Why I'm Mixed on the Word 'Nigger'

Time columnist John Ridley- who like myself, is African-American writes an excellent essay on the word nigger in the latest issue of Time. (click on the title for the link). He cites examples from the 1975 Saturday Night Live skit with comedians Chevy Chase and the late Richard Pryor, to Dick Gregory's desensitizing the word ( Gregory did this in his preface to the Robert H. deCoy book from the early 1970s The Nigger Bible).

But for so many of us, nigger is an insult. Yes, I know, a lot of us black folks use it, mainly in the form of nigga, and such, but even as I speak for myself here, I also speak for countless of other black folks and will say that I don't like the word- in any form- coming out of anybody's mouth. No matter what racial orientation the person/people claim themselves to be.

Michael Richards- and more recently Andy Dick's- use of the word hurt many of all racial proclivities. In Richards' case, it was because he was frustrated over hecklers. Dick tried to make light of it, but like John Kerry's recent joke about education over Iraq gone awry, it bit him (and Richards) right in the ass. Sure, we hold celebrities to a higher- or lower- standard, but like the rest of us, they're human, too. Whether they like it or not.

Now here's why I'm mixed on the usage of this word. For one, although I don't like hearing it from anyone, I still believe that they have a right to say it. The First Amendment, which I very strongly believe in and strongly defend, gives a person to say whatever they want, in any shape or form. Including the words nigger; coon; jungle bunny for a black person. Or honky; peckerwood; ofay; trailer trash; or cracker for a white person. or any other epithet. Of course, we should be intelligent enough not to use these slurs, and a lot of us are intelligent enough to tell the offending party that such words are offensive (though, that probably still won't change the fact that your ass might get kicked by a member of a minority racial group should you use a slur against them...).

There's this excellent book that came out about five years ago- written by an African-American by the name of Randall Kennedy- called Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word (Pantheon Books, 2002). It explains the origin of the word- which as we all know, wasn't originally meant to for use to insult black people (just like the swastika wasn't originally meant for a symbol of white supremacy or hatred. The swastika originated from Tibet...another discussion for another day...),and cases where such usage of the word got folks in hot water. Plus, it discusses the double standard the word has (hence, the nigger/nigga connection). A recommended read, indeed.

Race relations here in America are- at best- chaotic (at worse, perhaps nearing the boiling point. Those white supremacists just may get that RaHoWa- Racial Holy War- yet. But as the saying goes, be careful for what you pray for. You just might get it. Only the results may not come out the way you had wished for. And you know that a lot of us black folks are viciously sick and tired of getting the short end of the stick). If we are to be the greatest nation on Earth, then we must drop our weapons of hatred and bickering, talk out our differences, work out a concensus or two, and continue the healing. Otherwise, the al-Qaidas, the Talibans; the Hezbollahs; possibly the Iranians and North Koreans; and the Hamases will take care of the problem for us- only none of us will be around to fight them. Or each other.

In closing, many of you have heard of Jerry Springer, and the crazy talk show he does daily. Here in this clip from WMAQ-TV NBC5, Chicago (where the show is produced, he tears a new ass hole into a fellow employee who quit over the station's decision to let him do periodical commentaries on the newscasts. I think that his argument is pretty relevant here. Ladies and gentlemen, Jerry Springer.

ValienteVejete/YouTube/WMAQ-TV, Chicago

Clip: Copyright 1997 NBC Universal, All Rights Reserved.
This entry: Copyright 2006, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights reserved.