Do we think it's possible to EVER cease the "casual" use of the Horrible N Word? Dick Gregory tried to slap us into awareness with his book entitled such. Richard Pryor stopped using it after his visit to Africa. Will this word EVER offend US as deeply as the swastika & derogatory term himey offends Jews?
I admit that I was lulled into the complacency of using the N word until I moved to NYC. Now, when I use it I mean it in its worst sense. If I call you this word it should sting worse than Puta or MotherF*&er. Living here in NYC I've trained myself NOT to cringe or allow my blood pressure to rise every time I hear the N word flung around the streets by the youth of ALL cultures here. I've trained myself to no longer desire a lead pipe to bash out the brains of the individual who uttered the word so flippantly. I'm not sure which would excite me more: a Black President or the death of the N word. Let's kick THIS around ... and eventually OUT!
P.S. Thanx Dave for introducing me to this video of Julian Curry on Def Poetry.
Monday, April 16, 2007
N-word...2 Kick Around...and OUT?
Moved by The Creator, Merely posted by CapCity at 4/16/2007
Labels: dick gregory, N-word, richard pryor, uTube treasures
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18 Comments:
The "N word" definitely needs to go. Maybe people who use it in a casual way have never been called it in a vicious manner. I've only been called it a few times, but I remember them. One time I was a little kid, kindegarden or 1st grade, and a classmate named Richard called me the word and spit on me. I will never forget it.
Wow, Anali, u took me back to a memory I had "blocked out" of a kid who was visiting the second grade class i attended (private school). I remember telling my teacher about it reluctanctly and she assured me that he was not accepted for the next year.
I think I used it casually in the past as a way of demonstrating that words could no longer hurt me...i guess. But, we know that's not true:-).
This is an excellent post CC and a subject that's very dear to me. I have pondered this thing on two levels. One: from the perspectives of our ancestors who suffered with ever letter of the word; given to them out of evil hatred and causing most to feel shame within their great skin. I'm saddened and outraged when I think of it then.
HOWEVER, Two: I've found myself feeling like Dave Chappell when he talks about our hate of the word empowers it...as if they've got us by the hairs with a simple word they created. Then I feel outragged AGAIN...like 'I'm not going to allow this word to sting, I render it powerless by my own use of it' yeah...kinda stupid...lol. needless to say I no longer hold to the latter thought.
I've never been called the N word to my face, but once I was about 15 and I asked a white man walking down the street for the time and he barely turned and said "I don't talk to blacks"...that shocked the crap outta me, because until then I held to the idea that racism went out with the abolishment of slavery, so he must have been joking... 17 years later and it's still not funny, but they keep on laughing.
I have a link...with this very powerful video (I'll find it and send to you) great post.
I have to be honest & say that I have & do use the N word and use it in a dual manner. Although it probably should, color never comes to mind when I do. I use it as a term of endearment when addressing a friend. I think that's due to what you said Cap...I was taught that using it empowers us by showing others that the use of the word doesn't hurt us. I have also used it in a deragatory manner, but when I have it has applied to both black & white...referring to Websters definition: 2. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc. I honestly have to say I have used it in the form an insult towards more whites than I have blacks.
But anali makes a goog point...because when I think back I have never been called the N word as an insult, at least not to my face.
um...i pleads the fifth on this one too!
I'll do my best to not offend any of you..but I speak how I speak.
WIth love and respect,
I have to admit I still use it. I use for when a person is acting ignorant and mostly towards men. Now, me and my good friend and she calls me that in jest, like how I can call a woman a bitch in joking.
Overall, the n-word is rarely used by me. I do use the b word as much.
Now, if I can just work on not cussin so much.LOL.
For me, I suppose it just boils down to how I want to be perceived.
I agree with a word deriving it's potency, or lack of, from the context in which it is used, or the tone with which it is spoken. There is a great post today over at The Fifth Column talking about that.
The "N" word, and all others equivalent aside, there are times when I say something, just an ordinary everyday plain as can be curse word, and I think to myself later, why do I talk like that? At what point in time did I switch over to being the type of person who uses those words? There is only so many times that you can say "shit" before you realize that all you're really doing is glossing over the noun that should be there cause it's faster, easier, more comfortable... less to explain.
I know this guy, all the time he is using the word "fuck," when I called him out on it, he asks me if I thought William Shakespeare was a great writer/word smith. After I said 'yes,' he proceeded to tell me that he had read his biography and letters that he had written to friends, and that Shakespeare dropped the *F-bomb ALL the time. He used this as justification to his own choice for using the word like it was going out of style.
I didn't agree with his reasoning, but it really got me to thinking. As a writer, and someone who has read Shakespeare and tried to understand it, I know that man is at least ten times smarter than me, yet, he (the word smith of all word smiths) considered it normal and ok in his everyday speech to use such words as fuck.
Which brings me back to the whole idea of how do we want to be perceived. I've spent a good portion of my life thumbing my nose at authority and the powers that be, saying hey, you either except me for who I am or don't step to me at all, i'm "keeping it real." So this is not really an issue of how others perceive us, but how we perceive ourselves.
Personally, I cannot respect myself when I know that I use short cut words, and words that if misinterpreted, (and this is always, a danger) will deeply hurt others.
I fully understand using words like this amongst friends in a private setting, but when we start throwing them around in public, nonchalant... thats just bad news waiting to happen.
I go off to a meeting and you all just get deep w/o me:-). I am also conflicted by the use of this word. It's so deep on so many levels regarding why we (Black people) continue to even use a word [whose orginal meaning was degradation] as a term of endearment. I think part of our necessary survival in this harsh land was to form various barriers through humor & twisting hurtful ugliness into something we could literally live with.
Thank u ALL for your input. Whether U choose to continue to use the N word as a term of endearment or term of humor (or other historically derogatory words) - at least u took the time to think about it.
I love the fact that here in blogland we can address & discuss our thoughts about various elements of our lives. Many of these elements affect us & we may not even understand how deeply. At least we brought it to the forefront of our consciousness so that it would not be ignored.
you wrote: I'm not sure which would excite me more: a Black President or the death of the N word.
plez sez: wow! what a quandry because both events would be a watershed moment in the Black community. but to be honest, i think that getting rid of the N-word would have a longer lasting effect on the psyche of Black America than our first Black President.
getting rid of the N-word would take us to a place where we would finally be freeing ourselves of those awful shackles of slavery... yes, that word is that powerful!
the awe of the election of a Black President would wear off soon after his inauguration, when we realize that he is the President of ALL of the United States and the event will be of little or no benefit to most Black people in the long run.
but don't get me wrong... I still support Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States!
I would be lying if I would say I dont havent will not use the word .. I say other words too that might offend .. I apologize to all those that are bothered by it.. to me it's just a word power we give it make it the weapon it was intended to be .. I think that we have more pressing issues in this society than what somebody calls you.. hunger proverty homelessness ... but I would like to thank Imus for helping bring this kinda conversation to the for front .. and Cap i love the Def Poetry joint " That N*gga was Tight " wonder when his cd drops ...
My great-aunt was talking with one of my cousins when he referred to another cousin as a "lazy-ass nigga." Aunt Ruby walked us outside and pointed across the street at a white family that lived up the block and across the street. Looking us eye-to-eye, she said, "Look over there. Do you see them? They're grungy, uneducated, and always causing trouble in the neighborhood. Who's the 'nigga' here?"
To this day, I hate the word. I don't qualify--so why should I accept it?
For me ! it's an excellent post
Hmmm, i lend no credence to the word, except to use it how i've come to know it in my community. I use it in my writing, bc i write about characters that speak like this, and use the term quite frequently. Like CG and others have said, don't mean to offend at all, and don't really see how removing it from our vocabulary will do any justice...if someone of another race thinks you are a nigga, then they don't have to say it, and if they think you are a nigga, and you are indeed well-educated, not stupid or lazey,(according to dictionary terms) then who is wrong? They are, the term nigga for them, when created was just another term for "Black, Negro, and yet "Nigger" was meant to demean us, but haven't we flipped the scrip...if the word has no power, then who is it really hurting. Who cares about their intended meaning, if it means sh@! to us? Here's a word i would like to remove, HATE! Wouldn't the world be a better place without it?
i guess to be realistic there's no real way to banish a word or cause it to evaporate, is there? Some words seem to ebb & flow with eras, such as the terms Cat,Jokah,Jive, Sucka, etc. - some of which I often use as replacements for words that actually hurt me. I believe in the power of the word: as a writer & as a strongly Spiritual Sistah because: In the beginning was THE WORD.
like u, Sistah Miz, I do write the language of my characters, so some of their language includes words I may not use myself on the daily.
We all use language that we either grew up with or honed on our own as adults. Again, i'm just glad that we could dialogue about this.
plez - glad to know u're realistic about the affects of a Black Prez on Black people once he's "won" - but I agree - he still gets my vote (I know u're not supposed to reveal it - but there u have it:-).
I really DO appreciate the fact that so many of you come through regularly, comment honestly and support me & my notions:-). Good to see a new face, too - unfortunately, i couldn't fully appreciate your blog pom d...i don't understand french - but those recipe photos looked tasty.
Hugz to ALL U JOKAHZ! LOL!
Plez, I agree. As much as I would love to see Obama as president, and believe that solid change would be just around the corner, I remind myself, on some level, a politician is a politician, and the good ones play to the middle.
Ced.it, You have a way with words!
Miz, I agree with you completely. Hate is the root of all that is negative. Too much hatred.
I see no reason to rid the land of the N word but let's rid the us of some real things that need to be exterminated like poverty homelessness and no public health care ... ya dig .. The N Word is like a carrot Racist put in our faces so that we talk about and grip over instead of paying attention to more pressing issues ...
and u should - u know i will only do harm on purpose if my family is at risk - besides u only show me love
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