Why I Hate the "N" Word
this entry brought to you by sleater-kinney, "jumpers"
I've always despised the word "nigger" and any variation thereof, and specifically black people's usage of it. They say that it's their word, that they will use it to their advantage, and this somehow is empowerment. It lessens the power of the word when they can use it themselves and in their own way. Never mind that brainwashed slaves used to use the word to degrade one another and break each other's will. Never mind that the word, unlike "cunt", "bitch", and "fag", which all started out as words without negative connotations, the word "nigger" was created with the specific intent to insult and degrade. Using it, somehow, makes the black man powerful. I never understood how this logic really worked, but then, I'm not from the hood.
But with the rise of hip-hop culture's ubiquity and the consequential proliferation of it as an acceptable word, I've noticed a nasty side-effect.
Have you been on the Internet at all? No, I don't mean do you surf the web. I mean, have you been on the internet? On the seedy underbelly, where fourteen year olds run loose? Have you seen their purposeful use of the n-bomb? Over and over and over again? It's the anonymity of the Internet, of course. They can be as obnoxious and racist as they want, and no one could possibly link it to them.
The word "nigger", then, hasn't just become a word that is so overused in popular lexicon that it has lost its hateful meaning, as was supposedly the purpose in the first place. Instead, it has become a secret outlet for white people, specifically for white adolesent males. This is how they are supposed to take back the word? By allowing it to be ingrained into the heads of idiot white kids who get a thrill by saying it? By being a guilty pleasure for kids to say, even though they know it is wrong, because it is wrong?
Words are just words, and alone, they can't hurt anyone. But all words have meanings, and I don't like it when words are used by those who don't know their meaning. And yet, kids use the word "nigger" because it is an inflammatory word. They're not using it because they think it's cool, neccesarily, but because of the fact that it is a hateful word, and somehow, that is cool. But isn't using hateful words specifically to be hateful without regard to meaning... A symptom of racism?
I'm not saying that every kid out there who thinks using the word "nigger" is hilarious is really a racist, just as I wouldn't suggest every idiot kid that calls his mom a bitch really hates his mom. The problem is that, once upon a time, if you used the word "nigger", you were racist, and that was shameful, period. Now, we are creating a generation of closet racists who can blithely use this word without as much as a second glance, under the pretext of, well, hey, they use it! They call themselves niggers! Under the pretext of the fact that the word has become so commonplace that it means nothing. Unfortunately, the word was created in ignorance and hated. And while a word can't hurt anyone, all words have meanings, and the feelings behind words can hurt someone. But if it's gotten to the point where we take the word for granted, how are we supposed to know when someone does mean it, but plays it off as if the word has no meaning?
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with love from CRS @ 5:16 PM
Friday, October 21, 2005
I've always despised the word "nigger" and any variation thereof, and specifically black people's usage of it. They say that it's their word, that they will use it to their advantage, and this somehow is empowerment. It lessens the power of the word when they can use it themselves and in their own way. Never mind that brainwashed slaves used to use the word to degrade one another and break each other's will. Never mind that the word, unlike "cunt", "bitch", and "fag", which all started out as words without negative connotations, the word "nigger" was created with the specific intent to insult and degrade. Using it, somehow, makes the black man powerful. I never understood how this logic really worked, but then, I'm not from the hood.
But with the rise of hip-hop culture's ubiquity and the consequential proliferation of it as an acceptable word, I've noticed a nasty side-effect.
Have you been on the Internet at all? No, I don't mean do you surf the web. I mean, have you been on the internet? On the seedy underbelly, where fourteen year olds run loose? Have you seen their purposeful use of the n-bomb? Over and over and over again? It's the anonymity of the Internet, of course. They can be as obnoxious and racist as they want, and no one could possibly link it to them.
The word "nigger", then, hasn't just become a word that is so overused in popular lexicon that it has lost its hateful meaning, as was supposedly the purpose in the first place. Instead, it has become a secret outlet for white people, specifically for white adolesent males. This is how they are supposed to take back the word? By allowing it to be ingrained into the heads of idiot white kids who get a thrill by saying it? By being a guilty pleasure for kids to say, even though they know it is wrong, because it is wrong?
Words are just words, and alone, they can't hurt anyone. But all words have meanings, and I don't like it when words are used by those who don't know their meaning. And yet, kids use the word "nigger" because it is an inflammatory word. They're not using it because they think it's cool, neccesarily, but because of the fact that it is a hateful word, and somehow, that is cool. But isn't using hateful words specifically to be hateful without regard to meaning... A symptom of racism?
I'm not saying that every kid out there who thinks using the word "nigger" is hilarious is really a racist, just as I wouldn't suggest every idiot kid that calls his mom a bitch really hates his mom. The problem is that, once upon a time, if you used the word "nigger", you were racist, and that was shameful, period. Now, we are creating a generation of closet racists who can blithely use this word without as much as a second glance, under the pretext of, well, hey, they use it! They call themselves niggers! Under the pretext of the fact that the word has become so commonplace that it means nothing. Unfortunately, the word was created in ignorance and hated. And while a word can't hurt anyone, all words have meanings, and the feelings behind words can hurt someone. But if it's gotten to the point where we take the word for granted, how are we supposed to know when someone does mean it, but plays it off as if the word has no meaning?
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