"NIGGA": The new black social calling card...
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Posted By: Jasmine Moore on June 30, 2006 "Oh yeah, that's my Nigga right there!" How many times have you heard this famous expression? Personally I lost count at around the age of 11. Nigga is the new word, formed from the old derogatory term "nigger" given to the black man by the white oppressor. It can be derived from two sources: meaning ignorant or unworldy in the original form "Niggar", or the mispronunciation of the word "negro" which means of "dead people". Both of these terms are highly offensive and have abused the black man for centuries. Today, the word "nigga" is supposedly used as a term of endearment, and isn't used to harm the spirit of a downtrodden race. Yet in the news the other day, I saw a report on a black boy complaining of a seldomly heard atrocity: his old WHITE english teacher used the "n" word upon him. When the teacher was confronted about his evil misdeeds, he replied innocently that he had used the term "nigga" to try to relate to his black students. He claimed that he thought the term "nigga" was unoffending, and he tried to pronounce the "gah" sound so as not to be misconstrued as being a racist. Of course the boy was offended, and the teacher was reprimanded for his actions. Now to the point at hand. Upon hearing this, my initial thought was that this teacher was a racist pig that should have been eradicated from every aspect of education. Then as I calmed down, I realized that he was just an ignorant person that thought it was ok to say something that supposedly was without negative connotation. I began to see that the fault was not with this hapless man, but rather with a society that promotes the image of the "looking glass self". This image, my brothers and sisters, finds us not as who we are, but who society projects us to be. The black community is plagued with DuBois theory of "double conciousness" and "second sight" which means that we are only allowed to know and comprehend ourselved through the revelation of others. Through this idea we promote using a word that clearly has a lot of historical and emotional baggage, thinking that because the pronunciation is different, the outright awfulness of the word vanishes. If this is true, if all of the baggage associated with this word is gone, then why is it so offending when someone outside the race says it? Because the word HAS NOT CHANGED! The word and the meaning are still the same. The only thing that HAS changed is our ability to see through deceit. In times where the black community has been the most race concious, the word had disappeared. Today we have reached an all time low in pride and knowledge of self, so much so that we even think of ourselves as what the oppressor has labeled us in the past. WE PREFER TO CALL OURSELVES NIGGERS! In all matters of human intellect and progress, that is truly absurd! Never have I seen a race of oppressed people embrace the very entity that would oppress them! Somehow we find glamor in our victimized state, we love to be "ghetto fabulous" and "hood rich", never realizing that ghettos and slums are reserved for the poorest and most isolated of people. This false reality that we've been fed in order to keep us from knowing the true state of things must be stopped in order to move ahead into a sphere of enlightenment and awareness. For every one black person calling himself and his brethren "nigga", there are ten other white people calling him "nigger" behind his back. In top hat, white gloves, and shiny black Nikes, this black man will "come a'runnin' " because Nigga will be the new social calling card. To this I say "no thanks". If you want to get my attention, call me Sister. Thank You. If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Jasmine Moore
From Olympia Fields, IL Howard University class of 2010 Member Since April 2005 |
Comments
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This is great. Good job Jasmine. You're right! :)
Monday, July 3rd 2006 at 4:17AM |
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I agree completely with you. But I also think that blacks embrace the term "*****" in our quest to win back some of the power that was taken away from us during slavery and the decades of oppression after. By taking that word and making it our own, we seem to be fooling ourselves into believing that we are winning. I don't agree with the term being used because to me, everytime we use it, we are projecting ourselves years back into that oppressed state that we fought so hard to get out of.
Friday, July 7th 2006 at 3:53AM |
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You need to see my blog on blotting out the use of the "N-Word". Awesome blog, I commend You! Saturday, July 8th 2006 at 8:50AM |
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WOW! Great blog, Jaz! You are a real conscious sistah. Keep it up. Damon Friday, July 21st 2006 at 6:27AM |
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