This is more than a year old but I never came across it before. He goes into his feelings about the term “nigga” as well as his various theories about why it’s still common today. Although I am not in total agreement with some of Saul’s opinions, his inquisitive mind and the sheer eloquence and sincerity by which he expresses himself never fails to impress me. Link
my most recent theory is connected to what happens when someone is bit by a venomous snake. the venom is to be instantly sucked out through the mouth and spit out. similarily, the word nigger was used in a venomous way in the past and present day usage of it may be black americas way of spitting out the venom of hatred and oppression by sucking it out of their hearts and minds and spitting it out ie: saying it. which is to say, that it may be part of the healing process. that’s one way to look at it. of course we can also say that it is simply internalized self-hatred. however, it is also becoming rare in the black community to hear the word used with negative intention. where do i stand? good question.
when i use it it is for specific purposes, however, that doesn’t necessarily mean heightened. i use it to make a point, to make a connection, to make a joke… as a child i was not allowed to use it. yet remember hearing men use the word in ways that just sounded very “cool” to my ear. it was richard pryor that is probably responsible for making the word almost sexy. when he openly decided to stop using it (primarily because of a letter he recieved from maya angelou) it was major news. many comedians attribute that moment as being the time when richard pryor stopped being funny. hmmm. weird.
when i was in germany, once, a black german asked me to speak to american rappers about using the word. he felt that we should stop because he was being called nigga by white boys in europe who thought it was the cool thing to say: hip hop fans.they didn’t know the history of it, but he did.he felt angered by it and tried to explain to his friends why they shouldn’t use it, but then became more confused when at a wutang concert, one of the cats on stage said, “i love y’all. y’all my niggas”.
i think that the history of the word “nigger” in america from the beginning to now, “nigga” is surreal. as surreal as michael jackson. the way it is most commonly used is now as the highest compliment “you’re my nigga” (wasn’t that in a curb your enthusiasm episode?). yet, the history of it is far from forgotten. a person who uses the word everyday will still freeze dead in their tracks if they heard someone say it with the “er” pronounced.
personally, i have gone from having stopped saying it, to saying it, and then of course, to saving it for special occassions.. i think that we will eventually stop using the word all together, yet we may be 2 or 3 generations away from that.
there’s a song on my new album called “african student movement”. the song is a musical sequel to the poem “sha clack clack” and is meant to instigate dialogue about the word nigga/er and our usage of it.it’s a powerful word. i find i am only offended when i hear people of color use it in a derogatory manner, such as “stop acting like a …”. however, i don’t deem the mere usage of it derogatory. i acknowledge it’s history, just as i do ours and know that we are a growing people. and perhaps, just as a person is inoculated against a disease by having it put in it’s system, we are participating is some unspeakable circular healing process. consciousness is evolving, as is our ability to articulate it. the healing process can and must include dialogue. thus, this question is a good question. i don’t have the answer. only theories. you are right in knowing that when i use it in a poem or song it is for you to acknowledge where and how i’m using it. but i never use it in one way. sometimes it’s the lauren hill approach“and even with all my logic and my theories
i add a “motherfu&#er” so you ignorant niggas
hear me”and sometimes it’s to instigate discussion about the word itself. as a lover of language, i am amazed by the layers of meaning and power held within this word. there are other words that have long interesting histories that are connected to african americans like “yo” and “okay”, but they are practically disconnected from their history. most people don’t know or care where these words came from. the history of the word “nigger” probably didn’t have derogatory beginning. shit, it just might be the hidden name of God.
seriously, we have the river niger and many other etymological ties that can lead us to the origin of the word which probably predates colonialism. so, the usage of it, i think, is probably beyond our rational knowledge. the choice to use it or not is individual. as for whites using it. i would say NO. as much as i can theorize reasons why blacks may use it, i can think of no good reason why a white should. but who knows. at the end of the day. it’s a word. perhaps the most powerful word in american colloquial english. and a word with that much power has a destiny beyond our rational reasoning.there’s a documentary about to come out about it and of course alot of press. which means, there will be new dialogue surrounding the word in the near future. the dialogue is most important.
