Do You Know What Really Grinds My Gears: Episode 2

In the second installment of "What Really Grinds My Gears", I'd like to address the word "nigga". First things first, for clarification purposes, this is not about, as Childish Gambino put it, "nigger with the hard R" (1). That is an inherently racist and derogatory term used by white people during slavery (and unfortunately also since then) to address black people in a demeaning way. However, since then, the black community in America has dealt with the pain and defamation insinuated in that word by reinventing it as "nigga" - a colloquial, slang term that commonly means "dude" or "brotha" in an amiable sense. The transformation that the African-American community has formulated to create the new meaning for this term, going from a symbol of oppression and pain to one of brotherhood and colloquialism that is exclusive to the black community, is nothing short of admirable.

But wait - that's not all. First of all, "nigga" is considered a swear word in every modern white space, especially schools. This is understandable to a point, because non-black children (and adults) have to be taught that they cannot use it for historical reasons. Unfortunately, this does not stop them. Growing up going to schools in Boulder, where the population was 2.4% black (and shrinking), countless numbers of Latino/Latina and white kids would casually say "nigga" in conversation. I could never understand it - what part of "white people used it to degrade black slaves" is unclear? Earlier this year, there was a debate on social media when a black professional NFL player defended a white person using the term, and it became strikingly evident how the lack of education on cultural appropriation and racial history negatively affects black people just as much as it affects others.

Even slowly-growing cultural awareness about cultural appropriation in America has not seemed to dissuade non-black folks from using the n-word. At this point, I'm not sure how else to emphasize the blatant racism of the term outside of internal use in the black community.  In my opinion, there are no exceptions. "But I'm just singing the rap song" - you still can't say it. "I was just posting song lyrics on Instagram" - you still can't say it. "All my friends say it" - and if they're black, they can. "I grew up in the hood" - growing up in an impoverished living situation does not make you black, nor do all black people live in the hood. "My black friend said I can say it" - your black friend does not speak for his ancestors or the rest of the black community, and clearly does not have a very good grasp on the implications or history of the term. If you're white, you can't say nigga. If you're Asian, you can't say nigga. If you're LatinX, you can't say nigga. It's that simple - and what's more, if you do, you're insensitively perpetrating cultural appropriation (at best).

(1) https://genius.com/Childish-gambino-bonfire-lyrics