The N-word

The N-word has gained an unsavoury reputation in the western world today that has led to sporadic social stigmatization of public figures that use the word flippantly, especially in the United States.Though a few notable men and women have been publicly vilified in a vain attempt to portray American society as post-racial, this is not the whole story.  It would be difficult to eliminate racism in western society because it has been the basis of interaction between whites and non-white people for centuries.  Racism is one of the fruits of a carefully cultivated garden of white supremacy which confers on whites undeserved advantages that would be difficult to give up voluntarily.

Let us dig a little deeper.  What does the N-word really mean and why does it have such an explosive connotation when used by white people?  The word 'nigger' which is a variation of the Latin word Niger or 'black' gained its dark aura during slavery when men, women and children were reduced to possessions and chattels to be stolen, traded, branded, degraded, humiliated, mentally and emotionally destroyed and labelled the N-word as a description of who they are, or forced to be, in relation to their white masters.The word became synonymous with black slaves but perhaps as an unconscious attempt to remove its sting the slaves began using the word to address themselves too. Today, hip-hop and gangster-rap have taken the meaning of the word to another level by differentiating between Niggaz and Niggers.  Niggaz describes successful black people, especially rappers and the second is the hated word.  

With the abolition of slavery and the gradual assimilation of blacks into the mainstream of society the N-word became less used by whites.  Though some progress have been made in eliminating the vestiges of slavery in the western world, black people in most countries where they are minorities still endure being second and sometimes third class citizens.  It is this mental and often physical oppression that blacks react to when called the N-word by those they perceive as their tormentors - in this case, white people.  The black man has a higher probability of being put in jail, undereducated, hunted down like an animal, live in poor neighbourhoods with less amenities and unacceptable insecurity in the United States.  Blacks constitute about 13.6% of the population but make up nearly half of the prison population in the United States. Most incarcerations are for minor offences for which whites are unlikely to be arrested. It is no surprise that blacks react violently when called 'nigger' or 'boy' because in a moment of self analysis and historical antecedents the plaintive wails of the slave plantation is echoed by the slave master in that one word.  Black people are simply reacting to over 500 years of oppression that seems never-ending. 

What are we to do with the N-word and how do we as blacks rob it of its sting? Though other races have derogatory labels applied to them, these names do not appear to carry the same stigma as the N-word probably because we, more than any other race have been denied our God-given rights, human rights and civil rights taken for granted by others.  However, we must pull ourselves up and show that we are more than a derogatory word.  I have always maintained that the freedom of the black man can never be guaranteed by the constitution of the United States or any so-called United Nations charter. Because those documents were never written with blacks in mind most details dealing with race are either proclamations or amendments that are subject to many interpretations.

The freedom of the black man lies in Africa.  The continent of Africa is the only place that belongs to the black man and nothing can change that. Until we cast away our differences, embrace our uniqueness, study our history, develop pride in our values as a people, every black man from cape to Cairo, and beyond would continue to be a nigger.  Most posters in public places of the 'developed' world [airports, train stations] and television depict African faces when they portray starvation, poverty and disease. It is easy to look down on someone who appears unwilling or unable to help himself.  Our governments, educational institutions, infrastructures, health care system and transportation remain underdeveloped and a culture of overarching corruption, tribalism and religious bigotry have combined to derail Africa's quest for progress and development. African leaders have remained parasitic and clueless without rhyme or reason, acting mainly as hostages of powers outside the continent for personal benefit.  Politicians rarely rise above self-seeking while the occasional statesman is ridiculed, imprisoned or murdered.  Given such an unflattering atmosphere, Africans themselves tend to suffer inferiority complex when juxtaposed with the so-called developed countries.  

When African leaders stop emphasizing differences [to gain pyrrhic advantages] amongst Africans and begin to harnesses the natural and human potential of the continent there would be something else to offer other than cheap labour, oil and raw materials for the industrial machineries of the 'developed' world. The N-word would become less annoying and instead of its sting striking deep into our psyche and bringing out the worst in us, it would bounce off and fall down lifeless. We would no longer be puppets of the IMF, the World Bank or stranded on welfare lines but co-participators in bringing about a new world order that caters equally to all citizens of the planet.  The N-word would then become totally irrelevant because it describes no one and like a mirage ahead on the road of life, would eventually be found to be nothingness. 

Joseph can be reached at jrotimibgood@gmail.com