Yes, it’s time to discuss the very controversial ‘N’ word debate: whether it is socially acceptable and politically correct to use the word nigger/nigga. For many, no other word in American society carries as much venom, injecting still the poison of centuries of slavery and oppression.
Now, governing bodies are beginning to take steps to address the wounds, passing resolutions urging the disuse of the N-word, both as a slur and as a term of camaraderie.

Such resolutions ignite debates about freedom of speech and illuminate generational gaps. But they also illustrate how difficult the discussion of race is, and how one word — that word — can turn everything upside-down. Some say that it is a dangerous and provocative word that is violent and breeds violence. The ‘N’ Word, a Trio original documentary on this inflammatory word, recounts everything from minstel shows reaffirming racial stereotypes to Richard Pryor bringing the word into the mainstream. Pryor actually stood on both sides of that fence, using the word profusely in his comedy riffs until undergoing a sea change on a trip to South Africa. After the trip, Pryor renounced the word.

In the post-Civil Rights era, African-American comedians, and later hip-hop and rap musicians, began to re-invent the N-word, using it in lyrics. “Nigga,” with the softened ending, is a casual greeting among some African American youth. Many use it in their everyday vocabulary and see no harm in its usage. Some say the re-invention has allowed blacks — including comedian Chris Rock, who uses it profusely — to drain power from the word, much the same way the gay and lesbian community has reappropriated the word “queer.” Comedian and actor Damon Wayans has unseuccessfully engaged in a 14-month fight to trademark the term “Nigga” for a clothing line and retail store, a search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s online database reveals. Many of his fellow actors were appalled at his quest to turn the word into a fashion icon.

“Every Black person who was murdered by lynching was probably called the ‘N’ word first. Why would you use the ‘N’ word today?”- excerpt from abolishthenword.com, a Web campaign to raise awareness on the history of nigger and to end its use in art and everyday language. The site includes a personal contract to print and sign.

Randall Kennedy, a professor at Harvard University Law School, has a lot to say about the intelligent use of the word. His book, “Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word,” documents many court cases involving the term, including the controversies surrounding the use of the word in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” a required book in many high school English classes. Before that he wrote an essay where he stated, “Given the power of “nigger” to wound, it is important to provide a context within which presentation of that term can be properly understood. It is also imperative, however, to permit present and future readers to see for themselves directly the full gamut of American cultural productions, the ugly as well as the beautiful, those that mirror the majestic features of American democracy and those that mirror America’s most depressing failings.” Many people are not happy with Kennedy’s theories and he has been criticized as having an intellectual compulsion to assist White Americans’ contemporary usage of the epithet “nigger,” which reflects a deep-seated Black self-negating or Black rejectionist pont of view.

Many African American adults shy away from the debate until their eight year old son calls his white friend the ‘N’ word during a friendly game of Go-Fish and has absolutely no idea why adults would get upset about it (All of Us Episode 63 where Bobby says, “Go fish nigga!”). When it comes to children and introducing this word into their world, direct communication is a better way to handle the situation, rather than avoiding it all together. Whether they hear it from their parents mouth, another child’s mouth, or the television, they will eventually hear it and they need to know the word’s place in society, at least from their parent’s perspective.

In my opinion, nigger and other derogatory terms have no place as an epithet in American society or in the entertainment business. All people, regardless of their race, should avoid using “nigger,” especially when it is unnecessary. But as a YBP, if you do choose to include the word in your vocabulary, please resist using it at work, school, or other racially sensitive arenas.