RSSNigga Conundrums
Not until recently have I really explored the difference an ER can make. I’m not talking about the emergency room where stab victims sit next to gunshot victims, just behind the mother whose child has a high fever. And I’m definitely not talking about the show (can’t do the whole must see TV thing). I’m simply talking about two letters. Two symbols of our alphabet that if used incorrectly can get you put in the ER. I’m talking about the power of language and our power to change it.
I was at a friend’s house watching a football game, and my friends little brother came in with his girlfriend, who happened to be white. I hadn’t seen his little brother in a long time. We gave dap and a half hug. “What up my nigga,” he said. I embraced the whole interaction and was happy to see him.
“Oh by the way, this is my girl Kelly,” he said. Like a gentleman, I extended my hand to shake hers. She grabbed mine. “What-up my nigga” she said. All of a sudden my gentlemen left and my facial expressions changed drastically from happy to “white girl if you don’t…”
I didn’t know how to respond. Was I mad? Or did I just feel like I needed to act mad? Didn’t my nigga just call me a nigga? All type of shit raced through my head.
Despite the fact that here’s this white girl trying to fit in, I decided to let it ride. I mean, she is my nigga’s nigga and all. Still, something didn’t feel right. Yeah, we substitute the “ER” with an “A” and use the word as a term of endearment, but only for some and not others? Why not say brotha, brethren, dude, homie, cuz, jack, or friend?
I had to really think about it! If I were with Harriet Tubman leading slaves to freedom, would I say it? How you think Rosa Parks would react if I got on the bus and I was like “move over my nigga?”
Why ain’t it okay for a little white girl to say the word when its used all over the world by young, liberal kids, who aren’t black. How can I be mad when we raised this generation of “nigger lovers?” We sold them our music, we pimped our hoes and shot dem niggas…If we gone say we changed the word’s meaning, shouldn’t it be universal? Or are we just lying to our ancestors?
6 Comments, Comment or Ping
TROUBLMan
I have a love hate relationship with the word too. Most young people understand the word in its current form. Its a way we bond. It could be powerful if we let be global. Universal.
[Reply]
cypher
I sometimes feel like out of respect for the people who came before us we should find another term of endearment. But I was raised with it and I know what it means today.Yet, I’ve tried to stop saying it but I had to tell myself “Nigga please”.
[Reply]
Ms. Nikki
I have mixed feeling for the word. I feel that it is OK for Black people to say it but now its getting to the point, where everyone feels that it is fine to say Nigga not NIGGER. It once was a time when this word was consider to be hateful but with todays society, its so commonly used. I have friends who are not black and they know “I DON’T PLAY THAT SHIT…” Now, out of respect to me, they don’t use that type of language around me. I have tried to stop saying NIGGA but sometimes it just rolls off of my tongue.
[Reply]
RJ
Obviously being a white male, my perspective on the word is probably a bit different. First off, its something that never comes out of my mouth and never will. Partly because of the respect to all my black friends I consider to be like family, and partly because there is no need for it to be in my vocabulary.
I think the problem lies with the younger generations. The kids that just want to be like their heroes. They have always said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and these kids see their idol use the word 4 or 5 times in a song, or 100 times throughout one of their favorite movies. The word has evolved into a mainstream word, like it or not, and these younger kids get introduced to it in a context of brotherhood or fraternity. I’m sure that for every 1000 times a kid hears the word in todays society, they might here 1 story about where the ugly word comes from and how it was first used.
[Reply]
"a mom"
RJ I agree with you. Not only are our young black children seeing so much of this but all of our children. It has become a regular thing for them. And you are also right about the balance 1000 to 1.
We as a society need to change that. Some of us say it’s the way you say it or who you say it to. NO! It sounds the same to me who ever says it. I’ve in the past said the word to my girlfriend “Nigga Please”. I even sound wrong to myself.
I read a saying the other day “Be the change you want to see in the world” don’t know who said it but, that’s what I’m trying to be.
[Reply]
Keene
I’m with Cypher!!!
[Reply]
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