Growing up I distinctly recall the “n” word being used very often in my presence. I’ve even used it to refer to someone fondly or as a greeting. Why did I do it then? Well it just didn’t mean that much to me at the time. Now that I’m older and a little wiser I realize that though the word is only given power by the receiver that no matter what context that it’s used in it still has as meaning. It still makes reference to a time and a place where black men and women were being grossly mistreated by another group of people. Soooooooooooooooo. Now having experienced some discrimination in my adult life and know how it must have been ten times worse for people like my mother and grandmother, how can I go on using such a vile and hateful word. I see it in the children that are coming along today. They may or may not know what discrimination feels like and I definitely can say that they don’t know the horrible feeling of oppression so how can they have any reverence for the people who’ve suffered at the hand of that word?
To me it is completely illogical to try and say that the word has been reinvented. It’s because we, we being blacks, couldn’t have come up with a new word that had nothing to do with the “n” word to be our champion? It’s like saying I’m going to take the word Popsicle and have it be a social greeting from this point on. “Good popsicle sir”, yeah I’m going to be thinking about ice cream the whole time. It just doesn’t work. I just don’t believe that enough time will ever pass that we can forget the hurt and the pain suffered as a result of such a hate inspired word. Though we can look fondly at the people who may say it to us, I personally know that I will always remember the slaves and the many blacks that were discriminated against so long ago. So here’s my stance. I’m not going to use it. I encourage others to do the same!
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