this very sensitive issue. Ice Cube and Symone Sanders do a wonderful job at really explaining why they are upset, and why people shouldn’t be saying this particular derogatory term.

As educators, it is the school’s job to teach the next generation about the past. Not only where humankind prospered but also where they fell short. It is said that history repeats itself, but how much more is this true if future generations are not educated about the past and how it affected the world. There is no use in hiding or trying to deny the past. History plays a key role in the future. What if everyone simply denied the Holocaust just because the topic could be an uneasy subject for those who were victims of it, or even for those who caused it? The same is the case with the ‘n-word’. When used in a demeaning and hateful way it can be infuriating to some, but we cannot just hide it and say it was never a word. When used in the appropriate context such as in the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain the ‘n-word’ can be used to inform others about the history of the word.

Secondly, I would like to address Dr. Laura’s use of the N-word. She believes it is acceptable for her to use it since African Americans use the word as well. She justifies her actions by stating that is always used on media so why would it be any different when it came to her. However, we must acknowledge that the N-word was used to dehumanize Blacks during and after slavery. Even today, using the N-word implies that a Black person is inferior to other races. The reason why individuals of the Black race are able to say it is, because as discussed in class, they are trying to take appropriation of it. In a way, by

"Man, I hate hearing that word" I say, as we are sitting in a courtyard at the college.

According to a teacher at Louisiana's top public high school, the n-word is no longer racist and has utterly lost its negative connotation due to overuse. His students (and millions of Americans) seriously beg to differ.