THE "N" WORD IS DEAD AND BURIED...or is it?
Yesterday, the Detroit NAACP buried the word, "Nigg@"- hoping it will never be used again.
I was thinking about the "N" word's long and illustrious use in the heads and hearts of many African-Americans. (Which I'm still getting used to calling Black people. It doesn't feel natural so I use it sparingly.) I prefer the word "Black" to identify my race but sometimes I've used the "N" word because it was appropriate to the sitchiation....:0)
Our community uses this word to help us make a statement to the person we're communicating with, it's that simple. It's not about us as a whole. I can assure you that most Black people don't believe we're a bunch of low down, shady Nigg@s! We use the term to PUNCTUATE what we're saying to whomever we're having an issue with. That's how I've used it.
When we want the person we're dealing with to realize the brevity of the situation, it may come to me calling you the "N" word because you ain't hearing me or acting right. For instance:
1. "I know you ain't for real N!"
2. "You ain't sh..t N!"
Yesterday, the Detroit NAACP buried the word, "Nigg@"- hoping it will never be used again.
I was thinking about the "N" word's long and illustrious use in the heads and hearts of many African-Americans. (Which I'm still getting used to calling Black people. It doesn't feel natural so I use it sparingly.) I prefer the word "Black" to identify my race but sometimes I've used the "N" word because it was appropriate to the sitchiation....:0)
Our community uses this word to help us make a statement to the person we're communicating with, it's that simple. It's not about us as a whole. I can assure you that most Black people don't believe we're a bunch of low down, shady Nigg@s! We use the term to PUNCTUATE what we're saying to whomever we're having an issue with. That's how I've used it.
When we want the person we're dealing with to realize the brevity of the situation, it may come to me calling you the "N" word because you ain't hearing me or acting right. For instance:
1. "I know you ain't for real N!"
2. "You ain't sh..t N!"
3. "N who you talkin' to?" or the ever popular
4. "N pleeease!"
See how it punctuates the statement?!!!
OK, OK, well then how about how Bernie Mac, on the "Kings of Comedy Tour" broke down the use of the word "MF". Bernie's rationalization is the same for the use of the "N" word. It's for this reason we've kept the word in our everyday exchanges for so long. We know how and why we're using it, but little did we know that our days were numbered.
4. "N pleeease!"
See how it punctuates the statement?!!!
OK, OK, well then how about how Bernie Mac, on the "Kings of Comedy Tour" broke down the use of the word "MF". Bernie's rationalization is the same for the use of the "N" word. It's for this reason we've kept the word in our everyday exchanges for so long. We know how and why we're using it, but little did we know that our days were numbered.
The thing is.... BLACK FOLKS LOVE TO MAKE UP WORDS!!! We love to use SLANG...and so we'll end up with a replacement, you can believe that. We always do Son, Dawg, Homie, Shawty.
When I was in Elementary school, those were the days of the Low Riders and the cool, tough guys in my neighborhood. Hell, my brothers were these guys. The popular names they called each other were "Ace Boon Coon"and "Homeboy". My brother Robert used these words exclusively. So as Blacks we understand our "need" to describe ourselves in terms OTHERS don't understand. Whites used Coon for many years, as much as they used the "N"word. But somehow the brothers made it cool.
Our words have soul...so we understand why everyone jumps on the bandwagon to use them. You can't be cool calling your boy, "Hey Pal!" "Uh, what's up my Dude!?" It's got to sound cool.
I don't believe non-Blacks are qualified to use the word because it doesn't come from a culture they have grown up in every day. Some might disagree, but its evident they don't understand the correctness and sensitivity associated with using the word. This kind of understanding runs through our veins. Yea, I believe it's that deep.
These kids made it a slogan, or some kind of badge of honor to be called one or to call someone else the "N" word. Back in the day, Blacks came to grips with the reality that it was acceptable to Whites to only call us this word. So we began to desensitize the word. We were determined to make it our own so we wouldn't feel so bad about people calling us this. It was in the 1960's when we all believed how beautiful and powerful we were as a Black nation, so we kept the word. We used it in comedy by Richard Pryor. We used it in literature by Dick Gregory, and we used it in our homes. Again, using the word was never about identifying all Blacks, it was slang and sometimes cool.
Who knew that it would become so prolific and widespread today that we'd have to kill it off, just to keep it from destroying a generation of practitioners.
Never in my wildest dreams would I believe that I could sit on a public train and hear two Hispanic teens use the word with such abandonment, that you know it holds no point of reference for them because the word has been transcended into the Hip Hop/Rap community and that's all they listen to. If Rappers do it, then it's the cool thing to do.
Who knew that it would become so prolific and widespread today that we'd have to kill it off, just to keep it from destroying a generation of practitioners.
Never in my wildest dreams would I believe that I could sit on a public train and hear two Hispanic teens use the word with such abandonment, that you know it holds no point of reference for them because the word has been transcended into the Hip Hop/Rap community and that's all they listen to. If Rappers do it, then it's the cool thing to do.
I thought about this issue enough to write this piece the moment I saw the story about killing off the "N" word. So I ask - "For who's benefit are we burying this word?" Is it that we're burying it because like everything else "stolen" from our culture....Blacks are able to use it without controversy, but let a non-Black get their hands on that thing and it becomes something else?!! Not only does it become something else in its use and intentions, but it defies logic to most of the world why we have embraced it, and why now we're denouncing it.
And its that same line of thinking when it was determined that when we're bad, we're really good! Weren't Blacks responsible for turning the word "bad" into "good"? And the masses followed along. Michael Jackson's hit, "I'm Bad", sold millions. Yea baby, I'm bad! It's ludicrous!!
It's going to be hard for a lot of folks to STOP using this word and I'm one of them. Can we be real for a minute? The word has been used by our community for more than 50 years and it was just for "effect". Can I convert to saying "Negro" now? The "N" word identifies us as a group among ourselves. I gave it the flow test, and it's not FLUID. Negro / Nigga@! Neeegroooeee!! Nigg@! Hmmmm....I gotta be honest, it's gonna be a challenge.
So, to the NAACP I say...it's a noble, but this is like getting a smoker to give up cigarettes. I may backslide. Can you provide me with an adequate alternative like a patch or some gum?Yuck yuck!
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