What Are The Variants Of The N-Word?

This essay will argue that it is acceptable for those of African American heritage to use variants of the N-word , despite the general existing societal ban. After explaining the theory behind how words acquire meaning and the historical meaning of the term, the argument will proceed in two stages. First, the essay will argue that the history of the term is inherently tied with the African American identity in such a way that is unique and highlights the struggles of the African American peoples throughout history and to the present day. Second, the essay will argue that such group specific meaning can only be subverted by in-group members to bring positive change. Current uses of the term's variants will be analysed to determine the nature of their use today to achieve this positive change. It will therefore be concluded that limiting the use of the N-word (and subsequent variants) to African American people is justified.

The N-word is a heavily-loaded term in American culture. The Merriam-Webster On-line Collegiate Dictionary (MWOCD; n.d.) entry for the term notes that it " now ranks as perhaps the most offensive and inflammatory racial slur in English". It is strange, therefore, that there has been difficulty in
forming a definition for the term; but perhaps more surprising that there is strong support for it to be removed from dictionaries altogether (Henderson, A. 2008). It is important to understand the meaning behind such an emotionally-charged term before any assessment regarding its position within society is made. Clearly the dictionary definition is not the way we prescribe meaning to words. For this reason, it is necessary to consider the relationship between language and culture before the argument can proceed.

Language is the medium through which we understand the world.
Each word is linked with concepts and ideas. These concepts and ideas take form from the way language is used in communication. Communication itself is the "practice of producing meanings, and the ways in which systems of meaning are negotiated by participants in a culture"(Schirato, T. & Yell, S. 2000). In turn, culture is best understood as the matrix of meaning formed by communication. The understanding of how to navigate the cultural matrix and mould its structure is defined as cultural literacy (Schirato, T. & Yell, S. 2000). Thus a word is more than its dictionary definition. The definition is perhaps a frame to a painting, but the way a word is used in communication gives it
colour.

Historically, the colour palette associated with the N-word paints a picture of struggle and suffering of the African American people. However, the base colour of this painting is relatively neutral. The N-word stems from negro ("black"), a term assimilated into the English language from both Spanish and Portuguese to reference the dark skin of Africans. Despite this, even early use of the term communicated patronizing attitudes of whites towards the African people they took as slaves. The term was derogated by associating it with negative stereotypes of the African American people, in what scholars say was an attempt to justify slavery by ascribing the African American peoples as intellectually inferior and "subhuman" (Croom, A. 2013). The pejoration of the term into a racist slur came as a result of changes to the political and economic environment. In the early nineteenth century, the number of free African Americans increased, and the movement to abolish slavery gained momentum. These factors meant that there was more competition for employment. Thus, racist meaning behind the term allowed whites to perpetuate the idea that African Americans were intellectually inferior. This lead to a social system which discriminated against African Americans (Rahman, J. 2011).