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Monday, October 10, 2011

The Infamous "N" Word

145 years ago the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by former United States President Lincoln, however; we are still held captive by the term N!gger. The term is an English language noun that was/now prominently use (d) to down grade black (African decent) individuals.

The shackles that were used to hold down our accentors are crippling our generation currently and crushing our youth’s future. Instead of rusty metal chains it is in the form of a noun. Our future leaders are not physically changed but entertaining the ignorant term in meaning is the same.

As a relatively still a young person who was not alive to march during the Civil Rights Movement I tend to forget that we are about give or take 60 years from when Blacks and Whites could not drink from the same water fountain, sit at the same lunch counter or attended the same schools. We take for granted I believe the Civil Rights Movement and what people of color had to do to get us to were we are at this point in this country’s history. Per the Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement website the start of the movement started in 1951 when Barbara Jones a 16 year old high school student led her Virginia classmates out on a student strike to protest segregated schools 1. These young people had the courage to fight for the best of education for a better way of life.

Yet we so freely degrade ourselves by using the N word to refer to ourselves. Not just those of us who are not in the public eye which is bad enough but artist who have a huge platform to reach a broad audience. I feel not only do you push us back a few pegs from what the movement was all about but open the door for others to continue to use the word in reference to us as people of color. Just imagine artist like the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Tina Turner who early own were unable to perform in front of a mix crowed. Take a look at some old footage and look at the all white crowd. Image using the N word in front of an all white crowd it would just confirm the negative opinion put out in regards to us as a race.

We all need to be more mindful of the presentation that we give the world. Especial since we are still creating History of such a young country. Perhaps its time to no longer give the word such sting by not using it to refer to are selves in the present as Black people we are strong. Let’s better ourselves by not passing down the use to the children that are coming up after us.


Reference

We’ll Never Turn Back. (2011) Retrieved October 10, 2011, from http://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhome.htm

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