The N-Word
skins
An eleven-year-old Negro says that he wants to abolish the "N-word."
Jonathan McCoy would have difficulty abolishing any word, but he would
like to prohibit use of the word "nigger," because, he claims, Negroes
have taken over and they should abolish criticism of themselves and
their regime. The ploy is not new. Any unpleasant reference to King
George could have resulted in a charge of "treason" and the death-
penalty. But, the very idea of banning speech, unpopular with the
ruler, sparked the American Revolution, resulting in the First
Amendment and the right to freedom-of-speech. None of such an English-
blood-based history-lesson would affect someone with a Kenyan-based
bloodline, however, as McCoy aptly demonstrates.
McCoy has spotlighted how "nigger" has been elevated from simply a
derisive nomenclature for those of African-descent to a genuine cry of
protest from those vying to overthrow "Obamanation." The word
"nigger" originally meant "black," without any derisive overtones.
However, as the ignorance, servility and savagery of African-slaves
and their descendants became fixed in the American psyche, "nigger"
became interchangeable with what James K. Vardaman referred to as a
"savage, immoral beast." "Nigger," then, slipped into the category of
words that would not be used in "polite society." "Negro" became the
"proper" term, for general usage. Not being capitalized, "negro"
still carried a demeaning connotation for those inferior in society.
All along, Negroes referred to themselves as "niggers" or, in
actuality, "niggas," as it played out in Negro-dialect. When one
Negro referred to another Negro as a "nigga," it usually had no
adverse implications and could even be friendly or playful. In the
South, where Americans and Negroes lived in closest proximity, but in
strict segregation, the term "nigra" became popular, as a sort of
contraction between "negro" and "nigger." "Nigra" was passable in
"polite" company. George Wallace used the term, although his critics,
taking feigned umbrage, would suggest that he was really saying
"nigger." Politicians, who began to succumb to riot-driven "black-
power" demands, would insist upon squelching use of "nigger," fearing
more riot-outbursts.
A police-chief at Stone Mountain, Georgia, once ordered David Holland,
who conducted annual, anti-Communist events, not to use the "N-word."
In open defiance, Holland related the incident, shouting, "Nigger,
nigger, nigger. So there." As "nigger" arose as a term of protest, it
was spreading, with a slightly skewed inflection, as a lyric of "rap."
Pronounced and spelled as "niggah," it became a term-of-endearment to
the likes of 'Lil Wayne, perpetuating the "cop-killa" image, which
played out in deadly "Get-Whitey" antics on blood-spattered streets.
Hypocrisy led to abuse of power, as an American, using "nigger," could
be jailed for "hate," although a Negro, using the same term, could
not. Abuses eventually catapulted to the ridiculous.
A teacher would be fired for using the term, "niggardly," which means
"stingy" and has nothing to do with Negroes. Objections were
overruled, on the grounds that any "offense" to the Negro was
forbidden. "Negritude," a scholarly term for the genetics of African-
importees, popularized by Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration
of Independence, was placed on an unwritten black-list. "Nigglet,"
referring to a baby-Negro, was similarly proscribed. The backlash
began among the rebellious, vexed at being told how to speak, but was
magnified by the patriotic, who acquainted calling Barack Obama a
nigger to calling George III a tyrant. McCoy clamping tight on the
pressure-cooker just turned up the heat to blow the lid off of
"Obamanation."
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