Words can differ in meaning depending upon the community. Some may take specific words as an insult while other realize that it is something that might be positive and useful to them. The word “nigger” means the color black which is why during slavery, slave owners called the black slaves nigger. They used it to insult a person of color and to shame them. But in today’s society, almost everyone from every single race call each other “nigger because it is mostly used in a friendly way. The African American community use “nigga/ nigger” as a way to show pride in their race. Before the 21st century, other races used it as a way to describe a person of color in order to offend them. Therefore, when they call a black person or call each other a “nigga/ nigger”, African Americans get angry.
When a black person call another black person “nigga/nigger” is almost the same as when two people call each other a friend. When some African Americans use that word, they use it as a name to address another person that is African American in a positive manner or even sometimes to cause negative attention. They can say things like “my nigga”, usually addressed to another African American as a greeting or to say that you helped me out a lot. Although I may not use this word to describe a another person of African descendant, many others use this word to take pride of who they are as a person whose ancestors originally came from africa because negro does mean black by the original definition.
In both the movie and book, Ender’s Game offers a great variety of events. Both were very interesting pieces, but they were told in different ways. There was things in both versions that made it unique and have its own spin to the story. In addition, there were some similarities and differences that could be seen, and others that were hardly recognizable. This shows us that we can’t just skip the book and watch the movie because it is different in its own way.
Should Nigger be Used as a term of Endearment in the Black Community and Everywhere?
The use of the term nigger can be used as a amicable greeting between two blacks, or as a “hideous pejorative” (Marriott 94) towards blacks. Marriott notes that the use of nigger is usually condoned and used by younger blacks as a “term of endearment” (98), in hopes to gradually alter the meaning of the word. Their goal is to normalize the usage of nigger between blacks to “dull its edge whenever whites use it” (Marriott 95). This has been proved somewhat efficient, as most whites dread the word and express feelings of disgust whenever it is heard from the mouth of whites. Many younger blacks believe their efforts are stimulating a progression in society, but older blacks and the majority of whites assert just the opposite- it illustrates “anything
“You’re just another stupid nigger,” says a classmate. I was in the third grade, he [the classmate], felt threatened by my intellectual superiority I realize now. As a child, who didn’t know what to make of the tern nigger, I decided to ask my teacher. Retelling the incident to her, she decides to tell the principal and have my classmate suspended. I thought of it being odd, as this child, like I, was in the third grade, gets suspended for a word, which I didn’t know was a derogatory word at the time. Nigger – a derogatory name for a Black person. As I asked my elder brother to explain what a nigger is, I was informed on the period of slavery, racial segregation, Jim Crow laws, and what the definition of a nigger. Was that what I was to other people? Just a young nigger girl? Is there nothing else that can be used to describe myself besides the color of my race? As a young girl, I was very conflicted and overwhelmed with all of this
In Season 1, Episode 5 of the The Netflix Original Series: Dear White People released on April 28, 2017, Reggie, a black college student and the leader of Winchester University’s Black Student Union is seen at a fraternity party surrounded by mostly white students. All is well until Reggie’s white friend, Addison, repeatedly utters the N-word while singing along to a hip-hop song. Reggie asks him not to say it anymore however, Addison questions him and attempts to justify his use of the word which leads to a debate. The creator of Dear White People uses characterization and setting to convey how non-Black people-especially white people- who use the N-word regardless of whether or not they understand its historical context, reinforce the notion that Black people are inferior which helps to maintain white supremacy.
A 1700 quote by judge Samuel Sewall uses the term in a denunciation of slavery. Gradually, however, polite discourse increasingly used the term negro (which dates to at least 1555) and nigger became relegated to the vulgar tongue, increasing in offensiveness over the centuries.
The essay “The Meanings of a Word” by Gloria Naylor discusses the many definitions of a word and how its meaning can change according to context and delivery. She made this point by telling a story of her childhood and the first time she heard the n-word used by a white person in a derogatory, demeaning way. She described her this situation that took place when she was in third-grade and a boy in front of her in math class called her the n-word. She had no idea what it meant to be called that in a negative way because the people she grew up around only used it as positive and empowering. At the end of her essay, she once again emphasized how easy it is to change a word into something hateful simply depending on who says it and their
Contrastly, many older people in the black community feel that this word is disrespectful and is some form of internal racism, which causes blacks to remain inferior in society. But how can that be the case when we turned lemons to lemonade. We changed something with negative denotation and made it positive. Even Hispanics call themselves "essays" which is similar to the word nigger in Spanish. Also, the term "Yankee", which is a term that has described Americans for centuries, was once an insult by the British. So do we ridicule the founding fathers of this country for accepting this name? Even if we did not change the meaning and spelling of the word nigger don't we have the right to call ourselves the word (like the founding
In the English language, the word "nigger" is an ethnic slur, usually directed at black people. The word originated as a neutral term referring to people with black skin, as a variation of the Spanish and Portuguese noun negro, a descendant of the Latin adjective niger . It was often used disparagingly, and by the mid-twentieth century, particularly in the United States, its usage became unambiguously pejorative, a racist insult. Accordingly, it began to disappear from popular culture, and its continued inclusion in classic works of literature has sparked controversy. In the contemporary United States and United Kingdom, using the word is taboo, and it is often replaced with the euphemism "the N-word". "Nigga" is sometimes used among African Americans in a non-derogatory sense or as a term of endearment. Etymology and history
Make no mistake that slave owners came up with the word Nigger and it was only supposed to mean an individual, who is lazy, unwise, and good for nothing, but somewhere along the history lines of slavery the N word began to be used more as racial insult against the non-white Americans
Aside from your community, the issue goes more into depth when entering the household. As young children, blacks and whites played together but as they grew up, the whites were taught a life changing word, “nigger.” Slowly but surely, they grew up being presurred with the mind set that they were superior
The n-word is considered one of the most vicious racial slurs in the English language today. True that the n-word is closely associated with slavery and the oppression of blacks. Even after the abolition of slavery the word still haunted African Americans, especially in more segregated areas; where blacks were viewed as inferior to whites. In recent years the n-word has become less of a malicious slur in parts of our country. Public figures who use the n-word run the risk of losing their jobs. However, since the 1960s African Americans have coined the term “nigga”, when addressing one another. The rise of hip hop culture also enhanced the use of the word-they felt as though they are using the word as a term of endearment. Critics of the
The word "nigger" has become a popular saying amongst our current population. The word appears to be used more each day by an assorted group of people. I've conducted a research in order to gather a better understanding as of to why the word "nigger" is so commonly used. I've collected responses from my fellow class mates and read a book called nigger to acquire addition information about the different opinions brought on by its usage. In these responses were patterns that helped me to get better acquainted with this idea. Most writes provided me with the same answer, that the reason why people call each other "nigger" is because it is used in a positive way. With this information given, the next question that came to mind was is it
Nowadays, there are several illicit drugs such as marijuana, heroin, cocaine that are used in some area in the United States. Those drugs influence people every day of their life. They also affect people whether they are using them, drugs dealer, victims of drugs related crime or dealing with family members’ addiction. On the other hands, the government spends much money for education, medical, technology and recycles. Besides these issues, the government also spends billions of dollars for drug laws enforcement to against them and drug fighting. Since drugs are unsafe, the prohibition is an answer to this problem. The government of the United States should consider to legalizing those drugs. Although some people oppose that drugs legalizing drugs will increases the number of users, increases the number of users, and make more people addictive; however it can be true that legalizing drugs will increase the economic, reduce the corruption of officers, and save tax money.
Throughout our course I have become more and more interested in the idea of Westernized pedagogical practices in the classrooms of U.S. schools. More specifically, during our course I was inspired to explore how literacy and the teaching of reading have perpetuated dominant stereotypes in the classroom and how these Western ideas and canon have affected students’ perception of a culturally diverse and inclusive classroom. Traditionally, Westernized approaches to literacy education have excluded and assimilated many non-native individuals, and even with good intentions; it is difficult for educators to incorporate non-mainstream speakers into their pedagogical framework as our Westernized education practices have centered themselves on not