Nigger Meaning

891 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: History of the word nigger essays

Syam Haque Mrs. Gharibian 2nd Period 10th January 2015 The Meaning of the Most Controversial Word in History Since its origin, the meaning of the word “nigger” has been evolving and taking on a more and more condescending form. The increasing dispute about the meaning has brought about movements for the banning of the word, but has also brought about stronger opposition between conflicting sides. To most it may seem like the best way to end this controversial discussion is to ban the word altogether and just stop worrying about it. Although this may work, it’s much better to allow the use of this word as doing so will retain the feeling of freedom and equality this country has sought to provide since its creation. The word nigger has its …show more content…

From the beginning society has regarded nigger as a word to use against blacks, but now it has become socially acceptable for rap/hip-hop songs to frequently use the word. In the article, “David Banner joins the fight over the N-word,” by Miki Turner, a modern rap artist David Banner supports the word nigger only when not used at him. Banner once said “The problem is not young black men, it’s the old white folks who put the word out there in the first place,” Showing his belief that the whites are at fault for the creation of the word, making the whites seem like the perpetrators of the N-word. “N-word has no place in society” by Leonard Pitts is about the author’s views against that of Chris Rock’s, whom views that the way nigger is used is what matters. In this article the author says, “But I never admired him more than when he renounced his use of that word,” towards a man named Richard Pryor. Leonard believes that any sort of use of the word nigger is derogatory and unnecessary unlike that of Banner’s who thinks if used by whites, then it’s erroneous and also unlike that of Rock’s who thinks context is the main problem. While all these points are valid, Chris Rock has the most pragmatic way to go about this topic by revitalizing our perception of the word towards the more cordial way it is used in many peoples’ daily lives and detracting from the negative connotations it also

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of John Griffin's Black Like Me And Dick Gregory And Nigger

    743 Words  | 2 Pages

    He effectively moves from a position of “Other” to one of empowerment through his active participation in the Civil Rights movement, and his comedy. In fact, Gregory views comedy as “friendly relations,” allowing him to abandon his repressed identity—one that was “mad and mean inside” (134)—and move to a position of empowerment that allows Gregory to “make jokes about [whites] and their society” (Gregory 132). Through his comedy, Gregory is also able to dissociate himself from the term “nigger,” as well as the namelessness, de-individuation, and dehumanizing effects associated with it: “Every white man in America knows we are Americans, knows we are Negroes, and some of them know us by our names. So when he calls us a nigger, he’s calling us something we are not, something that exists only in his mind. So if nigger exists only in his mind, who’s the nigger?” (Gregory 201). In refusing to adopt the word and its negative connotations as self-definition, Gregory “returns” the word and its negativity to the dominant society of the white middle class—the discriminatory “. . . system that makes a man less than a man, that teaches hate and fear and ignorance” (Gregory

    Read More

  • Emily Bernard Teach The N Word Summary

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    As Kennedy explains “used by black people amongst themselves [the N word ] is a racial term with undertones and good will--reflecting a tragicomic sensibility that is aware of black history” but how could such a contradiction exist (Kennedy 5)? How could the most “noxious” of words also also be used to show comradery and brotherhood for those who have been in the struggle. “He is my nig” or “That guy is my nigga”, phrases like these are uttered by black men to each other to express their most public form of masculine endearment towards one another. Note that it is uttered between black men, to black men, and from black men; Black bodies participate and engage with the “N-word” much more differently than any other non-black person would. The word must come from colored mouths to have a “positive” significance, if I, a Mexican woman, or for instance Nate, in Bernard’s class, say it--we change the meaning entirely.

    Read More

  • Gloria Naylor's The Meaning Of A Word

    425 Words  | 1 Pages

    Moreover, the racial terms can be a projection of more positive definitions and interpretations that can establish individuality. In “Meaning of a Word” by Gloria Naylor, she talks about instances where adults of her community/race have references of the ‘n-word’ that differs from how society or individuals who may use it.

    Read More

  • How Does Williams Use Nigga?

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    “I don’t give a fuck what a nigga say,” for a word that many different things I think most people would agree that in this since nigga means a person preferably black. Nigga is a derogatory and racist word that refers to Black people. But, we, meaning Black people, still use it. We do not care, nigga flows off the tough. In using nigga we not only show disdain but become a nigga when using it and we’re ok with it. This is why I choose Katt Williams, 2006 comedy skit Pimp Chronicle Part 1. In William’s skit he use nigga some 221 times, in 45 minute, that’s about four times per minute. I could not find a better example of someone using nigga. 221 times, he must have something interesting to say if he can find 221 reason to say the word and you know what he did. I could not help but laugh it was funny, but at the end of the day I knew though it may have been funny it was still morally wrong. In Williams, he uses nigga in ways that support Black stereotypes, which make the audience laugh. There is nothing worng with that a mans

    Read More

  • Comparison of the Two Essays "The Meaning of a Word" and "Being a Chink"

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    In "The Meaning of a Word" and "Being a Chink", Gloria Naylor and Christine Leong examine words of hatred that are meant to scorn, hurt and disgrace people. But these same words could also be used without harmful intentions and in a fashion of endearment amongst the people those words were created for. They each had a different word to discriminate their different culture and ethnicity. These writers discuss the words "nigger" and "chink", which are words in our language mostly ignorant people use. Naylor and Leong are also both minorities who were raised in America. They talk about how discrimination and hatred towards minorities is almost always inevitable in America, which is mostly populated by Caucasians. Naylor and Leong observe how these racial acts of discrimination can unify a group of people even closer together. Naylor didn't know the true meaning of the hate word nigger until it was used against her in a degrading manner. On the other hand Leong already knew what chink meant but wasn't traumatized until she found out her father discovered it.

    Read More

  • Origins of the N-Word

    1380 Words  | 3 Pages

    The words Negro, nigger, and nigga have always been a sensitive topic, yet it is a topic that needs to be addressed in light of the more common use of its vernacular. One word is used to describe a color, while the others are used to define a people. It’s very clear to many the negative connotation these words carry, but where did these words come from? Furthermore, is there a difference between the word nigger and nigga; and why is it that African-Americans now use the word nigga to degrade each other in today’s society? These words, in spite of their spelling, still holds the same degrading power as it did during the time of slavery, and they are still spoken out of cruelty and ignorance, but who is to blame? Can one still blame the Spaniards for considering people of a darker skin tone –Black? Can we blame the Europeans for perpetuating their hatred and ignorance of superiority over a race of people to the point they felt it lawful to define and dehumanize them? Or does the blame lie with the African-American race as we use this degrading labeling on our own kind, thus becoming the victimizer. Either way nigger or nigga are words that should be eliminated from the vocabulary of every human being.

    Read More

  • I No Longer Use the N-Word

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    The word “Nigger” was a term used in reference to a slave. A slave meaning, you were the lowest scum of the earth, Illiterate and uneducated in every sense. Today, the usage of the word is spilt in to different context, it is used to refer to one another. A lot of children today use the word freely, not because they are ignorant to the history and putridness of the word, but solely because they are not really offended by it and the only time they hear it, it's being said by someone else who is of color. As I looks back over the years, I can’t really remember anyone distinctively ever calling me the N-word, or better yet, not in a derogative fashion. I don’t think that anyone has ever called me the word to my face or in hearing distance. Growing up in New York City, the only time I ever heard the word “Nigger” was from people who called themselves “Nigger”. I remember sitting in class daydreaming on the word, thinking to myself, “How could anyone call themselves a Nigger and be proud of it?” Yet It’s Hard to hurt me with words, but I had never heard that word used with such vengeances. What does this word mean in my everyday life?

    Read More

  • Nigger: Historical and Current Use

    3576 Words  | 8 Pages

    Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy’s book Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word is at the center of debate because of its controversy. It addresses questions among a diverse audience of students and scholars of all racial and ethnic backgrounds in its quest to discover how and why the word should or should not be used in modern day America.

    Read More

  • Essay On Racism By Brent Staples

    1694 Words  | 4 Pages

    Racism is not only a crime against humanity, but a daily burden that weighs down many shoulders. Racism has haunted America ever since the founding of the United States, and has eerily followed us to this very day. As an intimidating looking black man living in a country composed of mostly white people, Brent Staples is a classic victim of prejudice. The typical effect of racism on an African American man such as Staples, is a growing feeling of alienation and inferiority; the typical effect of racism on a white person is fear and a feeling of superiority. While Brent Staples could be seen as a victim of prejudice because of the discrimination he suffers, he claims that the victim and the perpetrator are both harmed in the vicious cycle that is racism. Staples employs his reader to recognize the value of his thesis through his stylistic use of anecdotes, repetition and the contrast of his characterization.

    Read More

  • The Legacy of NWA

    1125 Words  | 3 Pages

    Post 3.*N.W.A*. “Why do I call myself a nigger, you ask me? Because police always wanna harass me every time that I'm rollin. They swear up and down that the car was stolen, Make me get faced down in the street. They throw the s**t out my car on the concrete front of a residence A million white motherf**kers on my back like I shot the President.” Facebook. N.p. 12 July 2009. Web. 5 Nov 2013

    Read More

  • African American Humor Research Paper

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    In an article published by “Journal of Blacks in Higher Education” Lawrence states that “even though I am always troubled by public use of the term nigger, the most uniquely hateful words in the American vocabulary. And yet I would never criticize Chris Rock for when, where and how he uses it” (Lawrence 84). The reason why the writer in the article stated the he do not criticize Chris Rock for using the word Nigga he fell as if American is ‘censoring and policing black creative and expression” (Lawrence 84). Racial slurs can be positive in the African American culture because it is an image that project how black can become better parents for their kids at home and role models, how education is very important and good work ethics. “On the other hand the significance of Mr. Richards’ upheaval is about more than terrible drama strategy. Jamie Masada, the proprietor of the Laugh Factory, and Paul Mooney, a black humorist who used to compose for Richard Pryor, have joined legislators and activists, including the Democrat of California, in requiring a conclusion to the utilization of what they call the N word by everybody including blacks” ( Allen 1). This is why individual in America looks at racial slurs differently because its interpretation black culture and black entertainment depending on how they perceive the jokes.

    Read More

  • Huck Finn the Racist

    1334 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Racism | Define Racism at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Free Online Dictionary for English Definitions. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. .

    Read More

  • The Word Nigger

    2002 Words  | 5 Pages

    When it comes to the use of the “N-word”, “nigger”, most of us will readily agree that it is derived from negativity. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of is this word appropriate and should it be a part of our vocabulary today. Many feel like this word is okay to use but there are some that disagree.

    Read More

  • The Longest Yard Analysis

    1304 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are laws that prohibit any type of segregation in the United States of America. We have in office today the very first African American president, President Barack Obama. The culture is now more politically correct on what is acceptable and what isn 't. There is a scene in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard that includes Guard Dunham ( Stone Cold Steve Austin) and prisoner Megget (Nelly). The "N" word was used towards this prisoner a few times, but this was the only time in the movie it was used. This is obviously not okay, but compared to the 1970 's film, this was a huge change. The use of that hateful word helped the director portray the guards as villains in the film. The 2005 remake did not separate the white and black inmates in the prison like they did in the 1974 original. Although director Peter Segal did use the disrespectful word in modern day, he used it moderately. Segal did not use it so freely like the original film because today 's culture would not tolerate it. It could have jeopardized the quality of the film in the view of modern day

    Read More

  • Summary Of Brent Staples's 'Black Men And Public Space'

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this narrative essay, Brent Staples provides a personal account of his experiences as a black man in modern society. “Black Men and Public Space” acts as a journey for the readers to follow as Staples discovers the many societal biases against him, simply because of his skin color. The essay begins when Staples was twenty-two years old, walking the streets of Chicago late in the evening, and a woman responds to his presence with fear. Being a larger black man, he learned that he would be stereotyped by others around him as a “mugger, rapist, or worse” (135).

    Read More

More about Nigger Meaning

Open Document