February 21st, 2019
Written by - Black Student Union (BSU)
N***er. N***a. Both versions of the slur are used to demean, disrespect, and dehumanize black people. The word “n***er” comes from the latin term “niger,” which means black and
was used to further ostracize black people throughout the decades. During the Civil Rights movement, black people were excluded from daily activities and treated as subhuman due to segregation. Black people were forced into isolation and exiled out of white society, their only difference being their skin color. They were enslaved, raped, lynched, beaten, and unable to participate and exercise their civil liberties because of the color of their skin, because they were “n***ers and n***as”.
Tupac Shakur, a rapper, poet, lyricist, and activist in the 90s brought a new meaning to the slur itself. Shakur took the hate out of the slur by reclaiming the it as an acronym for “Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished.” As a result, more black people decided to also take on this new meaning and use it with one another as a term of endearment. With this in mind, it's still offensive when non-black people use the slur because when they use it, it has a double meaning. Hearing the word coming from a non black person's mouth further emphasizes the hatred behind the word. Even though it may not be done in a malicious way, the impact that it has is still disrespectful to the black community.
Many people in the black community feel hurt when classmates report to them that others in the community are using the slur instead of telling their friends to stop themselves. When accusations are made and the truth is unknown, people from both sides of the situations are left hurt and confused. On the other hand, when someone is using the slur constantly, students often grow frustrated because they feel like nothing they say or do can make this person refrain from using it. If you hear a non-black student saying the slur, we encourage you to be upstanding and report this information to administration instead of turning it into casual gossip among friends. As Sean Price says, “It’s about self-education and self-critique, not trying to control others by telling them what to say or how to think, but rather trying to figure out how we think and how the words we use mirror our thinking.”
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