Nigger Please...

Oxford Dictionary Definition: Offensive. A black person
Chris Rock Definition: The Nitro-glycerine of words
Urban Dictionary: An endearing term between two or more individual to describe a friendship or bond.

Regardless of what definition of the word Nigger you find, it is important to note that definitions change depending on the vessel used to implement the word. It is true that according to a lot of people, the most popular introduction of the word was used as a derogative term to address black Africans who were enslaved during the 16th Century.

It is also true due to many accounts that there was an understanding (whether this understanding is morally right or wrong) that Blacks were innately inferior to Whites. Through the course of the slave trade, especially during early 16th Century we see how this understanding was deeply embedded into a society that ironically introduced the Constitution.

However what we do not see is that the word Nigger was introduced to reflect the present racial hatred of that society, there has never been a conclusive evidence to state the word Nigger would ever become equivalent to the consensus view that Blacks were sub-human.

This leads me on to conclude that the word Nigger by itself, is insignificant, imagine if Nigger was replaced with the words Black, Negro or African, would there have also been a rise in civil disobedience to proclaim our defiance to these terms also? The word Nigger originated from the Portuguese language as a term used in neutral context to refer to black people, there are common variations of the word all around the world such as Negra, Niger and Negro. To this very day variations are incorporated into different languages all around the world, yet we attack Rappers, Academics, Comedians and any other individual who feel they enough understanding and personal validity to use the term.

I have identified various groups of people who make it their life fulfilling endeavours to eradicate the word from the English language, the first group are the politically conscious individuals who feel in order to proclaim their ‘active’ defiance to their inherited racist culture or mindset, they must live out their lives in the crusade to educate themselves and the rest of the world on why they feel the “N word” is socially unacceptable.

Another group of people I have chosen to identify are certain members of the Black community, this group of people by some miraculous intervention manage to relive 300 years of slavery every single time the word Nigger is said. Most people who do belong to this group have never ever personally witnessed any racist act, despite this they react to racial issues as though they were actually enslaved themselves and subjected to the pain and anguish our ancestors had to live through.

Sometimes its so sad I cant help but laugh, it’s sad because I think we fight the word more than we fight the meaning. We react so badly when the word is uttered that we ignore the context in which it was used. As a literary enthusiast, I am constantly amazed by the English language, It as been proven over the course of history that with time and understanding words can change meaning, and put into the hands of different people the form and context can also change.

Chris Rock used the philosophy of ‘soul food’ to explain this, he said;

“They gave us the scraps and we made it into cuisine, we took this word and made it into poetry. Nigger is the Nitro-glycerine of words and in the wrong hands it can hurt, but if you give it to the right person like Dave Chapelle, Ice Cube, Eddie Murphy, what NWA and Richard Prior did with the word Nigger is Art.”

George Carlin, A white American comedian who was also an iconic New Yorker publicly said the word Nigger during his show, he said;

“There is nothing actually wrong with the word Nigger, it’s the racist people who use it we ought to be concerned about, we don’t care when Eddie Murphy or Richard Prior say it why?...because they’re Niggers!”

I become increasingly frustrated when people, especially those belonging to the group I identified begin to lecture others on how the word Nigger is bad, and how we should not say the word, it infuriates me because a word in itself cannot be bad, just like words such as Black or Negro, by itself these words do not offend or threaten, by itself they do not evoke great pain or inner turmoil, it is when they are put into the wrong context and used inappropriately that it begins to create havoc.

So to conclude, I want to make it clear that because the word Nigger brings forth different meaning to different people, when or if you do decide to use the word, ensure you are confident enough in the context in which you have used it. If you want to call your dear friend your Nigger then by no means go ahead providing that dear friend understands what you mean, and if you are racist individual and your ignorance succumbs you then please be my guest call a black person a Nigger, just be sure to handle the repercussions if a big Nigger knocks on your door.

There are no rules or instructions when using the word, we might as well accept the fact that sometimes it will create offence, sometimes it wont, don’t allow people to tell you when you can and cannot say the word, in fact next time you say the word Nigger and someone gasps and walks over to you and tells you can’t say the “N word”, just smile and remember these two words; “Nigger…Please!”