What's in a Word? The World, Apparently.

What if there was a word that could shake the foundations of the greatest nation on earth? What if it could bring society to a halt and embroil it it in years of confusion and mire it in identity crisis?

Well there is just a word like that. It is a word that I dare not speak for fear of revealing my own identity as self identity is inextricably tied to this word. So to remain as neutral as possible, I will just take the definition off of dictionary.com:

Nigger- The term nigger is now probably the most offensive word in English. Its degree of offensiveness has increased markedly in recent years, although it has been used in a derogatory manner since at least the Revolutionary War. Definitions 1a, 1b, and 2 represent meanings that are deeply disparaging and are used when the speaker deliberately wishes to cause great offense. Definition 1a, however, is sometimes used among African-Americans in a neutral or familiar way. Definition 3 is not normally considered disparaging—as in “The Irish are the niggers of Europe” from Roddy Doyle's The Commitments —but the other uses are considered contemptuous and hostile.


1. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive .
    a. a black person.
    b. a member of any dark-skinned people.

2. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive . a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc.

3. a victim of prejudice similar to that suffered by blacks; a person who is economically, politically, or socially disenfranchised.


So what is it about this word that is so powerful? How does it move the black community and stymie the white community? And what might it take for America to be freed from the shackles of one word?

Maybe black people and white people should line up in front of eachother and say it or any other slur until it has lost it's power, and be done with it. White people could see that black people aren't monsters and black people could see that white people really don't like to be hateful or to even say the word. And now that word has grown in power until now as it carries the weight of the black/white schism. Everybody holds this word close to the vest as a word of power. Blacks use it because only they can and whites use it when they want a response or to portray intense feelings. Think about the power of something you’re not allowed to say. Or the power of something you're not allowed to have. Human nature would dictate that that thing would be the one thing you'd want. So blacks take pleasure in keeping the word to themselves and use it freely, but claim it brings memories of oppression if a white uses it, and whites are envious and provocative with a word they're not supposed to have, let alone say. So maybe we should just take away the word from the two the way you would take anything away from two parties as they fight for it. Take the power out of the word and take away the power from both groups, it just causes problems. Whites shouldn't want to say it for obvious reasons, and blacks should just want this word to be in the history books only.

Have the day where we just line up across from eachother and get the weight off; a fresh start if you will. This word symbolizes our struggle and it's time to end the struggle, so end the word.