it's an ugly word with an ugly past, and it's been the topic of many social and political debates for decades. dick gregory wrote a book about it. richard pryor vowed to stop using it after a trip to africa. chris rock tried to define it by applying it to people who exhibit a certain type of behavior. and a couple of years ago, the word was (in theory) put to rest, buried by the naacp.
nigger.
the media attempts to soften it by saying "the n-word." but if we are honest with ourselves, we're talking about the racial epithet often applied to african americans, always in a negative manner.
nigger.
in the past couple of weeks, we've seen this word rear its ugly head in the mainstream media. first the k-mart commerical parody about knickers. and now, paula deen has admitted to using the word. to be frank, well i'll be melyssa, but seriously - are we really surprised that an old woman from the south has used nigger in the past?
frankly, i think african americans and society as a whole, are blowing this a bit out of proportion. i noticed that many of my facebook friends shared the k-mart commercial on their respective walls and found it funny and hilarious. but the recent news about paula deen has resulted in very negative emotions. she's been lambasted in the media, particularly by african americans.
in my opinion, the word nigger is deplorable. i do not use it in my daily vernacular. but i also believe that as an (african american) community and as a (general) society - until we all stop using it - in music, on movies, during general conversation, etc., it's a bit unfair to harshly judge someone who is being honest about having used the word in the past.
there's no need to facilitate a publicity stunt with a burial of the word. i think we should all just agree to say no to words whose meaning is only meant to be derogatory.
so, i ask you - have you used the word nigger (or possibly another derogatory term to describe a group of people)? do you think the word should be banned? will we see a day when nigger is not used at all? or do you think this is part of america's history and destined to be part of its future?
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| image credit: zirconicusso |
nigger.
the media attempts to soften it by saying "the n-word." but if we are honest with ourselves, we're talking about the racial epithet often applied to african americans, always in a negative manner.
nigger.
in the past couple of weeks, we've seen this word rear its ugly head in the mainstream media. first the k-mart commerical parody about knickers. and now, paula deen has admitted to using the word. to be frank, well i'll be melyssa, but seriously - are we really surprised that an old woman from the south has used nigger in the past?
frankly, i think african americans and society as a whole, are blowing this a bit out of proportion. i noticed that many of my facebook friends shared the k-mart commercial on their respective walls and found it funny and hilarious. but the recent news about paula deen has resulted in very negative emotions. she's been lambasted in the media, particularly by african americans.
in my opinion, the word nigger is deplorable. i do not use it in my daily vernacular. but i also believe that as an (african american) community and as a (general) society - until we all stop using it - in music, on movies, during general conversation, etc., it's a bit unfair to harshly judge someone who is being honest about having used the word in the past.
there's no need to facilitate a publicity stunt with a burial of the word. i think we should all just agree to say no to words whose meaning is only meant to be derogatory.
so, i ask you - have you used the word nigger (or possibly another derogatory term to describe a group of people)? do you think the word should be banned? will we see a day when nigger is not used at all? or do you think this is part of america's history and destined to be part of its future?
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