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Dear White People, Your Obsession With the N-Word Needs to End
We’re not allowed in your club, so why are you breaking into ours?
I’ve always wondered why many White people want to use the N-word so badly. You would think it was some kind of privilege that’s been denied to them. But they have been using that word for hundreds of years and still can today if they’re so inclined.
The term Nigger or Nigga has unmistakable power. After all, it’s the most taboo word in the English language. And yet, I hear it being thrown around carelessly by many non-Black groups, more so when they think Black people aren’t listening.
No matter how it is used, it’s still a racist slur. That is that.
When I was young and foolish, I used to think nothing of it when non-Black people said it around me. Never again. Because you know what they say;
Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile
Whether you should say it or not largely depends on how you want to be perceived by anyone within earshot. But when making that determination, you have to keep a couple of things in mind. Let’s start with its roots.
How did the N-word become such a scathing insult?
Since the beginning of American history, the only way that the N-word has been used by White people has been in a pejorative way to refer to Black people.
Stemming from the word “negro” which means “black” in Spanish, the N-word started off as merely a descriptor with no meaning attached to it. But it evolved over time and, in the 17th century, became a derogatory term used by slave owners — they called those they enslaved “niggers”.
They had power over these people to whom they subjected unmentionable atrocities and they justified the treatment they meted out by saying these people were less than human. In places like Spain and Portugal, the word “negro” was also used to describe people with no soul — supporting the belief that Black people are soulless and therefore not human.
The animosity surrounding the word created a negative attitude toward enslaved African-Americans. It became a term of exclusion and a verbal reason to…
