Ever wondered why it’s OK when black people are using the N-word but white people are discouraged from doing so? Why does the word carry a different meaning depending on the skin color of the person saying it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Words carry emotions and they perpetuate social structures. Every word has a history, and the word \u201cnigger\u201d carries a particularly ugly emotional history of dehumanization, disadvantage, exploitation, and oppression. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is why who\u2019s using the N-word matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The word \u201cnigger\u201d comes from the word for \u201cblack\u201d in various Romance languages (languages descended from Latin, such as Spanish, French, and Portuguese). From the 1500s onwards, it was used to refer to dark-skinned people. People began to use it in a derogatory way in the late 1700s, and over the next several hundred years, it came to be a hate-charged way to talk about slaves. The word \u201cnigger\u201d was shouted to justify the pain and humiliation of slave whippings, slave hunts, cross burnings, and hangings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every time a white person uses this word, they invoke this oppressive, violent history. <\/strong>This applies no matter what their intentions are<\/em>. The effects of this oppressive history are still with us today. This means that the historical weight of this word hasn\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we contrast \u201cnigger\u201d with a word like \u201ccracker,\u201d we can immediately see the difference. The historical and emotional weight of \u201ccracker\u201d just doesn\u2019t come close to measuring up. <\/strong>\u201cCracker just doesn\u2019t carry the same degree of historical hatred and dehumanization, and it doesn\u2019t tap into a currently active system of disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fact that a black person can use this word and a white person can\u2019t might seem on the surface like a double standard. And it is <\/em>a double standard\u2014but the reason it exists is to counteract the effects of a much deeper and more serious double standard in the opposite direction. When used by a white person, the word \u201cnigger\u201d invokes the original double standard whereby black people were abused, dismissed, and treated as subhuman\u2014a situation that we\u2019ve seen still exists today in various forms. When used by a black person, the word doesn\u2019t invoke this same double standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember that when we\u2019re deciding whether or not something is racist, we need to include the power structures that support <\/em>the racist bias. When black people use the N-word, it doesn\u2019t tap into these power structures. And when it does, it taps into them only to subvert them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t go into conversations about race<\/a> terrified of being called racist. Go in with the aim to uncover and educate the racist parts of yourself<\/a> that you already know are there. And remember that getting called racist isn\u2019t as bad as dealing with the actual effects of systemic racism<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you get called racist:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ever wondered why it’s OK when black people are using the N-word but white people are discouraged from doing so? Why does the word carry a different meaning depending on the skin color of the person saying it? Words carry emotions and they perpetuate social structures. Every word has a history, and the word \u201cnigger\u201d carries a particularly ugly emotional history of dehumanization, disadvantage, exploitation, and oppression. Here is why who\u2019s using the N-word matters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":45319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,24],"tags":[266],"class_list":["post-45318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-society","tag-so-you-want-to-talk-about-race","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat if I Get Called Racist?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n