The N-word

There is a word that some people are scared to say, others are scared to hear, some use it as a term if endearment, others still use it freely and wonder what the fuss is all about. I am a person who enjoys a bit of controversy, stirring up a good debate or conversation, ushering people to think of old ideas in a new way. I am trying to find an answer to get peace though talk rather than war.

“Nigger” originated simply as a word referring to dark skin, coming from the Spanish and Portuguese word for “black” being Negro, and the Latin word Niger, before that. Then what happened? Well, in Africa some tribes captured people of other tribes and kept them more or less as slaves. Eventually the Europeans came to Africa and found a good bit of money could be made by buying slaves and reselling them. Thus the new slave owners were typically white people, who used to term Nigger to refer to their slaves. After a while slavery was more or less abolished, but some people still used the term negatively, and it doesn't take much before hear somebody of African American decent to complain about how wrong done they have been simply because their ancestors were slaves. While whites may have bought their ancestors, it was often other blacks who captured and sold them to the slave traders.

For years, between the time slavery was abolished, to the Civil rights movement in the United States of American, the word was used freely and without as much negativity as surrounds its usage today. Today people fear the word, the very mention of it, to see it in print, to speak it allowed. Why?

BUT Wait.

If we know our history, there are some strong facts. One is that the first slaves were in fact white people themselves. The word slave even originated from the word “Slavic”. Yet no white people today ask for pity because their forefathers were slaves. The word “Redneck” originated as a negative term against uneducated white workers, basically in meaning it meant the same thing as Nigger. However white people did not react in such a way as to give the word any power,over time they embraced the word to the extent they write country and western songs with lyrics like “give me, oh give me, give me a redneck girl”. Words used against other groups were taken by those groups and embraced, another example being the word “queer”, originated as a word against homosexuals who now proudly chant “we're here, we're queer”. By embracing the words they lost any negative context.

The word Nigger does not refer to all blacks,and has actually been used in reference to white folks occasionally too. Because it is a slang term there is no real definition, but loosely it means an uneducated, or disadvantaged person. It also refers to somebody who is forced to work for another for a living. Within the black community, to some extent, the word Nigger is passed around as a word of friendship, one man pats another on his back, “hey nigger, how ya doing?”. Is a word only racist, if another race uses it? Cries of racism spill out almost every time something negative happens to a black person, I am not saying racism does not exist, but I believe, as we will learn below, that some racism is self-constructed as a way to gain power.

Speak no Evil

I have never called a person a “nigger”, nor have I called a person a “redneck”. However I have seen people accused of being racists just for using the word in a sentence. Equally I have heard black folks talk to their friends, using the word freely, but objecting strongly if a white person were to say the same thing. Is that not racist? Why are we so scared of using a word that until 50 years ago was acceptable and not used in such negative ways as it is today? The word which used to simply be matter of fact (no different than saying somebody is Caucasian) is now becoming the most powerful word of all.

As Seen on TV

I enjoy watching Reality Television, but occasionally see a trend, where people are voted off and cry “racism”. When watching these shows it is often clear the person was sent on their way not as a result of race, but as a result of attitude or performance. One such example was on the show Rockstar INXS, where a band was looking for a new front man (singer). One singer, Ty Taylor was eliminated part way through the series, he cried racism. Now in truth Ty was a fantastic singer, but was not even familiar with the band and his style did not fit with them at all. If this was an act of racism he would have been eliminated week 1.

If you ever watch these types of shows, they are a good study of human social interaction, and I have seen more than once where people who should be eliminated are not, simply because the other contestants worry about being labeled as racists should they try to make a move against somebody of different race. Thus by keeping racism alive, power is gained.

Keep It Short Stupid

Too long, too much info? I hope the point has been made. Or at least got you interested. What I am saying, and I may be totally wrong, is that some people are keeping the word Nigger as a bad word, because it gains them a sense of power, by keeping racism alive, it means people are too scared to say anything real. When other cultures embraced the words against them, the words lost any power.

Regardless of skin color, all these people are bad, they are on the FBI's most wanted list. 

Wait for it...

I am sure that as the result of writing this article, somebody will call me a racist. Oh, well. That is their opinion. In truth, I don't much like black people, I don't much like white people either, in fact I much prefer the company of my pets,or a tree (probably the result of being bullied when I was younger). So call me a racist if you want, but remember at the end of the day, I like a good conversation, a good debate, and really want peace in the world, so if we need to enter into a massive ugly discussion to get at that peace, so be it.  Telling people not to use a word will NOT end racism, talking about it will, embrace a word, do not fear it or give it any power.  Talk!

Photos from Wikimedia