Reply To: Racial slur?

#15505

Alicia P.
Participant

Many people do not understand this and think it is a ‘double standard’ or an overaction. However, it is not any of those. When a white person calls a black person a ‘nigger’ it is just about the most insulting and degrading comment. It dehumanizes the person and therefore allows the person using the word to feel a sense of power. It is about what the word stands for. Whites often used and continue to use the word today in order to separate themselves from blacks and dehumanize blacks, thereby ‘justifing’ their hate. Perhaps the best explanation I have read is found in Andrew Hacker’s book Two Nations Black and White Separate, Hostile, Unequal. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. I am a college student and this was what we used as a textbook one semester. It really does explain many of the common questions on race. To quote directly from the book: ‘When a white person voices it, it becomes a knife with a whetted edge. No black person can hear it with equanimity or ignore it as ‘simply a word.’ This word has the force to pierce, to wound, to penetrate, as no other has. There have, of course, been terms like ‘kike’ and ‘spick’ and ‘chink.’ But these are less frequently heard today, and they lack the same emotional impact. Some nonethnic terms come closer, such as ‘slut’ and ‘fag’ and ‘cripple.’ Yet, ‘nigger’ stands alone with its power to tear at one’s insides. It is revealing that whites have never created so wrenching an epithet for even the most benighted members of their own race. Black people may use ‘nigger’ among themselves, but with a tone and intention that is known and understood. Even so, if you are black, you know white society devised this word and keeps it available for use. (Not officially, of course, or even in print; but you know it continues to be uttered behind closed doors.) Its persistance reminds you that you are still perceived as a degraded species of humanity, a level to which whites can never descend.’ Hacker, A. (1992) Two Nations Black and White Separate, Hostile, Unequal. New York: Ballantine Books. I can not recommend this book enough! It is wonderful.

User Detail :  

Name : Alicia P., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Methodist, Age : 20, City : Kissimmee, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,