This widely understood principle of communication applies to the N word. You wouldn’t call your teacher “Dad” and you wouldn’t call your friend’s spouse “Baby.” Some words, terms, or names can connote respect when spoken by one person and connote disrespect when spoken by another. Ta-Nehisi Coates writes, “words take on meaning from context and relationship.” Relationships dictate the names we use to describe people. See Ta-Nehisi Coates on why What issues arise when people who aren’t Black use the N word? You can discuss the history of the N word, the reclamation of the term, and the reasons why it is unacceptable for white people and non-Black people of color to use the word (yes, even in a song). If you want to put somebody down, analogize them to the n-–.” Should I say the N word out loud in class? Should I allow my students to do so?ĭo not say the N word out loud and do not allow white students or non-Black students of color to do so. This is a term that has been generalized around the world. It is the racial slur that has been used in other contexts, so, for instance, Palestinians, the n-–s of the Middle East, the Irish, the n-–s of Europe. How the N-word became the ‘atomic bomb of racial slurs’ : “In the era of enslavement, the words ‘nigger" or "black’ were inserted in front of a common American first name (e.g., John), given to a slave to distinguish the slave from any local white person with the same name.” Adults reprimanded them for being ‘worse than niggers,’ for being ‘ignorant as niggers,’ for having ‘no more credit than niggers ’ they disciplined them by telling them that unless they behaved they would be carried off by ‘the old nigger’ or made to sit with ‘niggers’ or consigned to the ‘nigger seat,’ which was, of course, a place of shame.” often the earliest instruction white adults gave to white children prominently featured the word nigger. We do know, however, that by the end of the first third of the nineteenth century, nigger had already become a familiar and influential insult.” No one knows precisely when or how niger turned derisively into nigger and attained a pejorative meaning. Currently, some people insist upon distinguishing nigger-which they see as exclusively an insult-from nigga, which they view as a term capable of signaling friendly salutation. Nigger and other words related to it have been spelled a variety of ways. According to the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, it did not originate as a slur but took on a derogatory connotation over time. “Nigger is derived from the Latin word for the color black, niger. Compiled by Erica Pernell What is the history and context of the N word?įrom Randall Kennedy’s Nigger: The Strange and Troublesome Career of a Troublesome Word:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |