Nigger
There has been much debate in my sphere about the word "Nigger" and why White people can't use it and Black people can. In the last three weeks I have gotten into HEATED debates with
people over this very subject...and I have come to the same conclusion...
Those who spend their time debating/arguing over the validity of the word NIGGER ought to maybe direct their efforts towards changing a social order that privileges some and oppresses others.
The word NIGGER would not have any saliency if there were not an accompanying social order for which it's use could justify. "Nigger" is the ideological crutch that helped, helps, and will continue to help maintain the system of White Supremacy in America.
My frustration is that many folks inside and outside the black community continue to attack the WORD "Nigger" but fail to attack the Power Elite, who in their wealth and whiteness, continue to exploit the most vulnerable Americans.
Perhaps there is an uproar about this word because in this post-Civil Rights Movement era many folks think that we have "transcended" the questions of race and racism in America. To them I say that the Civil Rights Movement, even with it's revolutionary spirit, was tangibly a reform movement...and the one MAJOR policy change that arose from the struggle (Affirmative Action) has not actually done what it was intended to do for Black and Brown Americans. We have not transcended the race question.
White folks want to bury the race question...perhaps because of the sub-conscious (or unconscious) guilt about their own privilege and Black folks have been fooled into believing that the issue surrounding the word "Nigger" is actually an important one as it concerns the social, political, and economic well-being of our community.
The state of our collective existence as a community is because of a generational lack of inclusion (de jure and de facto) in the American social project. In other words, the Nigger debate is a red herring in my opinion.
Now this is NOT to say that perhaps as a community we shouldn't have a discussion about the generational psychological effects that the label of NIGGER has had on us. I think we should. I just don't think we should think that burying the word will be the silver bullet that kills our "self-hatred" and the racism of White folks. Because the fact remains....IT WON'T.
For Michael Richards (Kramer) the usage of the word "nigger" was about him expressing his superiority as a white man over black folk. And the racist reality of the system is in harmony with that expression.
Quite frankly this is why White people are not allowed to use it...because we know what their INTENT is. We know about slavery...we know about Jim Crow...we know about racism. And the "Kramer's" of the world know EXACTLY what emotions such a word coming out of the mouth of a white person will evoke. It is as sinister as you can get.
I say all this to say...it's time for progressive people (of all races, creeds, colors, ages, sexes, and sexual orientations) to have more meaningful discussions about social uplift...
Just my opinion...I could be wrong.
posted by Quaheem @ 9:23 PM
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