When Words Unravel: A Complicated History of the N-Word

When Words Unravel

WHEN WORDS UNRAVEL

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A COMPLICATED HISTORY OF THE N-WORD

“ H andle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bonds�

-Pearl Strachan Hurd

Nigger. Negro. Nigga.

This book is a cultural and historical analysis of this word.

The N-word.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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ETYMOLOGY & SEMANTICS

THE AGE OF JIM CROW

WORDS AS WEAPONS

NEGRO: THE NEW NIGGER

THE REAL NIGGA

BIRTH OF THE N-WORD

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BLACK PEOPLE VS. NIGGAS

THE LATINX EFFECT

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TERMS OF ENDEARMENT

THE NOT-SO CREATIVE LICENSE

SOURCES & CREDITS

When Words Unravel

1619

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John Rolfe listed Africans as “negars” in his journal on the first shipment of Africans to Virginia. 1

ETYMOLOGY & SEMANTICS

When Words Unravel

THE ORIGIN No one is entirely sure why the word nigger first appeared as a slur for people of African descent.

However, the lineage of this word can be traced back to the Latin word for black: niger.2 What historians do know is that the word started to appear as an insult in the 17th century. And by the 1800’s nigger had become a significant part of the English language.

But at what point did nigger move from a word

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Etymology & Semantics

that described a person with a specific skin tone to a weapon meant to dehumanize a group of people?

ETYMOLOGY

When Words Unravel 14

Etymology & Semantics

DEFINITIONS In order to accurately discuss the

Historically speaking, the Black

history of how nigger came to

community has redefined this

be used as a weapon, we must

word to be used as a term of

look at how this word is defined.

endearment by changing the

While the dictionary does give

spelling. But, is there a difference

the denotative interpretation

in the definition of nigger and

of this word, it does not tell

nigga? In a denotative sense the

the whole story. The definition

answer is no, but connotation is

changes depending on so many

everything when it comes to this

factors, like the time period it is

word. As a result, defining this

used in, the person who is using

word is complicated, but necessary.

it and in what context are they using it in.

“ CONNOTATION IS EVERYTHING WHEN IT COMES TO THIS WORD”

When Words Unravel

1885

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Mark Twain uses nigger 215 times in his book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 1

THE AGE OF JIM CROW

Photo Credit: Rare Historical Photos

When Words Unravel

THE ISSUE IS HISTORY If you have ever asked yourself what the big deal is about the word nigger, this part is for you. The word is not the issue, it is the history.

One of most evident points of history that give context to this word is the Jim Crow era. This time period is most obviously marked by the restriction of civil rights and liberties for African-Americans. Given this fact, you can imagine how often nigger flowed out the mouths of White Americans in an effort to dehumanize Black-Americans.

This time period is heavily illustrated in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In this book, African-Americans were referred to as a particular persons’ nigger, in this case “Misto Bradish’s nigger.”

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The Age of Jim Crow

The Jim Crow era uses this word to define Black people as property of White people, specifically slave owners. So the big deal is how it was used. However, the historical importance of this word doesn’t end in this time period and that is what makes the word so complicated.

Photo Credit: Gutenberg.com

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When Words Unravel

LINDSEY, BORN 1996 HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE WAY THE N‑WORD IS USED TODAY AND SHOULD THERE BE ANY LIMITATIONS ON HOW IT IS USED? I believe that the use of the N‑word today

Because of this, I believe the use of the

has only slightly shifted from how it was

N‑word should continue to exist strictly

used in the beginning; as an intentionally

within Black communities, as a friendly

derogatory term against Black people

term. I don’t believe there is currently a

specifically, not all people of color (POC).

way for this word to be used in a context

While it has been appropriated by Black

differently than this without being linked

people in an effort to reclaim the term and

to its violent and hateful history.

soften its meaning, it is still used negatively

by Caucasians and non-Black POC even in 2018; even when most of privileged society believes that the use of the word in that context is only “in the past”.

When Words Unravel

1947

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African-American baseball player Jackie Robinson is attacked with racial slurs, such as nigger, by the Philadelphia Phillies during a game.1

WORDS AS WEAPONS

When Words Unravel

STICKS & STONES By this time in American history it was understood that nigger was more than just a word. It was a weapon. Jackie Robinson’s experience as the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball is a prime example of this word being weaponized. Robinson wasn’t continuously called nigger during baseball games simply because

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Words as Weapons

of his race. It was used to create a climate of fear and exclusion, not only for Robinson but any Black American that dared to participate in the American dream.

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Words as Weapons

When Words Unravel

When Words Unravel

1967

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Muhammad Ali says “No Vietcong ever called me nigger� in protest of being drafted to the Vietnam War.1

NEGRO: THE NEW NIGGER

When Words Unravel

“ N IGGER BECOMES NEGRO, AND NEGRO BECOMES COLORED”

CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT Dr. Martin Luther King famously said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”2 This quote reveals how the Civil Rights Movement was marked by its commitment to non-violent protest. This meant resisting any form of hate, including words like nigger. The reason is clear, but this resistance also extended to the term negro.

This is because negro was only viewed as a polite way of calling someone a nigger. In a time where segregation and discrimination ran rampant, civil rights leaders saw negro as a reflection of their status as second-class

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Negro: The New Nigger

citizens. This time period is known for its respectability politics concerning this word. Nigger becomes negro, and negro becomes colored. In the end, Black people knew that all these terms had one thing in common: the refusal to address Black-Americans as equal.

Photo Credit: trtworld.com

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Negro: The New Nigger

When Words Unravel

ANTHONY, BORN 1971 HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE THE N‑WORD AND HOW DOES THIS DEFINITION IMPACT YOUR DECISION TO USE OR NOT USE THE WORD? The N‑word is an extremely derogatory term used to insult a Black person. My definition is why I don’t use the word. I get that the Black community has modified the word to nigga instead of nigger to refer to someone they may like. But, I don’t agree with this.

The word was created by slave owners and I think it should end with slavery. I don’t see anything positive in the use of it.

When Words Unravel

1988

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Hip-Hop group N.W.A. release their first studio album Straight Outta Compton.1

THE REAL NIGGA

When Words Unravel

EXPRESS YOURSELF Hip-Hop introduced a different perspective to the world. This generation was the children of the Civil Rights Era and this was reflected and their attitudes toward the word nigger. After all of the protesting and marching Black people were still facing injustice, from police brutality to the war on drugs. The Hip-Hop generation decided that it was time to start embracing the struggle and taking back the power of this word.

However, it wasn’t the dehumanizing definition of nigger that was being embraced.

Hip-Hop introduces nigga as term for Black people that didn’t necessarily carry any negative weight. It was almost interchangeably used with words like ‘brother’ or ‘friend’ or ‘homie’. In addition, with the introduction of nigga also came the “real nigga”, which serves as

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The Real Nigga

a term for a man that is perceived as trustworthy or sincere. To put it briefly, the Hip-Hop generation reclaimed the word nigger and turned it into a word that could not hurt them in response to feeling like they would be called nigger anyway.

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, CRAZY MOTHERFUCKER NAMED ICE CUBE FROM THE GANG

CALLED NIGGAS WITH ATTITUDES –ICE CUBE, N.W.A

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NIGGA NIGGA

When Words Unravel

THE NUMBERS In 2015, The world’s largest lyrics catalog, Musixmatch did an analysis on the amount of profanity used in Hip-Hop.

NIGGA NIGGA NIGGA What they found was that

Hip-Hop lyrics are the most

profane out of all music genres.

The most common profanities include nigga and niggas.

When Words Unravel

GGA 1995

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The O.J. Simpson murder trial uses tapes of police officer Mark Fuhrman saying nigger to prove racial discrimination.

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BIRTH OF THE N-WORD

Photo Credit: Globe Photos

When Words Unravel

THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY Like with all other things controversial, censorship is often society’s way of resolving controversy. The word Nigger is no exception to this rule.

Censorship is an important part of the history of this word because it illustrates how powerful the word is. The term ‘N-word’ comes from the effort to censor this word. This term became mainstream during the murder trial of football star O.J. Simpson. Race played a large role in the trial for many reasons. However, the moment that most people remember is the testimony of Mark Fuhram. Fuhram testified that he never used the word nigger, which was a lie.2 But because of the notoriety attached to this case the public was forced to talk about Fuhrman’s use of nigger. And that is where the censorship begins. At this point in history it was common knowledge that this word was reserved for the Black community. Instead of nigger, which is the actual word Fuhram uses to disparage Black people, N-word is used when referring to the word. The problem with this is that censorship allows for the desensitization of nigger. As a result, now everyone can

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Birth of the N-word

use nigger without really having to say it.

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When Words Unravel

WORDS ON TRIAL Lady Justice is represented as holding a balance while blindfolded because she is supposed to personify the justice system. However, what happens when a Black man standing trial is referred to as a “typical nigger” by jurors?

That is exactly what happened to William Henry Hance in 1978.3 This seems to be a clear instance of Lady Justice ripping off the blindfold and making decisions based off race. Unfortunately, this isn’t even close to the only time this word has entered the courts

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The Birth of the N-word

When Words Unravel

When Words Unravel

1996

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Chris Rock does his Black people vs. Niggas segment in his comedy special Bring the Pain.

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BLACK PEOPLE VS. NIGGAS

Photo Credit: Globe Photos

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Photo Credit: Scrapsfromtheloft.com

Black people vs. Niggas

When Words Unravel

BRING THE PAIN One of Chris Rock’s most famous jokes comes from his criticallyacclaimed comedy special, Bring the Pain. “I love Black people... but I hate niggas.”2 This joke represents another shift in how this word is used. The ‘90s marks a time period when Black people started to internalize the history of this word. It is used as a way to describe a certain type of Black person. Black people were considered to be educated, hardworking people while niggas were usually portrayed as lazy, criminal, and illiterate. So what happens after Black people start to dehumanize other Black people with this word. Tolerance and endearment ensues.

When Words Unravel Section Name 52

Photo Credit: Christian Lovehall

ROBERTO, BORN 1989 DO YOU THINK HIP-HOP HAS TRANSCENDED THE HISTORY OF THE N‑WORD AND DO YOU THINK THIS GENRE GIVES WHITE PEOPLE PERMISSION TO USE IT? I feel that hip-hop did not transcend the

Hip-hop has not had the ability to use

history of the N-word. From a Black-

the N-word and not have criticism. It has

American perspective, I would argue that

only had the ability to make non-Black

accepting the N-word usage in hip-hop is

listeners feel comfortable with saying it,

not transcending the word, but somewhat

which continues to ignite more criticism.

coping with history of the word. A word

Aslong as criticism is present the history

cannot trigger negative feelings if it is

will perpetually be awakened, thus hip-hop

used for endearment, which has been the

has not transcended its history. Black-

frequent argument given. When I think

Americans reluctantly accepting the use of

of transcending, I think of something

the N-word in hip-hop music indirectly gives

independent of another factor or outside

permission for all listeners, including non-

of an element. The N-word will always be

Black, to repeat the lyrics. Does this make

dependent on its origins and the original

it okay? No. Non-Black listeners should

context as with any other word used in

practice better discernment, but since

language. For example, people refer to

they cannot, it is up to Black-Americans

their friends as “my dog”. Although used

to remove the word from areas of

differently, no one will forget that a dog is

mixed company.

and still refers to a canine.

When Words Unravel

2001

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Puerto Rican singing artist Jennifer Lopez, known as J.Lo uses the N-word in her song I’m Real featuring rapper Ja Rule.

THE LATINX EFFECT

Photo Credit: Kevin Kane/Wireimage/Getty Images

When Words Unravel

I TELL EM’ NIGGAS

MIND THEIR BUSINESS

BUT THEY DON’T

HEAR ME THOUGH.

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The Latinx Effect

–JENNIFER LOPEZ, J.LO

KEEP IT REAL As the N-word increasingly becomes a part of Hip-Hop culture and popular music, the lines become blurred for what communities can use the word. This became apparent in 2001 when Jennifer Lopez, or J.Lo, used the word in her song I’m Real.

“Now people screaming what the deal is with you and so-and-so I tell em’ niggas mind their business but they dont hear me though.”

People took issue with this because Lopez does not belong to the Black community. She is of Puerto Rican descent and was raised in Bronx, New York. However, in her New York community the N-word is not restricted to only Black people. In defense of Lopez, Ja Rule said that many of his Latinx friends use the word nigga and he does not take offense to it.

While in some communities this word is used freely amongst people of color, there is an ongoing debate about whether Spanish-speaking individuals have any rights to this word. Does this change if the person is Afro-Latinx, a person of African and Latin descent? Either way, non-black people, such as Lopez, need to be aware of the implications that come with saying this word and understand that their use of this word can be viewed as problematic.

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The Latinax Effect

When Words Unravel

Photo Credit: Jennifer Silverberg/Guardian/Eyevine

When Words Unravel

2008

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Rapper Nas releases his ninth studio album Nigger to much controversy.

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TERMS OF ENDEARMENT

When Words Unravel 62

Terms of Endearment

POST-RACIAL AMERICA The 2000’s represent an

It was said that racism no longer

interesting part of American

existed. As a result, people ask

history, especially concerning

what the point of discussing a

race. In 2008, the first Black

word that attached to one of

president, Barack Obama, was

America’s darkest moments.

elected. Also, in 2008, rapper Nas

However, a lot of Black people

tried to release his ninth studio

did not feel that this was reality.

album titled Nigger. He was faced

This is why Nas decided to create

with much backlash because of

an album titled Nigger, where

the title, so much that he had to

the cover art was his back with

rename it Untitled. The reasoning

flagellation scars in the shape of a

was that people wanted to move

N.2 Even in 2008, racism was alive

past this part of American history.

and well and so was this word.

Barack Obama’s election marked what people called a “postracial America”.

Photo Credit: NYmag

When Words Unravel

2012

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Quentin Tarantino uses nigger over 110 times in the film Django Unchained.

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THE NOT-SO CREATIVE LICENSE

When Words Unravel 66

The Not-So Creative License

THE N‑WORD UNCHAINED So far we’ve seen nigger

Unfortunately, yes. However,

represented in history in many

I live in a time period where

ways. From Mark Twain novels to

I can design a book centered

Major League Baseball to Hip-Hop

around the complicated history

albums. Curren day, this word

of this word. I live a time period

still plays a major role in popular

where I can create discourse.

culture. But has history taught

I live in a time period where

us anything? My answer is yes

director Quentin Tarantino had to

and no. As a young Black woman

answer for his usage of this word

living in the 21st century, has

in his film Django Unchained.2

anyone ever called me a nigger?

There is more accountability for how and when this word is used and I would consider that progress. Is there more work to be done to unravel this word and its’ history? Of course.

But, that is the beauty of this time period. We can and will continue to do that.

When Words Unravel

Etymology & Semantics 1

Asim, Jabari. The N Word: Who Can Say It,

Black People vs. Niggas 1

The N Word - Divided We Stand. Performed

Who Shouldn’t, and Why. (Boston: Houghton

by Richard Pryor, Dick Gregory, Paul Mooney.

Mifflin, 2008), 10.

U.S. and Canada: Urban Works, 2006. DVD

The Age of Jim Crow

Terms of Endearment

1

Randall Kennedy, Nigger: The Strange

1

“Untitled Nas Album.” Wikipedia. November

Career of a Troublesome Word (New York:

14, 2018. Accessed November 26, 2018.

Vintage, 2003), 140.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untitled_Nas_ album.

Words as Weapons 1

Randall Kennedy, Nigger: The Strange

2

“Untitled Nas Album.” Wikipedia. November

14, 2018. Accessed November 26, 2018.

Career of a Troublesome Word (New York:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untitled_Nas_

Vintage, 2003), 18.

album.

Negro: The New Nigger

The Not-So Creative License

1

Randall Kennedy, Nigger: The Strange

1

Sharf, Zack. “Jamie Foxx Looks Back at

Career of a Troublesome Word (New York:

‘Django Unchained’ and Being OK With

Vintage, 2003), 35.

Quentin Tarantino’s Controversial Use of the

2

“Famous Quotes at BrainyQuote.”

N‑word.” IndieWire July 18, 2018. Accessed

BrainyQuote. Accessed November 26, 2018.

November 26, 2018.

https://www.brainyquote.com/.

2

Sharf, Zack. “Jamie Foxx Looks Back at

‘Django Unchained’ and Being OK With Hip-Hop Introduces the Real Nigga 1

Asim, Jabari. The N Word: Who Can Say It,

Who Shouldnt, and Why. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008), 220.

Birth of the N‑word 1

Randall Kennedy, Nigger: The Strange

Career of a Troublesome Word (New York: Vintage, 2003), 107.

2

“O. J. Simpson Murder Case.” Wikipedia.

November 20, 2018. Accessed November 26, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._ Simpson_murdercase.

3

Randall Kennedy, Nigger: The Strange

68

Sources

Career of a Troublesome Word (New York: Vintage, 2003), 56.

Quentin Tarantino’s Controversial Use of the N‑word.” IndieWire July 18, 2018. Accessed November 26, 2018.

COLOPHON Designed and written by Taylor Simone University of Louisville Hite Art Institute Professor Leslie Friesen Printed through Blurb Premium Matte 100# Special thanks to Lindsey Baxter, Roberto Thornton, and Anthony Thomas for giving their time by allowing me to interview them for this book.

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When Words Unravel