Enough! The 'N-word'

The article, "Enough! Why Blacks-and Whites--Should Never Use The "N-Word' Again" (Feb. 2007), touched me in such a profound way that I had to write. Although the different featured authors and celebrities responded to the "N-word" in "markedly different ways," it is clear that valid points were expressed: 1) that we need to understand the implications the word can cause; 2) that the word isn't as powerful as the mentality that surrounds the word; and 3) that the same collectivity used to combat the term should be used to ignite change in our communities.

Emmanuelle Lawrence

Ft. Worth, Texas

Just a short note to let you know that the "N-word" article really hit home with me. As a middle-aged African-American man, I can't express to you how hurt I feel every time I hear one of my own, and especially our youth, use the "N-word" in every day language. Be it spoken or written, the sting and pain is still there and will always be there. It has surpassed becoming part of our vermicular; it has become ingrained in the fabric of our culture. It's been that way since we arrived in this country. It's just taken the hip-hop culture to de-sensitize how it is used! Please don't get me wrong, the hip-hop culture is not to blame; if we peel back the layers, we all know how we've come to use this word.

What hurts more is when I try to explain the history and origin of this word to our youth, I'm described as "not acting Black." The genie is out of the bottle now and I don't think we know how to put it back!

Curtis Milliner

Atlanta, Ga.

I am baffled and dismayed at the reasoning the "celebrities" provide in the "N-word" article, but I must say thank you for bringing up this issue. It's bad enough the word is used so much by young people, but the main reason it continues to persist is the popular myth that by using it we somehow "own" it and take away its negativity.

Nothing could be further from the truth. It has nothing to do with freedom of speech, Russell Simmons. It is not a term of endearment, Mike Epps.

I know I am not the only father in the United States who is having this kind of conversation with his children, but obviously it is going to take a lot more effort than mine to get this word out of widespread use.

Thank you, Chuck D and the Rev. Jesse Jackson for your stance and principles. I will never call a Black person the "N-word." I hope other Black Americans and these "celebrities" reconsider their opinions and the way they use this word.

Stephen Gude

Falls Church, Va

I have never been compelled to write to magazines about articles I have read, but the article on the "N-word" really hit home. I am a junior high school teacher, and the use of the "N-word" is quite pervasive among the Black students in the school where I teach. I've tried to educate as many of them as possible about how it denigrates their character to use this term so loosely. It is quite embarrassing when I hear Black students use this word so casually.

We should never become desensitized to its use by anyone!

Arlene Walton

Vicksburg, Miss.

COPYRIGHT 2007 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning