id like to start the discussion by sayin fuck fox and of course still fuck jeese jackson cuz he sold his soul to fox for a lil time in the spotlight and they think cuz he was a civil rights leader well be divided, but look how fast niggas are “jeese said wat bout my man Obama? Man fuck jeese jackson. fox aired it, fuck fox too.”

1st of all–why I’m up at 8:35 on a Friday morning when I don’t have to work today…no idea. Secondly, why it is that I’m responding to a blog at 8:35 in the morning when I don’t have work today…not too sure.

But yeah, I’mma re-post a somewhat longwinded blog response I wrote just the other day on this very subject, before all the ladies on the view started kickin up dust over it on national television. It was written in response to the whole Nas – “Be a Nigger” campaign, but I think it’s still relevant to the subject at hand. Plus, to be honest, at 8:35 in the morning, I was just too lazy to write a new post. As far as the View goes–I gotta agree, as much as my manhood biologically predisposes me to avoid watching a t.v. show where 5 women sit around a table doing anything, I gotta say, I enjoyed watchin Whoopi get in that ass. Almost makes me wanna get a t.v…If I could afford it. But neways–

– Originally posted on http://double7film.com/community/

So many “post-racial” thinkers appear to advocate implementing the widespread use of the n-word to identify one’s peer, ex. “wassup my nigga” on the assumption that it will work to diffuse the stigma behind the word, bringing us all together in a collective appreciation of cultural exchange, brotherhood and Barack Obama.

Growing up in a Black household in the suburbs neighboring Washington, D.C.–I’m Black as well by the way (just to make sure I’m being p.c.) my parents never used the word in this way, and hardly used it at all. Neither did I, or any of my friends, as it always seemed more appropriately reserved for rappers. (People from the D.C. area speaking colloquially would just generally address each other with “dawg,” “young,” “cuz,” or more recently, “son.”)

In my teenage years especially, however, I began to find that the negative connotations of the N-word were some which had always seemed more relevant for my own personal use–

Ex.

Tahir and friends flee a suburban townhouse in the middle of the night amongst a throng of other young Black people–”man, shit, why some nigga always gotta bring a gun, that’s why you can’t openly invite mufuckas to parties anymore…it’s bad enough it’s always a sausage-fest, I was just getting ready to put the work on wass her name!”

Tahir and friends attend a movie screening and find it being patronized by a large group of Black people who make unmotivated verbal responses to the previews before the movie itself and consequently break into raucous laughter amongst themselves. *Tahir looks around theater, sinks resignedly into seat* “Niggas.”

One of Tahir’s friends misspeaks (in the Hillary Clinton sense) during a graphic retelling of one of his sexual escapades– “Nigga, you know you wasn’t using no Magnum.”

A more recent example–

*Tahir’s friends discuss the Double 7 World blog post in which Tahir and Pete relate their impressions of South Africa*

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CBquS65qvIs

“Man, Tahir is such a nigga.”

In these ways, I’ve always found “nigga” and its variants more appropriate for me for referring to people who are acting in a way that I feel is unbecoming–acting “niggerish,” if you will, or when preparing to speak candidly..

I often admittedly have trouble using the N-word in these ways when referring or relating to people who are not Black. This isn’t because of any sort of conscious decision to be–I guess, a racial separatist, but rather because for whatever reason, the word cannot help but be identified with the Black experience, with my expectations for Black people, with our history, our stereotypes, our customs, etc., whether in the context of having a negative connotation or not.

This is one of the points that I think that the “progressive” arguments advocating everyone using the word as it appears to be signaled by Nas’s– “I’m a nigga, you’se a nigga, we’re all niggas, let’s all be niggas” new CD/single seems to miss. You can’t make nigga, nigger, or whatever, a race-blind term.

Usually if I hear a person who is not Black use the N-word in any context other than reading it from a quote somewhere, I would most likely be prone to be annoyed not so much because that person is not Black, but rather because I end up feeling that most of the people (gotta love that generalization) who use it in other ways are so unaware of the cultural load that it the carries–of its associations with the “Black” experience, of our customs, our expectations, etc. etc. If that makes any sense. That said, (yet another attempt to cover myself here) there are many people who I would feel comfortable hearing use the word in the above ways or in general just because I feel that they are aware of the “Black” experience.

All-in-all, I think it’s naive to think that the word can and should be outlawed. For one thing, it’s just too fun to say “nyuccah” in the spirit of mimicking dialogue from John Singleton films. I can appreciate the depth of the pain that it has caused for so many, especially those from older generations of the Black community, but let’s face it, the word isn’t going anywhere. We can’t just put it on exhibit in some national museum with a caption reading, “Here Lies ‘Nigger,’ a term that has stirred up trouble in the national consciousness for centuries.” The national government wouldn’t deign to give us a museum dedicated to our experiences anyway.

But before I digress further–I am of the opinion that you can’t take the “Blackness” out of “nigger,” or it’s variants and you can’t take the word out of people’s mouths. Whether it should be said or not, that’s a whole other can of worms. It sure is good for starting a dialogue, though, however you feel about it.

–

Just to add, I had forgotten that they had an event where they ceremonially “buried” the n-word. Is that shit on youtube?

Also, something that I didn’t add in my long ass blog post–I feel like anybody should be able to say anything that they want to. We have freedom of speech and shit for a reason. Nevertheless, we also apparently have the constitutional right to piece a mothafucka in they throat “He Got Game” style if they say certain offensive things in the wrong context. I have heard people of other races complain, “well why is it that the N-word gets such special treatment? I’m Latino and Asian and if someone calls me a s—” yadda yadda yadda.

So yeah, what do people think–should we bury the n-word? Should only me and my niggas be able to use it, or should other people that want to be niggas be able to use it to? Do Black people have a racially exclusive right to the “hit a mothafucka in they throat” clause, or is it a measure available to all citizens regardless of race, creed, sexuality, height/weight proportionality, etc.

they’d piss in the women’s mouths in front of us and make them drink it. they’d rape them in front of us and if anybody made a move they’d torture him. castrate him. our lives were hell. the word that they made up for these people that they could kill, rape, torture on a whim, these people that were less than human and less even than animals because animals weren’t human enough to be subjected to such cruelty, was “nigger.” it’s the most disgusting word i’ve ever heard.

PLEASE think before you speak. if the word nigger was good, they wouldn’t go to such lengths to popularize it amongst us, in all our music, in all out movies, the ones that they allow to make it to all of our eyes. it’s them who decide what we see. not us. such is effectiveness of their manipulation that not only is this word alive and well, but WE’RE actually the ones defending it. keeping it alive. are all of the people defending this word still upset when white people use it? don’t they realize the lunacy of that?

i’m not really that mad when white people say nigger. they invented the word. they hated us so much that they came up with a word that meant we were garbage. they been saying it. but when i hear us saying it. saying it more than any other word in our conversations. i can’t even describe the sadness i feel every day. somebody told us that a word that weakens us empowers us, and we were so needy for power, that we bought it.

I ASK that you do some research on the word nigger. Then write out a list of 5 reasons to use it, and 5 reasons not too. You’ll be amazed at what a simple exercise like this will show you.

Peace.

nigga please.

Homeboy, who is this disembodied “THEY” you claim is keeping you down? By the context I assume you mean “white people,” I’d be willing to argue that “they” had nothing to do with the modern popularization of the n-word.

Of course, you might mean “the rich, power-hungry American elite,” which, granted, is primarily white — in which case you’re probably a little closer to the mark. They serve a very dark agenda, and their preferred language is symbolism.

“WORD SOUND HAVE POWER,” as the old rasta idiom goes. I happen to agree. If I were to really delve into that concept my post would be even longer than Tjett’s first, far more esoteric and not nearly as coherent. So I’ll keep it to myself for now.

I am no saint, and though I try to use the word sparingly, for obvious historical reasons, i do tend to use the word in jest. i have friends that refuse to use the word at ALL, and in order to respect them, I don’t use the word around them. I think that the bigger issue here though, more so than the use of the N word, is Jesse Jackson’s lack of responsibility and incompetence in what could, and will probably be the most important election of our generation. For Jackson to even consider making such an immature comment, in any context, shows a lack of charater and true misunderstanding of what is truly at stake. Obama’s election to the presidency would provide powerful symbolism in changing the face of America to the international community, but also give millions of African-Americans,the courage and inspiration to achieve greatness. This is something the Black community is in dire need of in the face of high prison rates, low college attendance, and single parent households. By pandering to the media, in what seems motivated by either jealousy or being overshadowed by a younger colleague, Jesse is truly MISSING THE POINT, and needs to wake-up. He can not truly lead Black people and promote black interests, without realizing that at this point he needs to fall back. C’mon Jesse…

My 2 cents.

i agree with dr. quandary…the “man” has nothing to do with the turn that the “n” word has been taken, whether it be said, “nigga” or “nigger”. And thats not to completely erase and forget about the pain, blood, sweat and tears that is historically behind the word but realistically WE have changed the face of the word today. Some choice to abolish it, i havent just yet.

::story time::

i was havin a conversation in my gym at manhattanville and to be honest i cant even remember what it was about but i swear i most of been slingin “nigga” around all over the place bc a familiar face (but not someone i talk to on the regular basis) walked up to me and handed me a card and walked away. i didnt even pay attention right then until my friends were all so damn anxious that i flipped it over. on the card it had a big N with a red slash in front of it..its called the educate card and it advised me not to throw it away but pass it along BUT only after i’ve stopped using it.on the back of the card it gives the definition of the term..im workin on it..i thin everyone should. whether u abolish it or be more sensitive when usin it rememberin that regardless of the turn that it has taken, theree still is a spirit of hate that we release! This a process we’re all takin togetha.

and as for j.jackson hes just like u and me. got caught up in ‘politicking’ and lost sight of who he was/is. im no longer a support but i do realize that hes human. just sucks to see him in this light. lets worry bout our growth and development as a whole and feed him to the sharks

ta-ta

For the first time in history I actually agree with Elizabeth Hazelback! The Word Nigger has caused black people so much pain! We didn’t even count as a full human-being in the white mans eyes. To try and reclaim nigger as ours is ridiculous! I don’t want it! I want it to be seen as the disgusting word it is! I had a different view on this issue until I went to a predominately white institution and they felt they could say it because we did. They word to them wasn’t as “bad” because black people “reclaimed” it! Now isn’t that the most stupid shit you have ever heard? We are being hypocritical when asking another ethnic group not to say it but we do. I was so disappointed with Sherri and Whoopi. As a black woman, I didn’t feel represented in that argument. How is it that a white Republican woman express more of how I felt than the two African-American women on the show?
The only time I agreed with Whoopi was when she expressed how we do live in different worlds but she spoke as if we couldn’t progress, that the color lines could never be invisible and that was the most disheartening part. The reason black people are still so far behind is because we don’t have unity! We are always on different pages. We really need to get our shit together or we will get ran over for many more generations to come.

Taye Diggs said this and I agree with him, not only because he is fiooonneee but because he has a point…

“Now steps in actor Taye Diggs, who has his own opinion about the situation and about Hasselbeck.

Diggs says Hasselbeck “doesn’t understand, and, no offense — I don’t think any white person has the right to tell a black person or to even weigh in on subject matter such as that. They don’t know what it’s like to be called that word; they don’t know what it’s like to be black.”

Diggs continued, “They can have an opinion, but… don’t take a word that you created and called me for many, many years, and then me being in my position, have the strength to change what it means in my own culture. Don’t try to take it back now. Now it’s ours. Leave it alone.””

On Aug. 2 2008 I will have Actor and writer Joesph C. Phillips on my show talking about the “N” WORD from a community view. Phillips has appeared on countless tv and movie roles.Know as LT. KENDALL MARTIN from the Cosby Show and was featured on CNN’s BLACK IN AMERICA.

We will have an open talk about the “N” word. Please join us on AUG 2. 2008 at 11PM EST AND 8PM PST. Please tell at least two friends and join us.

Join me Anthony James and Joesph C. Phillips on :
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Real-Man-Real-Talk

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