THE N WORD TAKEN TO THE GRAVE?
Book review
By Andre Austin
“The N word” By Jabari Asim takes us on a traveling odyssey to explore “******.ology” that’s all of the adjectives used to express the word ****** from 1619-2007. It’s self evident that God made man and man has made ****** as we see through the writings of former president Thomas Jefferson, (and others), who thought blacks were inferior and should be permanent slaves despite the fact he sexually craved black women.
Nobody and no thing is safe from Asim criticism. He’s digging deep into American culture of literature, pseudo-science, music, theater, film, legislative polices and judicial decisions to explore how whites attempted marginalized blacks is the subject of the book. The book is objective and he doesn’t want the N word to totally die out. Asim claims if the N word wasn’t used that one of our famous writers like Ralph Ellison’s “The Invisible Man” couldn’t have been written. It’s probably true, but, “The Invisible Man” starts out with blind folded black youths in a boxing ring being screamed at by the word ****** by rich white folks smoking cigars and drinking gin. It was Richard Wright (who originally urged Ellison to become a writer), masterfully replaced the word nig.ger for Bigger Thomas in his universally acclaimed “Native Son”. Can we do likewise in 2007 and beyond?
I would like to see a time and place where the N word is rarely used for purposes like historical analysis. I want the word dead but not totally dead. For example if I wanted to explain to Abraham Lincoln lovers that he was a racist I should be able to quote Lincoln saying: “ I will be damned if I don’t feel almost sorry for being elected ,(president), when nig.gers is the first thing I have to attend to”. You can’t explain the operation of an automobile without talking about car parts. Likewise, the “******olo-gy” can’t have light unless replaced with Bigger or the letter N which must be capitalized.
The N word has polarized our society of Whites against Blacks and Blacks within Blacks. Some of us give it too much of a cult mystique assigning it supernatural powers while others play in it in their music like a pig having fun in a lake of mud. Lets not give this little word too much power because as stated from the beginning God made man and man made nig.ger. And let us not forget why this word was introduced into the English dictionary as far back in 1555. The N word played its part in the subversion of humanity and democracy. Nobody on the planet earth can make a CD using racial slurs except against black people. If you speak out against it you will receive a tongue lashing from a Rapper in one of his songs. So Black leaders run in fear of confronting the hip hop culture of individual deviants.
I think its time for the N word to have a funeral. Get a priest, a casket and lets do the N word its last rites to the grave-R.I.P. Just how bad is this word? Some whites going to heaven would make an about face to heaven if they had to pass St. Peter if he was black. Some blacks don’t want to learn because they think education is being white.
Asim book is a timely, necessary book exploring the negative and self-destructive effects of the N word used to mock, ridicule and disrespect an entire nation of people. Lets make the N word and all of its adjectives a rarely, embarrassing word used. Lets replace nigg.a, nig.guh, and all the other defaming labels following them up with endearing words of love like brothers and sisters
Book review
By Andre Austin
“The N word” By Jabari Asim takes us on a traveling odyssey to explore “******.ology” that’s all of the adjectives used to express the word ****** from 1619-2007. It’s self evident that God made man and man has made ****** as we see through the writings of former president Thomas Jefferson, (and others), who thought blacks were inferior and should be permanent slaves despite the fact he sexually craved black women.
Nobody and no thing is safe from Asim criticism. He’s digging deep into American culture of literature, pseudo-science, music, theater, film, legislative polices and judicial decisions to explore how whites attempted marginalized blacks is the subject of the book. The book is objective and he doesn’t want the N word to totally die out. Asim claims if the N word wasn’t used that one of our famous writers like Ralph Ellison’s “The Invisible Man” couldn’t have been written. It’s probably true, but, “The Invisible Man” starts out with blind folded black youths in a boxing ring being screamed at by the word ****** by rich white folks smoking cigars and drinking gin. It was Richard Wright (who originally urged Ellison to become a writer), masterfully replaced the word nig.ger for Bigger Thomas in his universally acclaimed “Native Son”. Can we do likewise in 2007 and beyond?
I would like to see a time and place where the N word is rarely used for purposes like historical analysis. I want the word dead but not totally dead. For example if I wanted to explain to Abraham Lincoln lovers that he was a racist I should be able to quote Lincoln saying: “ I will be damned if I don’t feel almost sorry for being elected ,(president), when nig.gers is the first thing I have to attend to”. You can’t explain the operation of an automobile without talking about car parts. Likewise, the “******olo-gy” can’t have light unless replaced with Bigger or the letter N which must be capitalized.
The N word has polarized our society of Whites against Blacks and Blacks within Blacks. Some of us give it too much of a cult mystique assigning it supernatural powers while others play in it in their music like a pig having fun in a lake of mud. Lets not give this little word too much power because as stated from the beginning God made man and man made nig.ger. And let us not forget why this word was introduced into the English dictionary as far back in 1555. The N word played its part in the subversion of humanity and democracy. Nobody on the planet earth can make a CD using racial slurs except against black people. If you speak out against it you will receive a tongue lashing from a Rapper in one of his songs. So Black leaders run in fear of confronting the hip hop culture of individual deviants.
I think its time for the N word to have a funeral. Get a priest, a casket and lets do the N word its last rites to the grave-R.I.P. Just how bad is this word? Some whites going to heaven would make an about face to heaven if they had to pass St. Peter if he was black. Some blacks don’t want to learn because they think education is being white.
Asim book is a timely, necessary book exploring the negative and self-destructive effects of the N word used to mock, ridicule and disrespect an entire nation of people. Lets make the N word and all of its adjectives a rarely, embarrassing word used. Lets replace nigg.a, nig.guh, and all the other defaming labels following them up with endearing words of love like brothers and sisters