I don't dance around and call it "the N-word". I hear it every day. Oh, you can say that what I hear is really "nigga", but let's be honest--if I were to say "nigga" out loud in public, I'd be in a heap of trouble as big as if I'd said "nigger".
Let's not play kiddie games here. We all know what the word is, why it's not a term that should be used in polite or any other company--and we also know that some people get a pass on saying it and others don't.
It's used in Huck Finn. Its use there is genuine, it strengthens the story. So should the book be used at schools? One superintendent had an interesting reply to the expected debate.
Hmmm, which feature of these so-called activists was more prominent - their hypocrisy or their ignorance?
ReplyDeleteIt'd be nice to know how many other such incidents occurred around the nation. My feeling is that outside the mass-media hothouse and at a lower altitude then that enjoyed by the residents of the ivory tower, race is a subject that's long since worn out its welcome.
ReplyDeleteI once had a rather lengthy argument with a black individual about the use of the word "nigga." He claimed that it was an entirely separate word that had nothing to do with the words "negro" or "nigger."
ReplyDeleteI claimed that it was a poor pronunciation of the word "nigger." He managed to agree with me that regardless of it being an entirely separate word, with no relation to the original slurs, crackers like me still weren't allowed to say it.
Go figure.