Naturally, as human beings, we associate words with things they are meant to describe or messages they are intended to convey. We use inflection and tonality as well as rhythm and body language to deliver verbal messages. Some words are collectively regarded as having negative or positive connotations depending on the context. A word does not necessarily have to originate as demeaning to later be used as such, shit is a good example with its roots in the Germanic for diarrhea. When an individual or group is repeatedly degraded and abused, a resulting condition is the association of environmental factors, perceivable by any of the five senses, with the unpleasant experience. Therefore it would be easy to see how the population of African American folk in America would ultimately come to detest being called niggers. As history rounded the later part of the 20th century, the world underwent drastic demographic changes; new nations were formed, languages morphed and people acculturated - at times by choice, often by force. Assimilation became an inevitable routine by immigrants to the United States, a country that had recently survived a revolution and civil war, whose citizens were developing their own traditions and identities while struggling with an evolving society that had been severely scarred by racist separatism. From the days of all out slavery to the segregation of Blacks under Jim Crow and Separate but Equal policies, the word nigger was consistently used and contemporarily acceptable in reference to Africans. However, it is well documented that most White slave owners and racist White folk alike did not say the word in a polite and flattering manner. Instead, it came to be regarded as an awful and pernicious thing to be called by anyone, so much so that one would not even have called a White individual that unless you meant to insult them to a very high degree. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, prominent Black community leaders tried to come to consensus over which term would be better suited to refer to people of Black African descent, for example; colored people, African American and negroes were among the contenders; of which the latter is of Latin origin same as the N-word. Invariably, this word (which originally denoted the color black and was used simply to differentiate a genetic trait) became a racial slur that has proven to be more detrimental to a particular group than any other put-down, “F your mother” included. More recently, the N-word has taken on different forms. While it is still clearly considered an insult to end all insults by the majority of Black and White people and it is certainly still expressed as the single most derogatory name one can call a Black individual, amongst the Black communities it has been adopted as an almost exclusive term of endearment with few Whites privileged to have earned implicit permission to use it as well. Of course, just like its predecessor, it has also undergone a change in pronunciation and variations in its spelling. The most common form would probably be nigga, which was first exposed on a mass public scale by the group N.W.A. (Niggaz Wit Attitudes) via their debut album Straight Outta Compton in 1988. In the inner cities and predominantly Black suburban neighborhoods Black youth began to embrace the N-word and use it in place of bro, home-boy, my man, etc. Even some White people who lived in and around Black areas and had befriended and integrated quite serendipitously with their Black neighbors were becoming accustomed to using it in an amicable manner, especially the White kids who were growing in highly integrated schools and adopting Hip Hop culture and Black mannerisms and speech as their own.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 23:47:20 +0000
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