Can White People Say the N-Word?

Last updated on: June 13, 2017 at 6:44 am by Martin Hughes

Can White People Say the N-Word? 2017-06-13T06:44:05-06:00 Martin Hughes

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’ve been asked, countless times, why black people can say the n-word and white people can’t. Here’s an answer — from one black person who has thought about this issue, anyway.

When black people say the n-word, it usually means, “White people defined us as ‘n****rs,’ and in spite of that we are still here and defiant.” It’s not used as a word of shame, but as a word of defiance. And a signifier that it’s owned and controlled is that we often take out the hard “r” that originally defined it, and replacing the word with “nigga.”

When white people use it, it is seen — usually by them and black people — as an attempt to restore the marginalizing effects of the stereotype. It brings us back to the dehumanization that enabled slavery, segregation, racist drug enforcement, etc. Which is why it makes so many of us nervous when white people insist upon using it.

So it’s a war. On the black side, to succeed in spite of the stereotype, and on the white side, to keep the stereotype intact.

Here’s why white people shouldn’t use that word:

In my experience, most white people do not fully recognize and respect the struggle black people have borne over 400 years in defiance of that word, and see that legacy as reflecting on black people today. They only love and romanticize the stereotype. They don’t — and perhaps can’t — feel the undercurrent of pain and struggle and dignity, with the raw, razor-sharp intelligent toughness and defiance.

And that’s why most black people don’t want them using it. If you use that word, you should really understand that legacy of defiance and identify with it, down to your bones.

And frankly, I’m not sure you can, in this skin. In fact, most white people I talk to don’t even think that there is really any right for me to identify with that legacy, let alone for them to show a respect for it that extends to black individuals. They are quick to extend to me the poverty-driven crime rate of black individuals, but insist I can’t identify with the legacy of defiant success that people with my skin tone have pioneered for decades. And several, I understand, still use the n-word in a derogatory way behind our backs.

Here’s the secret: there is no such thing as that stereotype. That stereotype was assigned to dehumanize people who were real, flesh-and-blood human beings. People who knew what they were and defied it. And that solidarity of knowing what it is like to live under that foreign stereotype, and being strong enough to defy it and even to use an identity that is not you…that is a kind of artful innovation that only tends to come about due to the experience of living in this skin here in the United States of America.

I don’t use the word, for personal reasons. But I understand when other black people use it. I feel a bit honored when they use it to refer to me, honestly. Because I get it, I think. I’m part of this same struggle of being black in America.

But if a white person says it — my first thought is that they don’t know what it’s like to be black in America, so they must be using a caricature. So I reject it, because that’s not me, to put it mildly. White America made up the word out of its own insecurities and desires, and thus fulfill that stereotype in its psyche more than Black America ever did — because we did not make up the word, we were forced to accept it and then defied it.

Maybe one day, White America will convince us that it knows the difference. We are not there yet — especially when white individuals who do not share the experience of being black in America are clamoring for the right to say it again. You had it for 400 years, and you messed up at every turn. It’s our turn, now.

Thanks for reading.

PS: I have a Patreon, in case you want to help me keep writing.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 12, 2017

Should We Talk to the Other Side?

Next Post

June 15, 2017 How Much White Guilt Should You Have?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month November 2019 July 2019 June 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 December 2018 September 2018 May 2018 April 2018 February 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Before feeding 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, what did Jesus do first?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Gave thanks Passed the food out Blessed the Children Taught