The "N" Word

[RPG Post]

The "N" Word

In 1999, in Washington DC, politician David Howard was fired (or forced to resign) after a January 15 meeting in which he used the word "niggardly." "Niggardly" means "miserly." While its etymology is fuzzy, it was around a couple of hundred years before "nigger" and has absolutely no connection to the word, which comes from the words in several languages for 'black."

In 1982, Richard Pryor gave an interview to Ebony magazine where he talked about his decision to stop using the word "nigger." He had meant, like gay activists had done with the word "Gay," to take it back from the gutter of hatred in which it swam. It didn't work. Rap stars today pepper their songs with "nigger," "bitch" and "ho," and yet the last two remain offensive references to women which no one finds acceptable and the first word ... utter "nigger" on the street and see where it gets you. The word has not been reclaimed and is still getting people fired, as well as fired up, today.

[end_news_blurb]

Mark Twain

The recent announcement of a bowdlerized Huckleberry Finn is not a surprised, it has been censored before. But the intention ... who are we protecting? Warner Brothers made a decision with the Looney Tunes Golden Collections and the Tom and Jerry collections to release their cartoons uncut and as they had originally appeared. They bear the following disclaimer:

"The cartoons you are about to see are products of their time. They may depict some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that were commonplace in the U.S society. These depictions were wrong then and they are wrong today. While the following does not represent the Warner Bros. view of today's society, these cartoons are being presented as they were originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming that these prejudices never existed."

My son watches these cartoons, he doesn't even realize what blackface is or why it might be offensive. I explain it to him. He stares at me as if people, mostly adults, are stupid. What can I say? He watches these with his best friend, a biracial child of a white mom and black dad, and her siblings, all the time. Everyone laughs at them. No one feels the hatred. My son also listens to rap music. I listen to rap music. I prefer old school, but he likes a lot of the new stuff. The word "nigger" appears in most of the songs. He sings the songs. His friends sing the songs. The father of the children next door sings the songs. He's the only one who understands the power of the word.

When Pryor decided to use the word to depower it, maybe he was just way before his time. His theory influenced the rap stars, his use of the word became part of the culture that spawned the rappers. And now my child only roughly understands the power of the word. Because his mother and I tell him it is inappropriate to use in almost all situations except where he is singing a song, discuss Nigger Jim, or asking why some people can use a word and others can't.

Richard Pryor and Chevy Chase perform in one of my favorite Saturday Night Live skits, a skit written by Paul Mooney and involving the word "nigger." The sketch would not work as well without the word, nor, more importantly, Pryor's reaction to it. One has to wonder, if even then, he and Mooney recognized the word was not going to be easily destigmatized.

George Carlin was a genius. He explored language and our reactions to it in almost every routine. He used the word "nigger" at least once in his routines, commenting on the word being used by Pryor and Murphy. For instance, you take the word “nigger.” "There is absolutely nothing wrong with the word “nigger” in and of itself. It’s the racist asshole who’s using it that you ought to be concerned about. We don’t mind when Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy say it. Why? Because we know they’re not racist. They’re niggers! Context. Context. We don’t mind their context because we know they’re Black."

Carlin was also known for his claim that there are no bad words, only bad intentions and bad people. I agree with him. But I also know some words are so deeply steeped in bad thoughts, uttered by bad people, that it is hard to untangle the word from its infused intentions. Almost no other word holds the power of "nigger." "Faggot," perhaps, is a word only uttered in context to a person with hatefilled intention. But the word also refers to a kind of stitch, a bundle of sticks and iron bars joined together. I have heard others, people to whom it would be applied derogatorily, trying to remove the hate and just leave the word. Perhaps, like the attempt to reclaim "porch monkey" in Clerks II, this is a move destined to fail.

Perhaps, to some extent, Pryor's idea is succeeding. But when people are fired for using the word "niggardly," when books are still being censored, when the word itself still makes nearly everyone uncomfortable, I think it may be time to stop using it. Words disappear from language all the time. It's not much of a loss. We should never pretend it didn't exist, but maybe, like Warner Brothers, when can mention it existed, was wrong, and life goes on.

[Justin OOC]

I did a paper in one on my classes in College, never have I gotten looks as I did that day.

I had to explain myself to the head of the English department in an appeal, because my teach failed me for the course for being rascist.

I read my paper to the Department head, and asked if in any way my paper was offensive. Our assignment was a word that sparked controversy....

[Tora]

Haha! I clicked on the link thinking it was about Novas...

[Travis Kincaid]

Carlin was a genius with words, and often very capable of pointing out the stupidity in our own language. I'll miss him.

[The Fine Balance]

I use the word frequently myself, in the company of my black friends. As George Carlin said, it's all about context.