“Paula Dean’s ‘Nigger’ Ain’t My ‘Nigga: An

Examination of the Love Hate Relationship with

the Word Nigger”

I titled this paper as such because recently there have been

a number of white celebrities and well-known figures who have

been heard/caught using the word ‘nigger.’ However, what seems to

run congruent with the resurgence of the word, and its default

mainstreaming, seems to be its’ popularity within hip-hop

culture. As a black woman, I am somewhat disturbed by the ‘word.’

Nevertheless, I am neither condemning whites nor excusing blacks

for their usage of the word. Consequently, I would like to

examine why there is a shade of gray (ambiguity) at all for such

a negative word. In fact, this shade of gray, as it concerns

the usage of the word ‘nigger’, has been a hot topic for the past

twenty plus years or so. At the center of the debate is the

question as to “who can and who can’t say the word?” While such a

question may seem preposterous to many, especially those Blacks

who were a part of the Civil Rights Era or even those who are

familiar with the turbulent and violent history attached to

‘nigger,’ the word has become a very clandestine part of American

culture.

As mentioned before, many attribute the resurgence of the

word to the mainstreaming and ‘gangsterization’ of Hip-Hop, in

which artists seem to proudly use the word and in such a way that

it holds a variety of meanings. For example, in 2003, “…

Billboards top 40 included 11 rap songs…each of those songs had

the word nigga in their lyrics 17 times. One of the first groups

to really give new life and mainstream status to the word would

be the multiplatinum rap group NWA (Niggaz With Attitudes). From

“real niggas” (i.e. friends) to “bitch niggahs” (i.e. sell outs

or weaklings), this term ‘nigga’ seems to flow as freely as water

out of a faucet within the lyrics of most African-American

rappers. Consequently, the listeners, who happen to be both black

and white, have picked up on more than just beats, but the lingo,

such as the word ‘nigga’ has made its way into mainstream

American culture. Patricia Ferguson, author of “Wuz Up Nigga, My

Niggaz, You Nigger!”, asserts that “in the dominion of hip-hop,

those professing allegiance with the image of a ‘hard-core

rapper’ or a ‘gangster rapper’ must pepper their lyrics with a

mantra of nigga and promote the attitude that is connected to it”

(http://www.csun.edu/csbs/departments/pan_african_studies/pdf/wuz

_up_nigga.pdf). She goes on to say that “the self- destructing

and dehumanizing connection to the racist term goes hand in hand

with the rebel without a cause or clue phenomenon closely

associated with the hip-hop generation”

(http://www.csun.edu/csbs/departments/pan_african_studies/pdf/wuz

_up_nigga.pdf). Consequently, both Black and White scholars have

dedicated whole books pontificating the exegesis of the word.

Where the problem seems to lie is in the “context” and/or “the

user” for many Blacks, while many Whites argue that the

mainstreaming of the word by Blacks means that the word must no

longer be a negative and can now be used by anyone. However, the

latter belief is not only fallacious, but negates the historical

and present day implications of race and perception in this

country, and truthfully throughout the world. Patricia Ferguson

writes that “nigger in all its forms of spelling and

pronunciation carries a legacy of slavery that reaches beyond the

void of time and history” (1). She goes on to say

The genre of hip-hop is the new arena in which nigger can audaciously parade itself through the psyche of a new generation , and at the same time continue to distort the image of oppressed children of slavery with the oppressor’s image of the enslaved.( http://www.csun.edu/csbs/departments/pan_african_studies/pdf/wuz_up_nigga.pdf)

Essentially, Miss Ferguson is pointing out the fact that while

this word may have been quickly accepted and found its way into

the pulse of hip hop culture, it still holds a very negative

context. A great illustration of the historical and modern day

context being one and the same were shown in the recent case of

the beloved television chef, entrepreneur and face of Southern

cooking, Ms. Paula Deen, who was ‘sued for her racist/ sexist

practices at her famed restaurant.’ Even though it was a black

woman, Oprah, who gave the ‘beloved Ms. Deen, her first national

platform and helped catapult her to her multimillionaire status,

it did not stop her from holding racist beliefs and attitudes. To

validate the aforementioned notion, one only has to look at the

section of the transcript where Ms. Deen explains

…wanting to have all African-American servers at a wedding was clarified where Deen staunchly says, "I did not mean anything derogatory by saying that I loved their look and their professionalism," despite admitting that she was hoping to recreate the era of the Civil War, during the Civil War, and before the Civil War when black men and womenwaiting on white people were considered slaves. (http://www.thedailymeal.com/paula-deens-racist-deposition-transcript-released-deen-responds)

Ms. Deen’s desire to see African Americans in subservient roles

and recreate one of the most denigrating and violent times in

American history, particularly toward Blacks, further

substantiates the notion that a particular pathology still

underlies this word. While Ms. Deen’s racist language and

behavior were a shocker to some, such as myself, it was and is

only proof of what many believe always lies in the

conscious/subconscious mind of many white Americans--racism.

Ms. Deen, though seemingly apologetic, partially excused

herself of her unconscionable behavior and demeaning rhetoric

with the childlike rationale, that it seems many well-meaning and

unknowing (wink wink) whites who like to use the word are using,

which is “[whites] hear blacks use the word all the time; hence

they thought nothing was wrong.” Not only is this excuse

insulting, but subsumes a number of delusions, such as the notion

that these white people are unintentional racists, black folks

created this problem, and that white folks just didn’t know any

better. Moreover, to believe the excuse of Ms. Dean, Gwyneth

Paltrow, and a hosts of other ‘good white folks’ who meant no

harm when they used the word ‘nigger,’ negates the beliefs and

power structure attached to those non-black users of the word,

which are of further detriment to sociocultural and economic

interplay between non-Blacks and Blacks.

In Earl Hutchison’s article, “The War Against J Lo,” he

explains it best when he asserts that

Words are not value neutral…often words reflect society’s standards…it can’t be sanitized, cleansed, inverted or redeemed as a culturally liberating word. Nigger can’t and shouldn’t be made acceptable, no matter whose mouth it comesout of or what excuse is tossed out for using it…nigger pricks agonizing historical and social sores. (1)

In other words, ‘nigga’ is a hurtful word that cannot be unchanged, especially when one looks

at the historical and social attachments.

White Folk’s ‘Nigger’

At the beginning of the work, I try to mention that the

word’nigger’ is attached to a history replete with racism and

oppression of minorities. I also think it is important that I

offer an adequate definition of racism in an effort to explain

how white people’s use of the word ‘nigger’ is steeped in racist

pathology. In Dr. Beverly Tatums’ book, Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting

Together in the Cafeteria , she defines racism as “…power structure

which has the ability to deny access because of prejudice” (23).

This definition is relevant to the argument about white people’s

use of the word ‘nigger’ because it implies that these people,

like Ms. Deen, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Imus, and other white folks

who like to use the word ‘nigger’ are a part of a power structure

that has the ability to deny blacks access and opportunity based

on their belief that blacks are ‘niggers’ and not people of

color.

In a historical work, entitled A Treatise on the Intellectual Character

and Civil Political Condition of the Colored People of the United States (1837), the

author states that “nigger is an opprobrious term, employed to

impose contempt upon [blacks] as an inferior race…it flows from

the fountain of purpose to injure” (7 ). Think about it, this

goes far beyond the use of a hurtful word and begins to speak to

a history of racist beliefs and paradigms which are continually

passed down. The American black has endured many painfully

negative names, such as Sambo, mammy, pickaninny, coon, jigaboo

and buckwheat. Sadly, those are only a few of the many words,

like ’nigger,’ that have become a part of the American cultural

fabric. Below, I have provided a short list of the word’s usage

and meanings that have become part of American jargon.

Niggerlipping: wetting the end of a cigarette while smoking

it as to imply the smoker has large lips (i.e. a

characteristic trait usually associated with Blacks)

Niggerlover: a denigrating term used to apply to those

whites who were tolerant of or friendly toward blacks.

Nigger rich: meaning deeply in debt, but flamboyant and

opulent in lifestyle. Interestingly, the term has now become

synonymous with ‘hood rich’, which has the same meaning.

Nigger knocker: ax handle.

Nigger stick: police officer’s baton.

Nigger work: demeaning, menial tasks.

These terms, which usually corresponded with painful images have

been memorialized and given eternal life in the form of literary,

cinematic and media distortions of African -American life.

Essentially, nigger, like other race based and oppressive

language aimed at Black people is part of America’s cultural

inheritance, very similar to other racially disparaging words

like chink, wetback, gook and other hurtful, racially charged

words meant to demean people of color. However, the difference

between ‘nigger’ and all these other words is that they are not

heard often and the history is not as long and tragic. Think

about it: black people not only had a history of forced servitude

that lasted for over four hundred years, but after the ‘peculiar

institution’, the violence, abuse and oppression continued.

Moreover, the balance of power in this country is still off

kilter. In plain English, white people have power that Black

people have not yet achieved, despite the many strides that they

have made in this country. For example, black people are still

the last to get hired and the first fired, they still live in

poverty and are imprisoned at very disturbing rates, they are

still inordinately the victims of police brutality and racial

profiling. Why? Because consciously, and sometimes

subconsciously, a white power structure that still embraces the

word ‘nigger’ still subsumes that black is synonymous with the

negativity of niggers.

In Randall Kennedy’s text, Nigger: The Strange Career of a

Troublesome Word, he explains how the word was part of a verbal

and physical assault used to establish a racial hierarchy, where

whites were to be seen as superior and blacks as inferior. He

explains that “…the hierarchy was set up by an ideology that

justified the use of [abuse], deceit, exploitation and

intimidation to keep blacks in their place” (8). He goes on to

say that “every major societal establishment offered legitimacy

to the racial abuse and hierarchy”, where

Ministers preached and posted pictures of a white God [and] He had condemned Blacks to be servants. Scientists measured Black skulls, brains, faces, and genitalia seeking to prove that whites were genetically superior to Blacks…The entertainment media, from vaudeville to television and film,portrayed Blacks as docile servants, happy go lucky idiots,

and dangerous thugs…The criminal justice system sanctioned adouble standard of justice…

In a nutshell, ‘nigger’ represents the assault launched against

Black America in an effort to prove that their race was ‘less

than’ just as the word’s meaning implies. A great example of the

wide spread usage and cultural ingraining of the word is the

famed writer Agatha Christie’s children’s book, Ten Little Niggers.

While Christie’s work was written in 1938, as late as 1978, there

were still copies of this work being produced and circulated.

There are still present day examples of the ‘niggeresque’

cartoonization of Black people circulated in mainstream American

culture. A good example of this is Flavor Flav, which re-entered

popular culture and garnered his own tv show because of his

‘coonish/niggerish’ antics. Thus, the word ‘nigger, like the

denigrating images and portrayals that it represents,

rationalizes the abuse of Black people. As so eloquently stated

by Dr. Kennedy, “nigger, more than any other word, captures the

personal hatred and institutionalized racism directed at Black

America.

Perceptions that the word ‘niggers’ creates

In communications, there is theory called the Sapiir-Whorf

Hypothesis, which states that “Language shapes perceptions.

Perceptions shape reality; thus language shapes the world [we]

live in and how [we] live in it” (59). In other words, the

mainstreaming and default acceptance of the word ‘nigga’ into pop

culture terminology continues to shape how we are seen and how we

see ourselves. Moreover, it also affects the way that we treat

one another. Think about this metaphor to show the power and

influence of language and perceptions: During the Civil Rights

Movement, participants and the luminaries of the movement used

the endearing terms “brothers and sisters” to refer to one

another. They, in turn, were for the most part cohesive and

unified in their desire and fight for their quality. In the Black

Arts/ Black Power Movement of the late sixties and early

seventies, their idiomatic slogan was “Black is Beautiful,” which

shaped every facet of their music, artistry, and intelligentsia

of the time. Likewise, they referred to one another as “kings,

queens, brothers and sister” because they wanted to empower one

another with edifying language. In doing so, they also galvanized

together to continue to fight for their rights, community and

justice. Adversely, when we move into the late 80’s and beyond,

after the infiltration of hip-hop and explosion of Black comedy,

we find that Black jargon in reference to black people has

greatly shifted to a paradigm which is not inclusive of

‘brothers, sisters, kings or queens,’ but ‘niggas’. This change

in jargon also signals a paradigm shift which is both mental and

socially divisive. Look at the rise in Black on Black homicide,

high school drop-out rates, and a host of other negative ills

that seem to be plaguing the black community more than ever

before. Am I saying that hip-hop is blame for all of this? No.

But, it is a great contributor to the beliefs and thought

patterns of many within the Black community, especially among our

youth. There is a proverb that states “as a man thinketh in his

mind, so is he” (New Living Translation). I add that proverb

because it speaks to the detriment of all those who use the word

‘nigger/nigga’, even Blacks.

If we, as Black people, accept whites and others outside of

our community’s use of the word ‘nigger’ (even with the excuse

that Blacks say it), we need to know that we are aiding in our

own denigration, which is tantamount to telling your frenemy a

very painful secret about yourself.

Black folks mental ascent to ‘niggahs’

I know at the beginning of this work, it seemed as if I was only

taking white people, and those outside of the black community, to

task for using the word ‘nigger.’ However, our community’s use of

the word ‘niggah’ is just as damaging. All of us have heard the

young black folks, and some old ones, claim that they have taken

the hateful and crippling tone out of the word when they change

the spelling and use it with affinity toward one another.

However, I would like to defer to a biblical proverb, which I

think applies universally, “the power of life and death is in the

tongue” (New Living Translation). In other words, WORDS HAVE

TREMENDOUS POWER and no matter how much we try to change the

connotation (the intent behind the word), the denotation (actual

definition) remains the same. Think about it: Words have the

power to connect, cause and effect, change, incite and divide,

offer consolation. They can even affect behavior. This truth is

even demonstrated in science. According to the theory of

linguistic relativity, “…language and thought are intertwined”

(Sapir 59). More specifically, the structure of the language

affects the ways in which the speakers can conceptualize their

existence (Lee 84). Structurally, America is a racist country

whose use of the word ‘nigger’ holds a negative meaning, then

when listeners and users hear the word ,they too are taking part

in racist ideology which predates any connotative changes that

might have been made to the word. Hitherto, even Black people’s

use of the word ‘niggah,’ despite its’ slight change in phonetics

and spelling, is still negative. Moreover, it signals a number of

things about our social, psychological, and cultural ascent into

acceptance of inferiority.

Social Acceptance of the Word ‘Nigger/Niggah”

Many present day African-Americans, especially those known to be

part of the hip hop generation, seem to have an obsession with

the word. As a college professor, I often walk through the campus

(a Historically Black College I might add) and hear the students

spout the word as one would brother or sister. In fact, many use

the word with such regularity within their social circles that

they even allow their non-black friends to use it, if they are

“cool” or “down.” The social acceptance of the word and inclusion

into Black lexicon English, as earlier mentioned, has largely

been attributed to the popularity of hip-hop and Black comedians

who seem to proudly throw the word about as easily as a football

player tosses the pig skin. In explains how many rappers “…rap

about niggahs before mostly white audiences and refer to own

another as “my niggah”. In fact, in 2007, famed lyricist and poet

Nas released a CD entitles “Nigger.” The CD, which was highly

controversial, was Nas’ attempt at “…taking power away from the

word” (http://str8nyc.com/2007/10/19/things-they-say-nas-

explains-nigger/ ). Nas, who is supposedly known for his level of

consciousness, went on to say that “[I] wanna make that word

easy on muthaf$^kas ears. You see how white boys aint mad at the

word cracker cause [it] don’t have the same sting as ‘nigger? I

want ‘nigger’ to have less meaning than ‘cracker’ “

(http://str8nyc.com/2007/10/19/things-they-say-nas-explains-

nigger/).

Nas, like many other young blacks, lacked the hindsight to

understand the detriment that this social acceptance is causing.

Likewise, he also negates the history and power play within the

two words, which causes an imbalanced perspective. As a matter of

historical reference, the term “cracker” was used as the name to

signify the white man who usually “cracked the whip” across the

slaves body as a form of punishment and disincentive to keep them

in line behaviorally. This word did nothing to denigrate the

image, demean the characteristics or belittle the intelligence of

white people. Moreover, ‘cracker’ was a word often used privately

among black people to verbalize their disdain for those who

persisted in maintaining the oppression of their people. On the

other hand, ‘nigger’ was and is still used in negative ways.

According to Erdman Palmore, who researched lexicons,

The number of offensive words used correlates positively with the amount of out group prejudice; and these express and support negative stereotypes about the most visible racial and cultural differences. When used by blacks, niggers refers to all things (i.e. a nigger cant catch a break); Black men (sisters want niggers to work all day); Blacks who behave stereotypically (he’s a lazy nigga); enemies(I’m sick of these niggers bothering me) and friends (me and my niggas). (445)

Palmore, is simply illustrating that notion that socially, Blacks

use the term ‘nigger’ in many of the ways that whites do. To

expound further, the inclusion of the word ‘nigger’ into Black’s

daily jargon, or street slang, has and is having a tremendously

negative effect on our social relations. Think about it: if there

can be any credence given to the biblical proverb (power of life

and death in the tongue) and the Sappir Whorf hypothesis, which I

wholeheartedly agree with, this language that we are using is

even affecting the way we deal with one another. For an

illustration of this idea, I will use the example that I use when

teaching my students the SW hypothesis suggests: When we [black

people] called each other brothers and sisters (1950-60’s during

the civil rights era) or kings and queens (during the late 60-mid

70’s of the Black Power movement), we behaved as such. We worked

together in a proactive effort to bring about social and

political change for our people and our communities. When we skip

ahead to the 90’s and beyond, times when it seems that we have

taken an affinity toward the word ‘nigger,’ we notice that not

only are we disjointed, but our behavior has begun to largely

mirror that negativity. If a nigger, be actual definition, is an

“unintelligent, ignorant being” is it any wonder that ‘niggers’

take no though about the next niggers’ life? Is it any wonder why

‘niggers’ are going to jail in untold numbers? Is it any wonder

that ‘niggers have become more reactive than proactive? I simply

want to illustrate to you what the language perpetuates and

suggest.

The Psychological Suggestions of the word ‘nigger’

Toni Morrison once said that “the definition belongs to the

definers” (219). You may be asking how that applies to the

discussion of the word ‘niggah’? Well, I shall expound. We must

begin to take some onice for the mainstreaming of the word. By

our own verbalization, we are ‘niggahs’. We sing about being

‘niggahs,’ we rap about it, we have whole comedy routines

dedicated to it, and sometimes lovingly refer to one another as

‘niggahs.’ In doing so, we have definitively set the tone for the

outside world. Poet and professor Opal Palmer asserts that the

use of the word nigger is”…an internalization of negativity about

themselves.” Simply put, many of us have accepted ourselves and a

social positioning of niggahs, which leads to…We must begin to

demand our respect, which leads me to our use and default

acceptance of the word ‘niggah.’ This default acceptance and

albeit intellectual descent into ‘niggarishness’ (Jesse Jackson

type word) has caused us a great amount of culturally and

psychological detriment.

Before we begin explaining how the word ‘niggah’ is

effecting us culturally, I think it is important to explain how

‘default’ applies to our use of the word. The word “default” is

defined as “inaction; failure to satisfy an obligation”

(www.dictionary.com). By virtue of the fact that we, the black

community as a whole, have not actively and continuously been

engaged in the process of teaching our children ‘our history’,

which includes (but is not limited to) the painful past which

words like ‘nigger’ (the origin of ‘niggah’) is steeped in, we

have taught them that it is alright to use that word; we have

lead them to believe that our history has no role in our present,

that it is unimportant, and not relevant to who we are, nor how

we’re seen. A good illustration of this was shown on an episode

of Oprah where she discussed the use of the word with the rapper

Jay-Z. He, in effect, tells her that the ‘nigga’ he speaks about

in his songs is different than the word attached to that of our

ancestors and that young Blacks don’t share in that painful past.

The problem with such an explanation is the subsumption (the

underlying thought of the assumption) that because it did not

happen directly to them that they should not be as angry, moved

or emotionally attached to the word. However, such a subsumption

speaks to the level of detachment that many of our young people

have to the history that directly impacts their lives.

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