Jamie Utt – and some other really smart people – explain why white people simply CANNOT use the N-word. Ever. Never.
New debates are springing up in a long-contentious dialogue about reclamation of oppressive language.
During the recent ESPN “Outside the Lines” special discussion of a proposed NFL rule to penalize the n-word, Twitter erupted in critique, criticism, and debate.
In the midst of this debate, though, there is generally one rule when it comes to the n-word on which there is almost total consensus among Black people:
Yet White people don’t seem to get it.
I’d likely be a wealthy man if I had a dime for every time I’ve heard a White person ask “If Black people can just throw the n-word around all the time, why is it not okay for White people to use that word?”
I can only imagine the number of dimes Black people would have. Innumerable.
And despite how important listening to the voices of marginalized and oppressed people is to social justice work on the part of those with privilege, White people on the whole really seem to have hard time with this one.
Perhaps this is because we don’t like being told that anything is off limits to us.
Or perhaps we just have trouble hearing the voices of those we consider, at some basic level, to be lesser, not fully human.
Regardless of the reason, maybe it’s time for a different tact.
Perhaps you can hear it better or differently if a White person explains why exactly we don’t get to use the n-word, regardless of what Black folks are doing.
So here is my message to you.
Dear White Folks,
We have to stop using the n-word.
Like really, really.
And I know what you’re thinking, “But—But—‘They’ get to say it all the time!”
Well, tough cookies.
Here’s why it’s not okay for us to say it, no matter what Black folks are doing:
1. We Lost the Privilege
You know that whole 600 year time period when White Europeans were buying and selling Black Africans as chattel?
And remember how that whole system was enforced by a violent system of repression whereby Black slaves who did not act the way the White folks wanted them to were beaten and murdered?
Oh, and remember that time after slavery when Black people were locked in a system called Jim Crow that used a similar fear of violence and repression to keep Black people in “their place?”
Well, in the midst of all that shit, there was a word invented by White people as a pejorative for Black folks. And it was used just about every time a Black person was whipped, chained, beaten, insulted, spat upon, raped, lynched, or otherwise humiliated and mistreated by White folks.
Thus, I really don’t care how much White folks want to use that word.
I don’t care how unfair you think it is that someone else gets to use it when we don’t.
Our people gave up the privilege to use that word the moment we invented it as a tool of oppression.
2. Why Should We Get a Say in the Conversation about That Word?
There is a lively debate in African American communities between those who think it’s time to “Bury the N-Word” and those who think it can be reclaimed as a word of camaraderie and brotherhood/sisterhood.
In his brilliant piece entitled “Exporting the N-word,” Coleman Collins explains,
There are generally four schools of thought on the word “nigga.” There’s the first and largest group — black working-class (but not exclusively so) people who say it casually because it’s what they’ve always done, or simply because they don’t like being told what to do.
There’s the small but vocal group of middle-class black intellectuals who claim to have “reclaimed” the word, to have turned it into a term of endearment instead of a tool of oppression. It’s a neat solution to a messy problem. It ends in “A,” after all!
The third group is comprised of the “respectable Negroes,” the bootstrap types, the “don’t you embarrass me in front of these White folks” crowd. Also largely middle- and upper-middle class, the worst of these would have us believe that if black men only pulled their pants up, stopped littering, and stopped calling each other that word, racism and poverty would come to an end.
Last but certainly not least, you have the extremely sympathetic older generation that worked to have the word eradicated from White people’s vocabularies only to find it shouted from street corners and blasted from car windows in the future they worked so hard for.
)
If White folks are interested in this debate, we should listen, but we should not assume that there is consensus within Black communities on the issue.
That is a healthy conversation, and it’s a part of a long history of marginalized communities attempting to “reclaim” words that were once oppressive.
No matter how long that conversation goes on in Black communities, though, White people do not get to take part.
I’m sorry.
As the ones from whom the word of violence and oppression must be reclaimed, we do not get to have a word in that conversation. Plain and simple.
3. Not Everything Should Be in Bounds to Us as White People
The question of why White people can’t use the n-word is, in essence, the epitome of White privilege.
As White folks, we tend to think that every door should be open to us, every conversation should be ours, and every space should welcome us. We think this way because, when it comes to racialized spaces, that tends to be the case.
We have the privilege of having our voices heard and our presence recognized in just about every space there is.
Thus, we hate it when we are told that we are not actually welcome in a conversation.
But here’s what we need to understand: We’re the only people that get the privilege of access to whatever racialized space we want.
There is hardly a single context in the United States in which a White person (but particularly White, cisgender men) cannot assert themselves into a space and have their voice heard.
White women can hopefully begin to (though never fully) understand this when you think about the ways in which you are denied voice and space by dominant men.
Though these oppressions cannot be compared, hopefully this comparison can help generate a little empathy into why it simply is not okay for us as White people to expect our voices to be heard in every conversation.
Just because we are not welcome to use one word in the English language does not mean that we are being discriminated against.
No, it’s not “racist against White people” to assert that certain things are off limits to us, as people of privilege.
4. It Is Not, in Fact, a Double Standard – It’s a Standard
There’s literally nothing more on this one I could say than what Jay Smooth of Ill Doctrine lays down here:
Ill Doctrine: The Last Word on That Word from ANIMALNewYork.com on Vimeo.
***
That’s it! That’s all you need to know!
Which means that we can put this whole thing to rest, right?
Yeah? No?
Alright…
Well, if you’re still not convinced, then take 5 minutes and 15 seconds and listen to Chesca Leigh drop all the knowledge (plus, her lipstick is too fierce):
And when you’re done, say it with me: “As a White person, I won’t use the n-word any more.”
_____
Jamie Utt is a Contributing Writer at Everyday Feminism. He is the Founder and Director of Education at CivilSchools, a comprehensive bullying prevention program, a diversity and inclusion consultant, and sexual violence prevention educator based in Minneapolis, MN. He lives with his loving partner and his funtastic dog. He blogs weekly at Change from Within. Learn more about his work at his website here and follow him on Twitter @utt_jamie. Read his articles here and book him for speaking engagements here.
This explanation from Coleman Collins is interesting:
“…people who say it casually because it’s what they’ve always done, or simply because they don’t like being told what to do.”
Umm…. That’s not a very good reason to do something.
I guess I’m a free speech extremist. I think people have a right to use any word regardless of their socially constructed racial identity. And, other people have just as much right to say they’re offended by my use of the word. They have every right to request that I not use the word. Then I have the right to say why I used it, and they have the right to tell me I’m wrong, and so on. Meanwhile, I’m also a pragmatist. Whether or not I have an ethical right to use the word, I see no benefit to… Read more »
The internet can be a very anonymous, murky place. Since we’re in an online forum, this seems like a perfect place to ask a practical question:
What if someone writes the n-word in a comments section and you *don’t know the race* of the person who uses it?
1. Assume the person is white until they identify otherwise? Seems presumptuous.
2. Assume the person is not white until they identify otherwise? Seems presumptuous.
3. Hold off judgment either way until you can tell? Could be waiting a long time.
Another practical question:
If white people can’t say it and black people can, then what if, like millions of Americans, you have both African American and white ancestors?
Pro-rated depending on blood quantum, I suppose. If I’m half white I can only say it half as often.
A comedian once said “the word ‘n*****’ is not offensive. You know what is offensive? Saying ‘the n word’.” His point is that censorship is offensive and most people are able to grasp that. He goes on to say: “both n***** and ‘the n word’ are the same thing because each communicates an idea. In case a, I’m saying the idea and in case b I’m implying the idea,” which he says is worse because implying the idea is making the listener think it, or say it. Instead of the speaker saying their own thought, they force the listener to… Read more »
RE: Paul, I’ve only read your public posting here so I can’t judge the original post that did not pass moderation. But from what you wrote here I think the thing is that you are giving a careful and nuanced reply to an un-nuanced missive: The Everyday Feminism article is just its own answer (right as it may be) to a question that nobody asked (‘Hey- I’m white and privileged and I love flaunting it inappropriately all the time by using the n-word: That’s ok, right?’) The principle that the article is arguing/applying here is the common theme that ‘privilege’ (however… Read more »
I’m not gonna say it’s true, ’cause I know sometimes these things get lost in the ether, but I submitted a well-thought-out reply in opposition to the author’s premise, and it never appeared. So…not only can’t I use the n-word, but I can’t argue that it might sometimes be OK? I don’t know, maybe it’s because I actually used the n-word (once) in context within my reply. I’ll say this though; whenever I hear people say in such a blanket manner that “IT’S NEVER OK!!” (to say whatever), I realize that I’m dealing with a militant voice of political correctness… Read more »
Paul, I’ve only read your public posting here so I can’t judge the original post that did not pass moderation. But from what you wrote here I think the thing is that you are giving a careful and nuanced reply to an un-nuanced missive: The Everyday Feminism article is just its own answer (right as it may be) to a question that nobody asked (‘Hey- I’m white and privileged and I love flaunting it inappropriately all the time by using the n-word: That’s ok, right?’) The principle that the article is arguing/applying here is the common theme that ‘privilege’ (however it… Read more »
Wait, since the title only refers to white people, does this mean it’s ok for Asians, Latinos, or any other race to use it? This is ridiculous. I’m Asian, and I’ve never used the infamous “N-word” to address myself or anybody else for that matter. However, I think excluding other people from using this word promotes inequity. If you’d like to be treated as equal, then you should damn well give the same courtesy of using the N word to anybody who chooses to do so without feeling offended.
Why is this still an issue? Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows it is a bad idea, whether it’s about race, religion or gender. You are setting yourself up for an argument you can’t win, or a severe butt kicking at worst.
Dear Jamie,
You have just been crowned my favorite white boy EVER!!!! On behalf of the people…I’d like to say THANK YOU!!! <3
1Luv