Tonight’s World Have Your Say featured a discussion with Reginald D Hunter over the title of his current show. Many are understandably outraged and offended by his self-referential use of what the BBC primly calls “the N word”. It is a big taboo, it means a lot to people.
Some say that the negative connotations are so overwhelming, and the historical context so inescapable, that the word can never be used responsibly.
Hunter has a different view. He thinks that the word derives its power from its taboo status. When a word cannot be uttered, it becomes powerful and that power is a destructive, hurtful power. By using the word, examining it, facing it, he thinks that black people can overcome its power. No word should have such power. Moreover, he said, taking the word away and preventing it from being said will not stop racism. Plenty of racists would never dream of saying That Word. The word comes from the problem, not the other way around.
[For more, read this Wikipedia article!]
It reminded me a little of You Know Who, or He Who Must Not Be Named in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books. The shadowy figure of evil is so powerful and frightening that the people dare not speak his name, fearing that to do so will increase his power. In fact, as Harry Potter and some other few in the book realise, “fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself”*. By speaking his name, the fear can lessen and so can the power of the object of that fear.
[* If I remember right, it was kick-ass token-girl Hermione who said that.]
But, in real life, are there any other words that are quite so taboo as “the N word”?
The callers on Have Your Say all seemed to think not. Several of them suggested that no word in the English language had the same offensive power.
Well, I can think of one, and I’ll be blogging about it next week…
14 November 2006 at 11:47 pm
BOOK CRITICAL OF AFRICAN AMERICANS WHO USE THE N-WORD
Los Angeles, CA., Author H. Lewis Smith has written a thought provoking, culturally divided book that will not only spark heated conversation, but can also bring about real change. The N-word is often used in the African American community amongst each other and is generally not a problem when spoken by another African American. However, once the word is used by a Caucasian person, it brings on other effects. The question is “who can use the word and why?” Smith believes it is a word that should be BURIED!!!!
The book is written in a manner that all can understand. The points are well-taken and the wording is easy to follow. There are quotes from great people in our history including Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet Tubman, James Baldwin and many, many others. Smith has mixed history with honesty, love with life, education with effects. This is a great book for educators, parents, managers, professionals, newsmen, and anyone else wanting an in-depth look at the N-word, the effects and the solutions. A MUST READ!!!!
H. Lewis Smith has studied the idioms, meanings and the psychological impact of words, its energy and vibratory effects on the human mind for more than two decades. He has been a guest on several talk shows, The Power, The Exchange, Andrea Williams’ Jamin 98.3 and many more. To learn more about Bury that Sucka, please visit http://www.burythatsucka.com
15 November 2006 at 9:32 am
I’m with Richard Prior who said, after visiting Africa “I saw a lot of black people but I didn’t see any niggers…I will never call anyone a nigger again”