Sociology of the "N" Word

Talk about the power of language and history.

It is a word so infused with power and meaning that my typing it here is a political act. Niggah is woven into the fabric of life here. I must hear the word used more than 100 times a day, mostly in the hallways, but often in class as well. It horrifies teachers and parents alike, and attempts to treat it as a bad, pejorative word with students falls quietly into the abyss. We have had faculty meetings where one of the main topics of consideration was how to deal with the ubiquity of "that" word. [The photo to the right is by Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado from Gold Diggers, Brazil copyright 1998 Sabastiao Salgado. This picture is part of a study dealing with workers. It is a powerful image because it shows the simultaneous victimization and power of the worker.]

It is, in many ways, a clash of generations. The generations, both black and white, who lived through and often fought the civil rights movements still feel the power of the pejorative word. It is a part of us. But in the streets it was recaptured, rephrased and turned on its head. In an interview in the documentary Tupac: Resurrection Tupac Shakur explains, "Niggers was the ones on the rope, hanging off the thing; Niggas is the ones with gold ropes, hanging out at clubs." Not that Shakur can speak for all, or even a few. Yet the use of the term in rap and comedy began to suffuse the culture, particularly of the young. The word is a nexus of political struggle among and between blacks, between blacks and non-blacks, with whites, and between classes. It both highlights discrimination and the power of the discriminated.

I believe that race must be talked about. It is everywhere. As a history teacher, perhaps I am more aware of its presence and influence. And for all our continuing racism and discrimination, we still tend to quietly shove the issue of race into the nearest closet. Denial hasn't gotten us far. But the inability to talk about race will harm us immeasurably. Many of my students have unique perspectives on race and discrimination because they have lived many facets of it. Many are multiracial, multilingual, multiethnic, adopted, in mixed race families and all around searching for identities in a culture that still tends to think in terms of black and white. Perhaps it is the insight of the discriminated and ignored to take the "n"uclear word and turn it from oppression to liberation.

The real power of the word is that non-blacks still cannot use the word non-pejoratively. It has become a privilege of young blacks to use the word while denying it to others. And it is a gift to become part of the "in" group, to be a brother, a friend, family, if the word is bestowed on non-blacks. In small groups of close friends, as I walk by in the hallways, I'll often hear the word used by hispanics to black friends, who then use it with white friends. That takes the word and its history by the neck and tosses it around until it isn't only powerless, but actually a social glue. Talk about turning swords into plowshares. Yet, an internet search of the word will still turn up the KKK.

I am painfully aware that it is not that simple and that it will remain a center of contention among many factions struggling over the ownership and meaning of the word. It hasn't been disarmed. But it is being discussed and played with. I am certain that we will not control the word through heavy handed tactics and insisting that our meaning is the only meaning. I would hope that I would refuse to give any word that much power. At least it brings our racial, and racist, culture into the light. That can only make it less dangerous.

All I know is that two years ago when a student in the hallway impulsively looked at me and before thinking said, "Whassup, nigga?" I didn't feel insulted. I felt connected.