The Concept of the Word Nigger - Essay Example

Introduction Perhaps no word in the English language is more loaded with hatred and denigration than the word “nigger.” It is used as a word of contempt, hatred and disrespect, and the word instills fear in the person who hears it. Or does it? Actually, it depends upon the context. The word could either be a term of hatred and disgust. Or, it could be a term of endearment or simply a term of identification. The very simple delineation between whether the word is one of denigration or one of endearment depends upon the person who is hurling the epithet. If it is a white talking to a black, the word is hateful. If it is a black talking to another black, it could either be a playful word, an admiring word, a neutral word, or a sign of disgust. Hip hop and rap artists use the term freely, and, mostly, do not mean the word to be derogatory or hateful. White comedians, such as Michael Richards, use the word, and their career is literally over. The word is acceptable in the black community, although many black activists see danger in this acceptance, as it means that the oppressed are using the hateful terms of the oppressor. The word is never acceptable in the white community. The fact is that whites can never use the words except to mean denigration and hatred, and blacks may always use the word because it has a completely different meaning for them, and this is how it should be. This essay will go into a short history of the word, the various meanings of the word, and how the word has evolved over time. History of the Word According to Feguson, the word did not begin derogatory. It evolved from the word “negro” which is simply Spanish for black. The word “negro” itself evolved from the Greek word “necro” which means dead. Ferguson argues that this connotation, the word death, gives the word negro, and its derivative nigger, is problematic (Ferguson). Still, the word negro is a more neutral word than its derivative, nigger, especially if one considers that the term negro simply means black. Kennedy (1999/2000) argues that the word was derived from the word “neger,” which was a Northern English word which was derived from the word “negro.” Kennedy also argues that how the word came to have a pejorative meaning is not known. There is speculation that the term became a pejorative because the users of the term became aware that the word “nigger” is a mispronunciation of the word “neger,” and, so, decided to use it as a slur – much like somebody might deliberately mispronounce one’s name when that individual wants to disrespect that person. Kennedy also states that when the term became a slur is also up for debate, in that historians do not know the precise answer to this question, either. Kennedy does state that, by the beginning of the nineteenth century, the word was already being used as an insult (Kennedy, 1999/2000). That said, although the term was offensive in the first part of the nineteenth century, the word was also used as a colloquial term for a slave, by the white owners, argues Alberti (2006), which means that, in this context, the term was not necessarily abusive (Alberti, 2006). How the Word is Used The commonly known usage for the word is as a racial slur. But not just any racial slur – it is the “all-American trump card, the nuclear bomb of racial epithets” (Kennedy, 1999/2000, p. 87). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a federal appeals court, has weighed in on the word, when deciding the case of a black parent who objected to the assignment of Huckleberry Finn, a book in which the word appears 215 times. Her case was dismissed on First Amendment grounds, but the court acknowledged how derogatory the word is, stating that the word is “the most noxious racial epithet in the contemporary American lexicon,” while another judge on panel agreed, stating that “no word or phrase that could be directed at any other group…could cause comparable injury” (Kennedy, 1999/2000, p. 87). Kennedy (1999/2000) further states that the word “nigger” is considered much more of an insult to blacks than the word “kike” is to Jews, “wetback” is to Mexicans, “chink” and “gook” is to Asians, and “honky” is to whites. Each of these slurs were the subjects of a handful of court cases over the years. The word “nigger,” on the other hand, has been the subject of hundreds of court cases over the years (Kennedy, 1999/2000). Therefore, by this measure alone, the word is considered much more offensive than other racial slurs for other racial groups. Whilethe word is surely offensive in today’s vernacular, this is not always the case. Gloria Naylor (1986), who is African-American, writes an essay about two very different contexts in which she heard this word. In the first context, she was in the third grade, and a white boy who received a lower grade than did she complained about his low grade and called her a “nigger.” The other context was in her immediate family and their circle of friends. In this context, the word came to mean a man “who had distinguished himself in some situation that brought their approval for his strength, intelligence and drive…’that nigger pulled in $6,000 in overtime last year. Said he got enough for a down payment for a house” (Naylor, 1986). Other ways that she heard the word was when women referred to “my nigger.” In this context, it was a term of endearment for a husband or a boyfriend. It was also used in a context of admiration for somebody’s victory – “you don’t mess with a nigger.” That said, even Naylor’s parents used the term in a pejorative way, which must have been very confusing for a child. They would refer to shiftless blacks who lived in their building, whether they be drunks or perpetually unemployed, as “trifling niggers.” Naylor argues that her family, and the friends of her family, rendered the word impotent by their usage. It was therefore only until Naylor heard the word out of the white boy who used the word to insult her, did she actually “hear” the word for the first time, in all its ugliness (Naylor, 1986). Kennedy (1999/2000) agrees with this analysis, in that blacks using the term “nigger” is substantially different than whites using the same term. As Kennedy (1999/2000) suggests, the term “nigger” is used freely by blacks when whites are not listening. The term “nigger” coming from a white towards a black is always an insult, argues Kennedy, but when used by blacks amongst themselves, it is often a term of endearment – a “racial term with undertones of warmth and good will, reflecting…a tragicomic sensibility that is aware of black history” (Kennedy 1999/2000, p. 89). Kennedy also cites writer Geneva Smitherman who wrote that blacks have four different meanings for the word nigger. One meaning is simply identification – “all the nigguhs in the Motor City got rides,” which is translated to mean that all African-Americans in Detroit have a car. Another way of using the term is to express disapproval – similar to the term “trifling niggers” used by Naylor’s family above, blacks might use the term to disapprove of somebody – “stop acting like a nigger.” Another way of using the term might be to identify a person who identifies with and shares the values of a black person – “James Brown is a ‘shonuff nigger.” The last meaning is the term of endearment – “He my main nigguh,” which means “He is my best friend” (Kennedy 1999/2000, p. 91). That the word has been used so universally, in both good contexts and bad, by the black community, is a reason for dismay for many others in the black community. The blacks who condemn the use of the word state that the black community using the word so freely might destigmatize it. If it is destigmatized, then the word may be used more freely by both blacks and whites. This is a cause for concern for many blacks, because of the history of the word and the way that the word has been used during the United States’ racist past. Blacks using the word creates an “attitude of acceptance,” argues Ron Nelson, editor of the University of North Carolina’s student newspaper The Daily Tar Heel. What this means, contends Nelson, is that whites figure that if blacks can use the word, so can they (Kennedy 1999/2000). Comedian Bill Cosby concurs, stating that blacks using the word shows that they have little self-respect or racial pride, and called on all black comedians to immediately stop using the word. However, his call for a ban on the word has not been heeded, as comedians have continued to use the word, along with many others in the black community (Kennedy 1999/2000). How the Meaning Has Shifted Over Time One of the biggest shifts that the word “nigger” has taken, over time, is that it has been shortened in the word “nigga,” and has been used, extensively, by hip-hop and rap artists (Ferguson). The term “nigga” is distinguished from the word “nigger,” in that the former is used as a way to “affirm their identity and community in the face of anyone or anything that poses a threat to blackness” (Young, 2004). For instance, “Niggahs with attitude” was shortened to “NWA,” and this was a popular rap group in the early 1990s, consisting of Eazy-E, DJ Yella, MC Ren and Dr. Dre. Ferguson argues that the rap and hip-hop generation using the term so easily is emblematic of what is wrong with the genres, in and of itself. Ferguson argues that the rap culture and the hip hop culture reflects an attitude of self-hatred, self-destruction, and negative thought patterns and lifestyle choices. To Ferguson, the hip hop and rap artists capitalize upon the mainstream society’s “diseased ideology,” and that the co-opting of the word by the rap and hip-hop generation shows that the oppressed have taken on the oppressors’ weapons of hate. She points out that Jews do not greet each other with the word “kike,” as in “Hey, kike, how’s it going?” People of Arab descent do not greet each other with the words “towel head” or “sand nigger.” Therefore, argues Feguson, the word retains its hateful meaning, and hip-hop and rap artists, by using the word, are unique among the races in using a deeply offensive word as an everyday word. Moreover, the hip-hop and rap generation have effectively brought the word into white America’s vernacular (Ferguson). Lanita Jacobs-Huey (2006) uses the term “nigger” as a broad term for a hated group of people. She argues that, after 9/11, the term was used less for blacks and more for Arabs and Muslims. After 9/11, the blacks were no longer the most hated groups for white racists, but, rather, Arabs and Muslims were, so this group constitutes the “new nigger.” This was especially true with black comedians, who proclaimed that, after 9/11, the Middle Easterners were the new niggers. As one black comedian put it – “black people, we have been delivered. Finally, we got a new nigger. The Middle Easterner is the new nigger” (Jacobs-Huey, 2006, p. 60).Among other reasons why the Middle Easterner became the “new nigger” after 9/11, argues Jacobs-Huey (2006) is that the Middle Easterners became subjected to the violation of civil liberties that blacks have been subjected to for years. The term “driving while black” came out of the animus towards police officers who would racially profile a black individual, pulling him or her over for no other reason than the color of their skin. Now, the Middle Easterners were being subjected to the same treatment. Just as police officers used racial profiling as a way of harassing African-Americans, so this kind of treatment was being used against Middle Easterners. Just as the term nigger, then, when used by white individuals, is a term of disrespect, at the very least, so, then, should this term be used for Middle Easterners. This is because Middle Easterners had taken the lowest rung in society, argues Jacobs-Huey, so the stigmatization, degradation and humiliation associated with the word “nigger” should be used for them (Jacobs-Huey, 2006). The word continues to evolve, and black activists are trying to get the word to evolve to where everybody will see it as offensive, no matter the context. For instance, in July of 2007, members of the NAACP (National Association for the Advance of Colored People), held a mock “funeral” for the word. This was an effort to try to get rap music artists to quit using the term, along with the terms “bitch” and “ho.” This was during the same time when comedian Michael Richards used the term on stage, and was never really heard from again, and Don Imus referred to the Rutgers University women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed hos.” He was subsequently fired (Blanchard, 2007). Blanchard (2007) argues that having the “funeral” for the word is necessary, because young black men and women might not have heard the word in a derogatory sense, therefore do not have an idea of the words power and evil background. These young people see the word as innocuous, and it isn’t. Therefore, the innocuous context in which it is used, such as in rap and hip-hop, should disappear (Blanchard, 2007). Of course, there is some degree of irony in a group known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People burying an offensive word, as the term “colored people” is no longer politically correct, either. Conclusion The term “nigger” is, indeed, unique in the pantheon of slur words, as it is especially bad and has especially negative connotations. That said, it is also used by the black community, and exclusively by the black community, to mean any number of things, most of which are not offensive. Blacks might use the term as simply identifying other blacks, as a term of endearment, as a term for a black who is especially associated with the black experience, or as a term for disdain. This has apparently always been true, and it used to be that the term was used among blacks as a way to talk amongst themselves when whites supposedly were not listening. It has since evolved into a background word, of sorts, for the rappers and hip-hop artists who use the term freely. Since many whites listen to this music, argues Ferguson, the rappers and hip-hop artists have introduced the term into the mainstream, white, vernacular. This is a dangerous thing, according to Ferguson, because, before long, the term will be a part of the white vernacular, which completely ignores the racism and hatred that is behind the meaning of the word. This had led the NAACP to attempt to literally bury the word, so that rap and hip-hop artists do not use the term, but this has not seemed to have done any good. The fact is that the word is probably here to stay, as blacks use the term as a badge of honor, and the term is used freely in the black community. What should always be true, however, is that it will never be okay for whites to use the term as well. And this is how it should be. Bibliography Alberti, John. “The Nigger Huck: Race, Identity and the Teaching of Huckleberry Finn.” College English, 57.8: 919-937. Blanchard, Jessica. “Mock Funeral to ‘Bury’ Offensive Words.”Seattle PI (4 July 2007). Retrieved from: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Mock-funeral-to-bury-offensive-words-1242757.php Ferguson, Patrice. “Wuz’ Up Nigga, My Niggaz, You Nigger!” Retrieved from: http://www.csun.edu/csbs/departments/pan_african_studies/pdf/wuz_up_nigga.pdf Jacobs-Huey, Lanita. “’The Arab is the New Nigger’: African American Comics Confront the Irony and Tragedy of September 11.” Transforming Anthropology 14.1 (2006): 60-64. Kennedy, Randall. “Who Can Say ‘Nigger?’And Other Considerations.”The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education 26 (1999-2000): 86-96. Naylor, Gloria. “Mommy, What Does ‘Nigger’ Mean?” Retrieved from: http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=mommy+what+does+nigger+mean%3F&oq=mommy+what+does+nigger+mean%3F&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_nf=1&gs_l=serp.3...2827.9426.0.9575.36.29.4.0.0.1.596.5194.0j18j5j1j0j1.36.0.&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=3226d37ade666d03&biw=1138&bih=553 Young, Vershawn. “Your Average Nigga.”College Composition and Communication 55.4 (2004): 693-715. Read More