Slavery, Segregation, And Discrimination - 1264 Words

Through slavery, segregation, and discrimination, history coded the worst word : the N word. However, banning this most heinous abomination of speech, used throughout history to oppress and dehumanize black people, in fact only perpetuates the trend of removing power from those whose voices society silences. Utilizing the N word gives black people a measure of control over their identities that history stole. Reclamation remembers the odious history of the word and honors the people who lived it, while giving the black community autonomy over their language, history, and selfhood. From a historical perspective, the N word has been utilized in the same way and for the same purposes as any slur. Its intention: to generalize, to dehumanize,†¦show more content†¦Four hundred years later, the perception of black people remains the same; sub-human, commodified, and downtrodden. White people granted themselves authority over black lives. They allowed themselves to dictate the terms on which black people lived, worked, and identified themselves. They coined the N word as the ultimate insult, a term for the lowest echelon of society, not even above an animal. Using the N word brings up those four hundred years of slavery, it reminds all involved parties that black people remain inferior in the eyes of society. Does this mean that the N word should be banned? No. Does this make any utterance of that profane word inappropriate? No. Does the vocalization of that word dishonor the memory of all those slaves who toiled and died in slavery or those brave activists who fought for the right to vote? No. Language is the one great unifying force that binds humans together as a species. A person’s ability to comprehend the extended metaphors of language hold within them the ability to define themselves and the world around them. Naming something gives a sense of power over it, an ownership, a right to do with it as the namer pleases. White people stole black people’s ownership over themselves when they enslaved them, and stole black people’s identities when they made the N word a synonym of laziness, ignorance, and worthlessness. That stolen authority over their sense of