I am intrigued by the use of the word "nigger" by young people who scarcely have a connection to a word so old and ugly. I’d like to know from where does a 16 year old or even a 20 year old pull this type of vitriol? Really, I am struggling with the concept of how a person... born in the 90's finds themselves uttering such an old, nasty term. It perplexes me how the same young people who are so detached from history that they can scarcely understand the magnitude of the Jewish Holocaust have somehow managed to find relevance and a renewed vigor for “nigger.”
Now, before you jump to the hip hop connection, let me clarify that I'm not talking about the profusion of the word "nigga" in hip hop music, as reckless and destructive as it may be, because this is different. I am talking about the hateful and targeted use of “nigger” as an epithet. These kids have managed to not only yank this word into present day discourse, but also to pull the historically insidious and hateful spirit behind the word into 2012.
Concerning post-racial America: anyone bold enough to come in my face and say that America is post-racial will be eating my stiletto (<-a dramatization, of course), because we are not post racial; we are present-racial and in deep denial about it. And for young people to so embrace the spirit of "nigger," well, that just confirms for me that the race factor never went anywhere. Racism has yet to have its yesterday; it is still our today, and my heart breaks over it, as I know the heart of many Americans- black, white, and so on- aches over the same.
So quit telling me to stop acknowledging the dreadful past of my black ancestors—no wait, not my ancestors, but my living breathing relatives who LIVED through that dreadful past—if you will not let the hate of the past die.
God bless America, God help America, God heal America- that is my prayer. Amen
Now, before you jump to the hip hop connection, let me clarify that I'm not talking about the profusion of the word "nigga" in hip hop music, as reckless and destructive as it may be, because this is different. I am talking about the hateful and targeted use of “nigger” as an epithet. These kids have managed to not only yank this word into present day discourse, but also to pull the historically insidious and hateful spirit behind the word into 2012.
Concerning post-racial America: anyone bold enough to come in my face and say that America is post-racial will be eating my stiletto (<-a dramatization, of course), because we are not post racial; we are present-racial and in deep denial about it. And for young people to so embrace the spirit of "nigger," well, that just confirms for me that the race factor never went anywhere. Racism has yet to have its yesterday; it is still our today, and my heart breaks over it, as I know the heart of many Americans- black, white, and so on- aches over the same.
So quit telling me to stop acknowledging the dreadful past of my black ancestors—no wait, not my ancestors, but my living breathing relatives who LIVED through that dreadful past—if you will not let the hate of the past die.
God bless America, God help America, God heal America- that is my prayer. Amen
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