Racial issues have been important for the United States for a long period of time. The culture of a lot of states in the country leads to a gruesome result. A lot of people of all ages consider racism a normal thing. States like Louisiana, Georgia, and others are famous for their Ku Klux Klan Clan activity. The worst thing is that white people, who consider themselves more civilized than African Americans are the leading force in organizations like that.
In his book “Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word” R.Kennedy doesn’t address the issue of the origin of the world, as it might look. The author emphasizes the social environment, the racism, and the conditions of African Americans in the US. The author is interested in the slang used by Americans, the origin of the N. word, but at the same time, he tries to show the social, historical situation, which brought out the N. word as one of the most offensive in the English language. Kennedy shows the peculiarities about the usage of the N. word. He analyzes everything from the slavery songs of the 19th century to cartoons and movies. He opposes “nigger” to “nigga”, which considered being a slang definition of a friend. By this specific example, Kennedy shows that the main aspect of the offense brought by the N. word is solely social.
Kennedy managed to show why the N. word is allowed to use by Blacks, but at the same time forbidden for use for Whites. Randal Kennedy addresses the issue of using the N. work. He asks a lot of questions like “Should Blacks use the N. word in ways forbidden for others?!” etc. The author answers his own questions in a linguistic and social manner.
By giving examples of anecdotes and stories about “n….s” Kennedy gives a historical retrospective on how the anger about this word developed among the African American population.
Kennedy gives a view of the law on the usage of the N. word. By giving examples of some real court sessions that took place in the United States and were concerned with the use of the N. word the author shows how sometimes the racial issue might become “a shield” and “a justification” to all of the sins. And at the same time, there is always a chance for you to be accused of racism just because you used a word that is similar to the N. word. He underlines the whole stupidity to which the situation could get.
Kennedy also emphasizes the fact that the N. word is offensive because it is specifically used by Whites, not because it has a certain historical background for Blacks.
The examples of using the N. word from Tarantino movies are giving you the idea, that the word is used to underline the criminal situation and the criminal background of the characters. This means that he mocks the people using the word, comparing them to the characters of “Pulp Fiction”.
Kennedy al the time during his book tries to show that after the N. word will be commonly used and not meant as an insult the problem with it will disappear. The problem is that he didn’t exactly point out how to do that.
Kennedy tries to get to the essence of the problem by getting deeper into the historical background of the word.
The book itself might not be important to social work practice because it is a story of some specific person – an autobiography. But, nevertheless, any kind of reading, having any kind of serious message that pushes you to certain conclusions, can make sense to people. So many debates and arguments have been taking place over the topic of racism for the past decades, but still, it does not seem to exhaust itself.
The book, like a piece of history, touches on such fact as why can a black person use N. word and be completely accepted by others, and vice versa a white man using N. word is considered to be insulting someone. Just like it has been in 2002 when the book was published, it still remains today – urgent and relevant.
The problem will not disappear until society, both: whites and blacks realize that historical background is a past. How many times have you experienced such racial discrimination? It is everywhere, which makes the problem even more urgent. And though the book is about how Americans have experienced the use of N. word throughout centuries there still is an implication meaning. You might not admit the problem existing until you face it.
The author gives examples one after another, explaining the fact that no matter who you are or what you have done, to someone you are still just a nigger. And even though the book seems tiring sometimes, the collection of examples may be useful to someone.
After reading the book, you simply begin to think of how nigger should be defined nowadays, as the meaning has changed since our parents’ times. The meaning has evolved throughout the years. And, probably, it will make you think of your specific attitude towards this word.
One of the questions aroused is should blacks be able to use the N. word in a way forbidden by others. It goes without saying this issue as well as any other has both sides of the medal. But, nevertheless, this is exactly what the book is about: the experience of some certain person helping others to understand there is a problem and it cannot be hung in the air anymore.
Kennedy brings up a question of racial issues in general, not only black-and-white relations. For instance, when he explores the school of thought that nigger is the “superlative racial epithet,” he points out that this necessarily brings up the notion of comparative oppression. Is it valid, he asks, to say that centuries of systematic white enslavement of Africans is better or worse than the deaths of six million Jews during the Holocaust? If you take the diplomatic way out and suggest that neither is worse than the other, what does that do to the perceptions of both horrors? It’s a subject worth bringing up, and a dangerous one.
Nigger is, above all, an argument for the restoration of context and intent in judging the uses of the word. Kennedy isn’t just a good, clear writer, he’s possessed of the uncommon virtue of common sense…The power of Nigger is that Kennedy writes fully of the word, neither condemning its every use nor fantasizing that it can ever become solely a means of empowerment.
The book is a complete example of how N. word interferes our lives. It is everywhere; it touches every sphere of up-to-date modern life. The book is one of those challenges to society to think over the issues that appeared around, not just passing them on to the next generation to solve.