The "N" Word

NIGGER!!

NIGGAR!!

NIGGA !!

It is the most offensive word in the English language. The word "NIGGER" comes from the latin word niger,meaning Black. In the days of slavery,white slaveowners used this word to define their slaves. Depending on your attitude,you were a "good" nigger or a "bad" nigger. If the slaveowner's wife liked you enough,your were either a "house" nigger or "field" nigger. If you were physically fit to do heavy labor,you were either a "valuable" nigger or "worthless" nigger. But at the end of the day, regardless what catagory you fall in,you were a nigger.Even in the early 1900s,when African-Americans began to own their own businesses,to Whites they were still niggers.

In the 40s,50s and 60s,southern whites began to say it with so much venom that the (er) sounded like (ar). Now we were called "NIGGAR". However you pronounced it or spelled it,it meant the same thing.

You were less than a man,you were less than an animal,YOU WERE A NIGGAR.

The word served as extra motivation for those who were fighting in the Civil Rights Movement. It inspired them to fight even harder.All in an effort to make sure THEIR children and their CHILDREN's children wouldn't have to walk down the street and hear someone say to them," HEY NIGGAR",or "GO HOME NIGGAR".

Nowadays,WE use it and pronounce it "NIGGA".
Yeah,yeah,yeah.....I know,
"It's not the same when we say".
"We can say it,but THEY better not say it".
Or (and this is my favorite) we use it as a "term of endearment".
REALLY? How is it endearing?
It doesn't make ME feel any better when I hear it. Actually now,I get offended when it's used towards me.How did we as a people come so far,fight so hard for so long only to give it all right back? What is the difference in us saying it as oppose to someone from another race saying it? The word is the same,REGARDLESS how you use it,spell it or pronounce it.It's the same word today as it was in the 1930s when an English company showed a picture of 10 black dogs with the title
"10 Little Nigger Boys Went Out To Dine".
Did you know that was the first line in the book titled "Ten Little Niggers"? Did you know whites used to read that to their kids as a bedtime story? After learning all of those things,after thinking back on all the struggles we had to endure as a people,and after talking to Mr.Tommy Wren and Mr.Percy Hornbuckle at Mr.Hornbuckle's barber shop here in Birmingham. I HAD to stop using it. I asked Mr.Wren what HE thought of the use of the word by our people. He said our people have always used it,but back in the day,if the parents heard you say it, they would beat you like you stole something. But nowadays,parents use it WITH their kids, AT their kids and some parents use it MORE than their kids.I wish you WOULD think about going in that barbershop talking about "nigger this" and "nigger that". Those 70-80 year old men would shave your head, and NOT with any clippers,but with the Louisville Slugger they keep on deck just in case one of them young bucks start smelling themselves(his words not mine).

To those of you who refuse to stop using it,or don't see anything wrong with using it. Have you ever sat down and had a conversation with anyone who was called a nigger in front of their wife and children? And there was absolutely NOTHING they could do but grit their teeth and take it like a man. Oh yeah, right,you wouldn't have done nothing either. You would have done the same thing they did. You would have made it your life's mission to make sure your kids never grew up having to experience the same thing they experienced.

I challenge you to think about eliminating that word out of your vocabulary. It won't be easy,trust me,I KNOW. But at least give it a try. How long can we continue to raise children and allow them to be exposed to this word INSIDE their own home? Of course,they're going to hear it in the streets,on the radio and on tv. But like I told my son,if you don't hear ME say it,I better NOT hear you say it. Of course I found out it was in his vocabulary,and of course I chopped him in his throat(REAL TALK). But it's got to start somewhere. Why not start with you?