WHITE FOLKS AND THE 'N' WORD

Sticks and stones make break my bones, but words can never hurt me. Unless that word is nigger. Some would say, why lend credence to that word? I say the word carries its’ own credence. When read on paper, nigger has enough power to frustrate even the most stoic and culturally grounded person. When spoken, it has enough power (and unfortunately, authority) to discourage an entire race. That’s an entire classification of people kept at bay by six letters. Mind you, it‘s not just the letters themselves, but the attitudes that propel them. Here, I want to discuss specifically the attitudes of white people who have, and continue to use the word. Some use it because they are ignorant (or misguided) about its connotations. Some are more educated as to the dynamics of the word, but use it anyway due to indifference, and also because of the permission granted by their peers(specifically black folks) to continue to do so. Of course a good number (I am struggling not to say most) use it purely out of hatred and ironically fear. Although I am penning my perspective, I will try to detach myself from the fierceness of my contempt for anyone in the afore-mentioned categories, so this doesn’t develop into the rant of the ‘typical’ angry black man. However, if you are white and you are reading this (which I certainly hope is the case), and you are looking for an excuse to substantiate your use of the word nigger, you won’t find it here.

Perhaps the smallest, least-threatening group is comprised of those individuals who are truly ignorant, or unaware of the hatred in which the word nigger is steeped. Having said that, I want to make a distinction between ignorance and stupidity. Ignorance, as I intend it, is having a total lack of knowledge. Stupidity is marked by an inability to make smart decisions, even when equipped with sufficient information. Of course, to be completely ignorant, you would have to be living under a rock, in a foreign country, with no access to media of any form. It is possible, however, to be sheltered enough, or to have had such a lack of exposure to the word that it doesn’t resonate the way it should. However, those who are not living under a rock in foreign country have access to resources that can inform them. In my opinion, we all have a responsibility to at least try and become more aware of the influences that shape our surroundings. Eventually, avoiding those responsibilities will peel off the shell of ignorance and reveal an inner indifference.

Indifference is not always time-released, it often learned, and the best teachers are those who are indifferent themselves. This is reflected in both the black and white psyches. On one hand, indifference among blacks exists, either because they do not care, or are not as in touch as they need to be with the word, and allow its use to go unchecked. It is all too common for the “cool” white guy to get a pass from his black peers. These same peers who make him the “token nigga” fail to realize they are only giving permission for the token to perpetuate the cycle made popular by other members of his family who do not desire our acceptance (i.e. even the token nigga knows better than to invite the brotha to supper). So why then, do we allow it? If black people are indifferent, how can we expect anyone else not to be? On the other hand we have white indifference. This is the sort of sheer stupidity I mentioned earlier. In this case, we have white people who are fully aware, or at the very least cognizant of the context it has been used throughout history, but choose to act as if the call for white people to refrain from using it somehow doesn’t apply to them. This type of indifference usually comes with a disclaimer. I will invalidate my favorite of these here:

1. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

So how did you mean to use the most racist and hateful word in the English language?

2. “I have a lot of black friends.”

Black friends don’t let white friends use the word nigger.

3. “You’re being too sensitive. We need to get past that word.”

Show me a heroin addict that got over heroin by continuing to use it. (I’m just saying.)

4. “It’s just a word.”

Then why is it so difficult for you to stop saying it?

5. “I’m saying it with an ‘a’, not an ‘er’.”

Ask a slave if he knows the difference between ‘whip’ and ‘whup’. Then ask him if the difference in spelling makes the lashes hurt any less.

For the record, what you are really saying is, “Allow me to justify my stupidity and perpetuate the use of the word.” No can do.

Lastly, but certainly not least are white people who use the word nigger out of a combination of hatred and fear. I want to point something out here. The root form of the word nigger (negro) means dark, or black, or some form of it in any language. (Negro is the Spanish word for the color black.) On a basic level, the word nigger does have some descriptive qualities that are true to its essence. It is the attitude of superiority that is as prevalent in white consciousness as melanin in black folks’ skin that fuels the hatred behind the word. So initially, oppressors used the term to describe the “savages” who were their perceived inferiors. This façade of superiority has cracked under the scrutiny of its own absurdity. It only remains because with its dissolution, so will follow the dissolution of the collective (white) identity as it has it been so carefully crafted. That is where the fear comes in; the fear of the annihilation of the superior self as a result of black potential. After all, who wants to admit that the savages are of an equal, if not superior pedigree. (That must be a hard pill to swallow, and pride tends to swell the esophagus.) At this point, hatred is reintroduced into the cycle, as the superiors begin to hate what they fear. Sadly, that makes its use by those seeking to honor its hateful nature no more than a defense mechanism, or a way to repress that fear. To give you a glimpse as to how powerful that fear is, think about this: I am admittedly afraid of heights. As a kid, I would climb trees to try and face that fear. Now that I’m older I realize that the same trees may have been used by whites in a different way to repress their fear of black potential in an earlier, negroer (darker) time in our history. The word nigger is ropeless apparatus used by whites to neutralize black progressive advances.

The mafia has been known to employ enforcers to enact its will. Racism and hatred both have tools that serve the same purpose, but the word nigger is used as a special tool of reinforcement; reinforcement of the negative, often inaccurate stereotypes and perceptions of those to whom it is aimed. Reinforcement of the ill-deserved superiority it seeks to protect. (I don’t mean to imply that the mafia is racist. Honest, all my friends are in the mafia.) As promised, I have offered no excuses to substantiate its use. What I hope I have offered is enlightenment to deter people from continuing to use it, and a voice for those who are both discouraged by its use, and by those who allow it to go unchecked.