There are some words that are so potent that just uttering them is enough to make you shudder. In the Arab world, you will rarely hear anybody say “cancer” when describing someone affected by the disease. Instead you may hear a number of euphemisms. More often it will simply be referred to as “that disease”. In the lexicon of race, cancer starts with the letter N. The n-word is so offensive that not only has New York City Council just passed a motion banning its use but it is referred to as just that: The n-word.
Once, sitting on a Caribbean beach, I heard a voice behind me shout out “Hey! White girl! I’m talking to you!” It took me a little while to work out that the comment was addressed to me. I was surprised, but not offended. Yet I would not have dreamed of addressing my interlocutor as “Hey! Black boy!” let alone of using the n-word or any of its variations.
Why is a word whose etymology simply means “black” so offensive? And why is it OK to describe someone by the color of their hair or the color of their eyes, but not the color of their skin?
Offense comes from the history and the associations embedded in a word. A perfectly innocuous word becomes derogatory because of the way it is used. When I was at school, the worst insult we could hurl at someone was “Shannon”. Yet when I tried it on a neighbor I was met with a bemused look. English was new to me, back at school I asked around. What did Shannon mean exactly? “You know, a fish-face” came the reply. In fact the insult was usually combined with “fish-face”. It turned out that there was a boy called Shannon in another class who bore an uncanny resemblance to a carp. Poor lad, his name became synonymous with anything ugly, unattractive or un-cool.
In Britain today it is unacceptable to refer to a Pakistani as a “Paki”; yet it is fine to describe an Australian as an “Aussie”. It is perfectly ordinary to use the term “Kiwi” for someone from New Zealand, but calling an Indian woman “Shilpa Poppadom” will make you the scourge of the nation.
Then there are borderline terms. Referring to French people as Frogs is derogatory but just about acceptable in friendly banter. The French retaliate by calling the English Les Rosbeef, whilst the Australians call them Poms.
At first glance, it would seem to be a clear case of white versus nonwhite, and inbuilt in this differentiation is the idea of white superiority. Hence pointing out that someone is not white, whether that person is black, Pakistani, Indian or Arab, takes on the equivalence of pointing out that the person is less than white.
History matters. What happened yesterday still colors how we behave today. In any place where there is a history of one race subjugating another, the scars remain. The idea that one race is superior to another moves from being something expressly articulated to being something which underlines how we think about each other.
Sadly racism is not a thing of the past, far from it. The best that can be said is that some cultures are less racist than others, and even then, what often happens is that the target of racism moves from one group to another. Most people do not think they are racist, but most of us are. You cannot assume that you are not racist just because you happen to have one friend from a different race, or because you employ people of a different race, or because you like to eat food from far-away places - all of the above being examples of arguments people have used against charges of racism.
The words we use have power. They are frames of reference for the way we think about each other. Their usage changes their meaning, giving words a genetic history of sorts. Thus the n-word no longer simply means black but stands for slavery. Its six letters embody centuries of human suffering, oppression and cruelty. When a white person uses it to a describe a black person it is more than derogatory. The best - or worst - example is Ron Atkinson, the football manager, who live on British television described Marcel Desailly as “a f....ng lazy thick nigger”. In one unthinking outburst, he articulated everything he associated with black people.
But what about when a black person uses it? The n-word is extremely popular with young black people in the US. They have re-appropriated the word and use it in a positive context. It is self-affirmation, a way of shouting out their pride in who they are. But the older generation is not amused. They see this trend as a form of disrespect for their own histories, for the suffering of their ancestors and they want it to stop. The moratorium in New York is a symbolic gesture of remembrance. You will not be arrested or fined for using the n-word. The aim is to persuade people to stop using the word as well as to encourage people, both black and white, to understand fully their histories.
The ban is well meaning but doomed to fail. Banning a word is sure to make it more popular; to give it added cachet among urban youth. It is naïve to think that changing attitudes can be brought about by singling out one word and deleting it from the modern lexicon. At the same time, we all need to think about the words we use in our every day language. Political correctness is easy to attack. Often it seems superficial and pointless; yet it is undoubtedly based on truth. The words we use have the infinite discrete power to shape the way we think.([email protected])
