In Bid to Ban Racial Slur, Blacks Are on Both Sides

[Mamazen]

New York Times
NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/nyregion/25nword.html



February 25, 2007
In Bid to Ban Racial Slur, Blacks Are on Both Sides
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR

Days after Michael Richards’s racist tirade at a Los Angeles comedy club, Leroy G. Comrie Jr., a New York City councilman, seethed as he listened to some black teenagers on a Queens street spewing out the same word Mr. Richards had been using.

“They were saying ‘nigga’ or ‘niggas’ every other word,� said Mr. Comrie, who is black. “I could tell they didn’t get it. They don’t realize how their self-image is debilitated when they use this awful word in public.�

So Mr. Comrie sponsored a resolution for a moratorium on the use of the n-word in New York City, prompting a spate of similar proposals in half a dozen local governments across four states in recent weeks. The New York City Council is scheduled to discuss Mr. Comrie’s proposal tomorrow and vote on it on Wednesday; the City Council in Paterson, N.J., and the Westchester County Legislature both unanimously approved such bans recently.

(Mr. Richards, who played Kramer on “Seinfeld,� has been invited to the New York City hearings; a Richards spokesman said that he would respectfully decline to attend.)

The measures, which describe the forbidden word as an “ignorant and derogatory� insult toward blacks, try to sidestep First Amendment questions by calling for “symbolic� bans only, meaning they do not have the force of law. Because they are largely aimed at blacks who use the word among themselves, the proposals have revived a debate over whether minority groups can co-opt epithets and make them empowering.

“There is a swelling population of black youth that use this word as if it is a term of endearment,� said Andrea C. McElroy, a black councilwoman who sponsored a ban on the racial epithet in Irvington, N.J., that was passed this month. “And I think it is basically incumbent upon us to remind them of the story of what that word meant to so many of our ancestors. This is something we probably should have done years ago.�

In the last year, there have also been other approaches taken to try to stem the casual use of the word.

Web sites like abolishthenword.com, founded by Brooklyn natives Jill and Kovon Flowers, and theunitedvoices.org are devoted to eliminating it, and some high schools in New York and New Jersey have created programs to teach the origins of the word and make students pledge not to say it.

Most of these efforts explain that the word was coined by slave traders 400 years ago to degrade blacks. The programs also tell of its deep associations with violence, segregation laws and injustice.

But not every effort has been embraced. In Brazoria, Tex., an ordinance that proposed fining anyone who uttered the word $500 was withdrawn after hundreds of residents — black and white — poured into a town hall meeting last month to oppose it.

John Ridley, a black author and filmmaker who has written extensively about the word, said efforts to abolish it are insulting because, he said, they suggest black Americans would allow themselves to be cowed “by six letters and two syllables.� Unlike the politicians trying to squelch the word, Mr. Ridley added, those who embrace it are showing backbone by declaring “we’re controlling it, we’re owning it.�

“I honestly think that with everything that’s going on in America, that the idea of trying to ban a word to solve a problem is just ridiculous,� he said. “And for people of color — with us possibly on the cusp of having a black man become president — for us to be worried about this word is ridiculous.�

The rapper Mos Def said in a 1999 interview that blacks were taking “a word that has been historically used by whites to degrade and oppress us, a word that has so many negative connotations, and turning it into something beautiful, something we can call our own.�

He was referring to the slang pronunciation, with an “a� instead of an “er,� that is common in rap lyrics.

Another measure of the word’s pervasiveness can be seen in a new Web site, niggaspace.com, that has prompted condemnations from many black leaders, including members of the New York City Council.

The site, modeled after the social networking site myspace.com, has, according to its founder, more than 200,000 registered members. Judging by the photos attached to their profiles, most appear to be black teenagers.

The site’s founder, who would identify himself only as Tyrone, said he drew a distinction between the two differently spelled versions of the n-word: “nigga,� he said in an e-mail message, embodies brotherhood and fraternity, not ignorance and hate.

“This comes down to a battle of people who wish to perpetuate an archaic and negative meaning of the word, and people who wish to continue an evolution of a word to give it a more positive connotation,� he said. “Myself, and the Web site, represent the latter.�

The word, in all its variations, stems from “niger,� which is Latin for black. One of the earliest recorded instances of its use in North America was in 1619, when a Jamestown colonist, John Rolfe, noted in his diary the arrival of a Dutch man-of-war with 20 African captives, or “negars,� according to Jabari Asim, author of a new book, “The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn’t, and Why� (Houghton Mifflin).

There is some debate among scholars as to whether Mr. Rolfe intended the word as a pejorative or not; Mr. Asim said he believes it was an insult because otherwise Mr. Rolfe would probably have chosen the more neutral “Negro,� which had been in use as far back as 1555.

By the early 1800s, the word had become common in racist literature and among slave owners as a slur against black people meaning subhuman and inferior, Mr. Asim said, and a handful of black writers heatedly objected to its use. Two centuries later, in 1988, the rap group N.W.A. used the word four dozen times on a best-selling album, “Straight Outta Compton,� essentially igniting a debate over whether the racist connotation is removed when the word is culturally claimed by blacks themselves.

But Mr. Asim said the changed spelling by N.W.A. (Niggaz With Attitude) and others just mimicked uses throughout history. “We wrap ourselves in these comforting falsehoods when we say we’ve taken the power from the word and spelled it another way,� he said. “It’s a lie that allows one to lie.�

In his book, Mr. Asim pointed out that many segregationists excused their use of the term by saying it was just a Southern pronunciation of the more palatable “Negro. � He argued that a different spelling does not sanitize the term from its ugly history. He said in an interview that only education, not legislation, would break today’s teenagers of the habit.

The sponsors of the bans on the epithet say that education is precisely their mission. Clinton I. Young Jr., who is black and who introduced the measure that passed in Westchester, said the legislation he drafted was meant to raise awareness about the painful history of the word.

He and other legislators said their goal was to create more programs like the one in Mr. Young’s district at Ossining High School. That program, called Project Earthquake, exposes black students to the origins of the word through lectures and documentaries, challenges them not to use it, and encourages them to dress professionally for class.

One student, Quantell Bazemore, 17, said that he and other classmates who once traded the word freely vowed to stop using it after joining the program last year.

“It’s not something that you can stop overnight, but it’s something you can work toward,� he said. “I have a friend or two who might see me and say ‘What’s up, my n-word?’ And then they stop and correct themselves and they say ‘Oh, I mean, ‘What’s up, my brother?’ �

[MsLoving]

The measures, which describe the forbidden word as an “ignorant and derogatory� insult toward blacks, try to sidestep First Amendment questions by calling for “symbolic� bans only, meaning they do not have the force of law. Because they are largely aimed at blacks who use the word among themselves, the proposals have revived a debate over whether minority groups can co-opt epithets and make them empowering.

“There is a swelling population of black youth that use this word as if it is a term of endearment,� said Andrea C. McElroy, a black councilwoman who sponsored a ban on the racial epithet in Irvington, N.J., that was passed this month. “And I think it is basically incumbent upon us to remind them of the story of what that word meant to so many of our ancestors. This is something we probably should have done years ago.�

I believe this could have been under control so to speak .. if the generations would have reminded their children and taught their children.. instead we have young rappers come out to greet our people with the word once again but with a different meaning that is profoundly untrue .. yet our babies, youngins believe it to be ok and cool to use.. not wanting to understand or hear truth.. I often ask what happen to our villages our communities… We are what happen the baby boomers, some of us remained strong and taught our stories to our children and others but many was taught by the drugs and alcohol that YT gave them for appeasement.

I know in my household the N-word was understood explained and I taught my child about how it begin so it was not allowed when her friends came around they did not call each other that not around my home they didn’t .. so I believe it goes back to who allowed and what was taught and what people really wanted to know.


Tupac definition of the word:

1. nigga

9202 up, 1602 down

Nigga is a word which evolved from the derogative term "nigger". Tupac best defined the distinction between the two.

NIGGER- a black man with a slavery chain around his neck.

NIGGA- a black man with a gold chain on his neck.

Nigga
A derogatory word used by black people to retain (and exploit) their ancestors past as slaves. Many blacks claim it's a term of endearment (akin to brother, homie, etc), but in no way can it be as its root meaning is ignorance. It's another double standard of racism in our current time.

The shock effect of the word can also be used to deliberately cause offense. Several activists, such as Dick Gregory, have said the use of "N-word" instead of "Nigger" robs younger generations of the full history of black people in America.

REF: http://www.answers.com/topic/nigger

There is only one meaning to that word .. which is the scum of the earth, low lifed, inferior, lazy, stupid, and criminally inclined.
So why do our people continue to want to be called and continue to use the word.. I know and understand that our people are still in modernized slavery but why continue to use what we are not nor have been .. this is a White Man’s word on how he think of us as a people why mimic them.

peace