Some people have wondered why I have such a crusade against the N-word. I’ve been asked why it’s a big deal, I’ve been told that the meaning has changed. Some claim the word is now empowering, when used by African Americans and those in the hip-hop/rap community. Yet, I feel that there has been no difference in the word in my lifetime, and never will be. Any other thought or excuse is just ignorance of the facts.
Since the events involving Mr. Don Imus and the Rutgers women’s basketball team renewed attention has been placed on the disparaging terms used in this nation casually. But I feel most people have no concept of what these disrespectful terms mean to, or how they affect, the rest of the world. As Americans we have a very isolated view of the rest of the world, but our actions have great impact. Having lived overseas for a time, I have gotten an understanding of this that exceeds that of the norm.
A case in point is the description found on a couch in Canada. There may not be a lot of news on this but it seems that a mother purchased a new couch whose description referred to its color as “N-word brown.” As the furniture store that sold the couch, the supplier, and a software company that designed the tag all point a finger of blame at anyone but themselves the damage is done. The international insult has been made and no one would have notice if not for a child asking her mother what the N-word meant.
Why was the color of the couch described in such a manner? Because a 10 year old translation dictionary equated the words dark brown with the N-word in Chinese. Not 100 or 50 years old, just 10. The definition was so accepted that when the dictionary was updated, no change was made to the software. But why should it?
Across the world music videos and songs proliferate the use of the N-word, and other inflammatory comments, to describe and talk among African Americans. Non-native English speakers seek out tools to define this word, and many have a description that is without any context of the harm of the word. Of course the context is then supplied by the media that the word came from.
You might say so what. Think about it. The N-word does not convey a meaning of just color, but a negative context as well. In the eyes of the world it means criminal, drug dealer/addict, prostitute, and violent savage animal as presented by gansta rap and hi-hop. Almost 15 years ago when I was in Moscow you cannot imagine the surprise when Russians learned I was an American. In their eyes it could not be possible. Black Americans were not smart enough to learn their own language let alone another, we could not understand business or hold jobs, where we went random violence follows as does rampant drug use. In essence we were the N-word. Since I could not fit any part of that description I had to be from Cuba, or Africa, or South America. I was even asked if I was originally from any other country and then became a U.S. citizen. Resolving the image they had in their head of the word and image in the media, and me in person was too extreme to be the same thing. Simply put, since I was not the N-word I could not be African American.
Continued in Part 2
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