Resources for Teaching about the N Word
compiled by Erica Pernell
What is the history and context of the N word?
From Randall Kennedy’s Nigger: The Strange and Troublesome Career of a Troublesome Word:
“Nigger is derived from the Latin word for the color black, niger. According to the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, it did not originate as a slur but took on a derogatory connotation over time. Nigger and other words related to it have been spelled a variety of ways . . . Currently, some people insist upon distinguishing nigger--which they see as exclusively an insult--from nigga, which they view as a term capable of signaling friendly salutation . . . No one knows precisely when or how niger turned derisively into nigger and attained a pejorative meaning. We do know, however, that by the end of the first third of the nineteenth century, nigger had already become a familiar and influential insult.”
“ . . .often the earliest instruction white adults gave to white children prominently featured the word nigger. Adults reprimanded them for being ‘worse than niggers,’ for being ‘ignorant as niggers,’ for having ‘no more credit than niggers;’ they disciplined them by telling them that unless they behaved they would be carried off by ‘the old nigger’ or made to sit with ‘niggers’ or consigned to the ‘nigger seat,’ which was, of course, a place of shame.”
“In the era of enslavement, the words ‘nigger" or "black’ were inserted in front of a common American first name (e.g., John), given to a slave to distinguish the slave from any local white person with the same name.”
How the N-word became the ‘atomic bomb of racial slurs’:
“It’s the atomic bomb of racial slurs. It is the racial slur that has been used in other contexts, so, for instance, Palestinians, the n—–s of the Middle East, the Irish, the n—–s of Europe. This is a term that has been generalized around the world. If you want to put somebody down, analogize them to the n—–.”
Should I say the N word out loud in class? Should I allow my students to do so?
Do not say the N word out loud and do not allow white students or non-Black students of color to do so. You can discuss the history of the N word, the reclamation of the term, and the reasons why it is unacceptable for white people and non-Black people of color to use the word (yes, even in a song). See Ta-Nehisi Coates on why
What issues arise when people who aren’t Black use the N word?
Ta-Nehisi Coates writes, “words take on meaning from context and relationship.” Relationships dictate the names we use to describe people. You wouldn’t call your teacher “Dad” and you wouldn’t call your friend’s spouse “Baby.” Some words, terms, or names can connote respect when spoken by one person and connote disrespect when spoken by another. This widely understood principle of communication applies to the N word. The N word’s use by people who are not Black has long been associated with white supremacy, discrimination, genocide, and systematic terror. It was a word invoked during slavery and lynchings. Inclusive, safe environments do not tolerate the use of the N word by people who are not Black.
Why do I hear the N word used by Black people?
N.I.G.G.E.R. The Slave and the Master:
“The power of the N-word comes not only from its historical usage but from Black folk reclaiming the word and trying to divest it of its racialized power and reinvest it with Black vernacular power . . . The premise that you would use language directed against you and turn it around and use it for yourself is a very powerful and subversive tool . . . The way Black folks use the N-word in our own private speech communities, it is very easily divorced from its negative past . . . It was used so systematically, so overtly for so long throughout history, it’s important to understand how, when Black folks use it, they were and still are engaged in very complex socio-linguistic process of reclamation.”
There is no consensus within the Black community about the use of the N word. Some Black people do not use the N word and find that is stirs up pain and suffering, especially those who lived through Jim Crow. Other Black people use the word as a reclamation of power.
What is white supremacy?
Associated Press (adapted):
The racist belief that whites are superior to people of color used to justify political, economic and social suppression of people of color and other minority groups.