'The Meaning Of The N' Word

“Call everyone “nigga” and get a nigga mad. As soon as I say “nigga” then everyone reacts and wanna swing at me and call me racist ‘cause I ain’t black”. In the song I’m not racist by Joyner Lucas, it starts off with a white man, who is wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, rapping about the double standards of the “n” word. With words, they can have so much meaning behind. Where the word originated from, how the meaning can depend on the context it is used in, to who can say the word and how it has changed over time. Alongside that, the "n" word has so many layers to it. Going back to how it first came about to how it completely changed with time.
The “n”word originated from the Latin word niger, which means black. Niger then turned into a noun, Negro being a black person in English, and simply a color in Spanish. Starting as early as the 1800s, the “n”word was used as a derogatory word used by White Southern Americans to dehumanize the African slaves. The African American Registry examines the term and says, "It is probable that nigger is a phonetic spelling of the White Southern mispronunciation of Negro". Negro was just a way to identify Black people, but it then evolved into the “n”
word which then made it degrading. The racial slur bears antipathy and hostility. The term was exclusive to directly discriminated African Americans. No matter how it was used it reinforced the idea that they were lazy, stupid, and worthless. The way the “n”word was used, it turned into the most offensive word in English set to date.
During the enslavement era, "the words "nigger" or "black" were inserted in front of a common American first name (e.g., John), given to a slave to distinguish the slave from any local white person with the same name" (“Huck Finn in Context: A Teaching Guide") further disregarding them. In "All about that troublesome word: some want to wipe the “n” word from the face of the earth; others see a term of endearment--the complicated tale of two protean syllables" by Randall Kennedy he states that Hosea Easton thinks the “n” word is, "'an opprobrious term ... It flows from the fountain of purpose to injure'". Hosea Easton was called the “n” word and as a Black person, it offended her to all ends no matter how it is being used; however, as time goes on how it is used does matter.
In the late 1970s, Paul Mooney, a comic, uses the term "nigga please" as "a funny punctuation in-joke about Blacks", is now heard routinely in comedy routines by African Americans" (Wikipedia).
Nigga is a slang word. According to the Urban dictionary is " a word which evolved from the derogatory term 'nigger'". African American took the "n" word and started to use it as a term of endearment as said by David Lawrence, an American Culture professor at St.Thomas University. Black and African Americans now use it to address themselves as "friends" or "homies". The small change of changing the "er" to an "a" entirely changed to meaning of the word. If anything they are completely two different words. One is used as a racial slur, while the other is used as a term of
endearment.
In rap and hip pop "nigga" is constantly being used. In the song "My Nigga" by YG featuring Lil Wayne, Meek Mill, Nicki Minaj, and Rich Homie Quan they rap, "And I ain't goin' in unless I'm with my niggas". YG is saying I am not going anywhere without my friend. He is not using it in a negative way. Another example of this is Kanye West's "Gold Digger". West includes the word nigga. The problem with this is many people listen to rap and hip pop, this then raises questions about who can say the word. There has been a profuse amount of arguments on whether or not white people can say, nigga. Some White people say they should not have to censor themselves. Some Blacks say it is only their word to say, others say no one should say it no matter what the context is.

Professor David Lawrence, an American Culture professor at St.Thomas University, says, "You invent this word that means we are not human, we take it and make it into a word that means brotherhood and connectedness and now you can't say it and you're angry about it". Lawrence believes that Black people deserve to able to take something that was used against them and instead empower themselves with it. Similarly, Ray Betton, an Excellence with Equity supervisor at Shakopee High School says, "Let's not get it confused "r" is still bad, I don't care who says it. We have never said it that way. Whites took it and did their little things with it and that is what the perception is. With us, it is still different". Lawrence and Betton, who were born around the same decade, both believe no on other Black people should be able to use the word.

Contrarily, to younger generations, they have different views. Brien Lett, a junior at Shakopee Senior High says, "If you are close to me, I am cool with it, but if not and it is used out of context, I don't know you, or you use the hard "r" then I'm not". Correspondingly, Christopher McGregor, another junior at Shakopee Senior High School, states, "As long as they are not offending people of color". Interestingly, two different generations have two different views on a very controversial word. One believes only Blacks can say it, the other believes Blacks can say if, but with certain circumstances, other races can too.

Ultimately, the "n" word is an extremely complex word with so many means and different contexts. Through this, it could be said that the "n" word is one of the most complex words in English. But, language can have many layers and history to it that it can be difficult to actually know where or how a word came about. Although it can be difficult and confusing at sometimes language is absolutely beautiful.