At an early age, most of us are told words can't hurt us. Sticks and stones - that is how the saying goes.
Some people will tell children anything.
Any child knows the true power of language. Whether it's the glow of affirmation and praise or the dark, white cloud of negativity and degradation, children know the strength of phrases, either delicately placed or roughly thrown together.
Have you ever seen a child make another cry by joking or teasing? I have more than once. As a matter of fact, I've seen it happen with college students and working adults.
Recently, I'd been joking with a few people lately about the usage of the term "cracka[sic]." I'd tell people that, if applied correctly, it may be possible to teach the world the term is for white people only, akin to the proliferation of "nigga[sic]," as a positive, not to be confused with nigger, which supposedly is a different, unacceptable word.
The n-word's etymology can be traced to the Latin niger, meaning black. It became a noun in Spanish (the color black, black object), Portuguese and English (Black person). Some scholars say that the word is a phonetic misspelling of the Southern mispronunciation of Negro.
Either way, by the early 1880s the term was established as an epithet, with many offshoots no less.
Now that Randall Kennedy has authored a new book with the contentious word as a title, the debate rages on. Can the word be used positively? Does the steady use allow the "filthiest, dirtiest, nastiest word in the English language" to be reborn as a nickname?
Ask yourself your reaction you'd get if a non-black person said it to you (black people. What is the reaction you get if you said it to a black person (non-black people)? Then tell me that word no longer has the power to injure. Then tell me we can use it for ourselves but no one else can, because we've turned a negative word into something positive.
Offhand I can think of no other group rewriting connotations publicly. Hence, the "cracka experiment" began. I wanted to see if it really could work with another phrase. Can the n-word ever truly be eradicated? Does trying to regulate who can and can't use it make hypocrites of people and a fetish of the word? I'd say yes, but somewhere (to my chagrin) differing shades of people are doing just that.
There's an old saying, "What you say or allow to be said about you is what you will become."
Nigga. Nigger. No matter how you spell it or how it's enunciated, the ugly history remains. Personally, nothing I do is strictly for my N.I.G.G.A.Z. (of any variation).
Fellow columnist Anthony Head said, "Ultimately, it's not what they call you, but what you respond to that makes the difference. ... We have to start embracing a language that empowers instead of oppresses." (Black Man Talking, Jan. 23, 2002). Think about it.
Sticks and stones, brothers and sisters, sticks and stones.
Write to Aric at: ariclewis@hotmail.com
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
