One cannot honor America's contributions to the world without simultaneously recognizing one of its devastating exports - racism. While one must concede that Americans have become sensitive to the issue of race, the incestuous union of ignorance and hate has begotten an enduring legacy of America's ugly past.
"Nigger!" "Spic!" "Spook!" "Fag!" "Cracker!" "Gook!" These verbal barbs sound like the ingredients of some Shakespearean witches' brew. Its spell hasation of (Anglo) Independence was dry. Today, when invok entranced the American vernacular long before the ink on the Declared, these words epitomize bigotry and often incite violence.
Humanity hasn't seen a plague as infectious as racism since the Black Plague (no pun intended). It's a flesh-eating bacterium that has torn at the red, white and blue moral fiber since the time of George Washington. It has now become "politically incorrect" in most circles, while in others, often dinner tables, fraternity parties (See Auburn University, Oct. 31, 2001) it is tolerated when describing "those people." Unfortunately, words that vaguely resemble slurs, such as "niggardly" and "queer," are used sparingly for fear of misinterpretation.
Racial slurs have been passed down as "indiscriminately" as blue eyes and freckles. I first witnessed this phenomenon as a resident assistant on move-in day. A child, no older than six, upon meeting me in the hallway exclaimed with surprise and bewilderment, "Look mommy, there's a nigger!" The painfully embarrassed mother swooped her delusional child into her arms (as we have yet to find this "nigger") and tried to explain how she "had no idea where he got that from." Her explanation moved me to express my sorrow, as surely he, "heard it on Barney or something." Sadly, the child had become yet another victim of a disease with no conscious, carelessly infected by his parents. America, your children are listening.
Hey "Jiggaboo," "Tar Baby," "Spook" and "Buck." Mix them all together and what have you got? Erroneously applied racial slurs of yesteryear or contemporary terms of endearment?
Whether you shiver with contempt or shrug with indifference, these words surely elicit some sort of emotional reaction. It's easy to see that it doesn't take a professor of linguistics to develop words that, taken out of context, can actually be quite humorous - so much so that, when said playfully can elicit a smile from a baby, while simultaneously making a grown man bubble with rage.
Like the Confederate flag, it's not the symbol itself, but what it represents that brings about such caustic reactions. For those who experienced the ways of the "Old South," such memories have left deep wounds that have yet to heal.
Even commercialized Mr. Thug (i.e. from the suburbs "surrounding" Gary, Indianapolis and Chicago) the actually reading of a book will do wonders to expand your vocabulary. To the fugitive slave or newly freed African, the possessive "my nigga" was perceived as a threat to one's freedom, and the infidel using it recklessly might have paid for such an inflammatory reference with his life.
Ultimately, "it's not what they call you, but what you respond to" that makes the difference. As African-Americans especially, we have to start embracing a language that empowers instead of oppresses, and be weary of what we contribute to the national epidemic. In the 21st Century, we all can work toward a vocabulary "free" from insensitive slurs.
Write to Anthony at neonegro@blackplanet.com
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