Did you just say “Nigga”?

-It’s OK I can say it, I’m brown.

-“No fool that is our word, you can’t use it. Only Black people can.”

-Hmm someone better tell that to Fat Joe, not only is he not Black – let’s just say he is a little more Español than Afro-Caribbean on the Puerto Rican/Cuban color spectrum.

Words change over time and through common usage it becomes part of the accepted vernacular. Right?

We will never stop using it, but do we really use it to take away its power or are we lulled into this pop culture false sense of acceptability that has a hidden agenda, that latent unseen but known line of pejorative context.  Are today’s rappers no more than a modern day minstrel show? Only now the insults aren’t masked in a sambo-mammy character but instead have become a common proverbial aspect of the rapper lexicon hyped up through MTV and BET as if its use is through an effort to better the community they so poorly reflect? No. It was designed to be derogatory and no matter the modern conceptualization it cannot remove that historical truth. We cannot wipe clean the chronological context of the world without first denouncing the history that coexists within its existence and as a licensed history teacher I cannot accept that fact. As someone whose own history continues to be ignored or improperly detailed in history books I will not remove the little truth that we can and legally ought to implement into the classroom. Slavery and the civil rights movement are national and often state standards that teachers must cover but as to how much? Well as long as it covers the state tests questions, it is enough. Right?

True, if we look at the etymology of the word, we can see the transition into the modern day argot where it has become more socially acceptable to some people. Its use has often been falsely fortified as an expression, which has been internalized into a ‘term of endearment’. I guess it just depends who is doing the endearing, because if that endearing comes from the wrong colored lips then all aspects of acceptance or internalization go out the window and it returns to its original form, an insult. How do we socially legislate who can and cannot use the word based on these collective constructs? In contrast, if we do decide to eradicate its use who will uphold it? The 2007 NAACP burial of the ‘N’ word, has clearly not had a lasting effect nor influence on its practice today. Even more still, from within Black culture it is used to distinguish the negative behaviors among some Blacks. Through a point of reference, Chris Rock has a standup skit that starts off, “I love black people, but I hate niggas.” Another way, as Dr. John McWhorter describes in The ‘N’ Word documentary is, “through this leveling effect, that you are no better or worse than me.”

I make no excuses for my own past use of this word, yet by trying to better understand a word with such a historical context as a student of life and humanity I can choose to either affirm my continued use of the word or give it peace. Through peace I mean its own decline – death which is ironic that death is where we end since it is where we began Nigga-Nigger (which is believed to come from the pronunciation of Dutch slave traders – Neger)-Negro-Necro-Nekros: Greek for death/corpse. This association being formulated due to misguided perceptions of an obsession with death and black magic from the Egyptians and other African kingdoms, whom the Greeks also gained much of their modern knowledge.

A further twist of irony in this story is that at the very beginning of the European invasion into the Americas, poor Blacks and whites were equal on many levels and it was those with the power that began to develop the idea that the poor whites were better than the poor blacks because at least, they were white. This allowed those within power to remain in power, through basic divide and conquer and yet today we wish to all be on the same plane utilizing the same forces that divided them in the first place. It is as if the tool once used to help fortify our division is now being used in a skewed unifying tactic of sorts.  The problem is that those who most commonly use this “tool” don’t see the scars left by its initial use.

In a day where we have elected our nations first Black president, the term has still failed to gain acceptance. Jesse Jackson, a false advocate for its discontinuation was publicly scrutinized for his use of the word. If the likes of Jesse Jackson are demonized for its use and Barack himself refuses to use the word, outside of a few audio snippets from his book ‘Dreams of My Father’, then who can and when can they? Pop icons Samuel L. Jackson and Spike Lee had a disagreement over its excessive use in the movie “Jackie Brown.” Yet, what counts as excessive and is it merely because of who wrote it and not due its actual use?

So where do you stand on its use and how do you validate its use or advocate for its end? Both ends of the spectrum are forced to socially police its usage, depending on either its general use, who is using it or in what context. We can almost all agree that Michael Richard’s (Seinfeld’s Kramer) use was deplorable yet there is so much controversy regarding rapper Eminem if he uses it and if its acceptable and why.

It doesn’t matter if we refer to it as “The ‘N’ word”, Nigga, Nigger or some other abbreviation or variation. The fact is that they are all interconnected and no matter who is using it or what context someone will have a problem with it.

I leave you with this, as you further yourself as a college educated leader and role model will your continued use aid in breaking down barriers or lack of use push forth its demise. Is this the tipping point where Nigga is buried as a word in the forgotten pages of lore or do we press ahead and redefine the word so that everybody, everywhere, can use the word with no ties to slavery and only, if ever so slightly, still have a mild depreciatory value. As I said before we will never truly erase the word nor the history tied to it but we can hope for diminishing value at best, right?

Picture obtained from Flickr.

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