To discuss the N-word its needs to be said. The word nigger is a when word, not a who word. Meaning that anyone can say it, the most important thing about the n-word is the context it is used in. It can be used in an extremely positive context or a highly racist or oppressive context. In the dictionary nigger is defined as a contemptuous term for a black or dark-skinned person. During slavery it was used as a way for white people to oppress slaves, and after slavery was ended it was still used to oppress and demean black people. This is why the word nigger is such a loaded word. After the civil rights movement, the black community reclaimed the n-word. When a black person says it to another black person it has several positive connotations. …show more content…
Now I believe that anyone can say it but the context it is being said in matters a lot. I hear the n-word a lot now because I listen mostly to rap music. In music it is usually being used positively by a black person. When I hear the word now, and I know that it is not being used to oppress or demean, it does not make me uncomfortable. However if I hear someone saying nigger to demean, it would make me incredibly uncomfortable and offended. The word nigger needs to be used today. If people stop using it, its oppressive past will be forgotten and neglected which is ignoring the problem. There is still lots of subconscious racism in our society and the solution to fixing that problem is not ignoring race, it is acknowledging that race exist and then realizing that it does not matter. I think that the word nigger, is appropriately used when talking about race or oppression. It needs to be said so people can feel the weight that it carries. Many people say that only black people can say the n-word because the word was used to oppress them. I think that when saying the n-word, context is key. It can be said by anyone but the situation it is used in is the most important part of using the n-word
During the 1840s in Missouri, a young boy name Huckleberry Finn runs away from home. At his first destination, he meets Jim, a run away slaves. The story goes along with the adventure of Huck and Jim. Along the way floating in Mississippi river, Huck and Jim meet many people. The most significant character they met was the King and Duck, the con artists, who help to show the growth in Huck 's moral while creating sorts of problems.
For example, as a child, “[white kids] called [Malcom X] ‘nigger’ … so much that [he] thought [it was his] natural names” (12). There is a problem when a single word is used to describe someone’s race, which occurred in the north, where race relations were expected to be better. It’s even worse when it is used so often they believe it is their name, their identity. For another example, although Malcolm X was one of the top students in his class, and the class president, his teacher still told him “A lawyer – that’s no realistic goal for a nigger” (43). His teacher directly, without hesitation, told him he couldn’t become a lawyer.
Nigger is a noun in the English language. It had originally come from the Spanish/ Portuguese variation of Negro, which originated from the Latin adjective Niger. It was first used by John Rolfe to explain the first African slave ships in Virginia during 1619. In
Author, Gloria Naylor describes the different ways the word is used in her essay, “Nigger”: The Meaning of a Word. These ways being in black on black contexts, or to discriminate against blacks. Naylor writes, “But I didn’t ‘hear’ it until it was said by a small pair of lips that had already learned it could be a way to humiliate me” (324). Naylor indicates that she had heard ‘nigger’ being used all throughout her life in family and black community contexts, but she did not “hear” the word until it was said by a white child.
Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor defines interaction with the “n-word” as a “point of encounter.” I have had many “encounters” of the “n-word” such as hearing it in rap songs, at school, in movies, and sports games and events. It has somehow been normalized to say by members of society and by normalizing the use of the “n-word” we will never be able to advance forward on the problem of racism. Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor argues that the “n-word” is different from other vile words because of its racist meaning and past. She also inferred that it made people uncomfortable, mad, or depressed.
An example is the word “thug”. Thug is almost always in reference to a Black or Latino male, and in many perspectives is seen as the new polite way to say the N-word. In Bush’s speech he uses
The controversy of the use of the N word is the most problematic of any
“A Talk to Teachers” Questions 1-12 1. Baldwin establishes with his audience that he is not a teacher and like all of them lives in a dangerous time. He establishes his ethos by telling his audience that he is not (a teacher) and that he is (a fellow citizen who like them lives in a dangerous time). 2.
The n-word can be dated back to the 17th century. Its evolution began as a derogatory word, to now as a "friendly" term, some may say. This common word can be heard in everyday talk, in the media, or in hip-hop music. Although it’s a common word, many people feel uncomfortable with it or say it has a double standard. In the article we discussed in class, I picked up on a few points that stood out to me.
In the early 1780’s, the phrase “nigger” has created criticism and disrespect which whites have an unwelcome rejection of blacks. The term has spread widely over many decades; the meaning of nigger is extended to “an ignorant person” (Nigger, 2018). In English-speaking land, this word in some cases can be misunderstood as an insult without people consent especially in today’s society. Nigger is commonly used in young generations because there are many jokes into the word. It depends on how people use the term in a positive or negative in black culture (Nigger, 2004).
According to Matt Seitz, the word “Negro” started to fall out forty years ago. He mentions that “the word negro was easier for people
Not only is the “n” word used it is used constantly making a total of 48 times in only 281 pages. This greatly
“A Word’s Meaning” was written by author and professor Gloria Naylor to educate others about how and why a word can come to have different interpretations. Naylor gives examples of the various spoken meanings of the word “nigger” to support her claim. She describes different situations in her life where the word was spoken by different people in different situations in different ways, and she delineates how all these shape the meaning of a word that is seen as taboo in the English language. She uses these examples to prove her point that a word does not have any concrete meaning. Naylor explains - in a very intellectual way - the meaning of the word, as if it were a dictionary definition.
While some may find it easy to use this word, they fail to realize that this is a hurtful racial slur indicated to denounce African Americans. The “N” word shouldn’t be used by Americans because it causes division in the community and has a racist history. African
If yes, as one recent and provocative entry in the six-word “Race Card Project” put it, “I can say it; you can 't.” If no, go to #4. Rule 4: Am I speaking with intent to praise or to damn the group that the word targets? If to praise, I am out of touch even if I 'm not malicious, and I 'm possibly still a racist. If to damn, then I am probably both malicious and racist—and will certainly be taken to be.