Shawn Maxam talks through his dilemma about word choices and entertainment.
I shot the same game, shot niggas in planes and stole niggas wizzes
Yo, that’s my ninjas, catching bodies a hobby-Raekwon (Real ain’t Real)
Some Black people say ninjas instead of niggas. I have been having this internal debate on whether I should say ninjas myself. Admittedly it sounds silly when I hear other people say it. I rarely use the word nigga in my daily life. I think I was considering the word ninja as a possible replacement for when I am listening to rap music or Black comedy.
Interestingly I don’t ever use the word bitch in my personal life or even when rapping or singing along to a song. I often don’t retell vulgar jokes from comediennes. I just don’t run into the issue of using pejoratives or troubling language if I am attempting to share of art. It’s pretty damn weird.
There seems to be two realities occurring in my head. Real life and entertainment life. When listening to or watching any form of entertainment I am usually fine with the use of bad language e.g. nigga, bitch, whore or fag when it is being used by the artist. But in real life conversations I often feel uneasy when these words are used even if the person using them is black, female, gay and so on. Which is to say I often hear marginalized groups use pejoratives with each other as a method of subversion and empowerment. I am guilty of this as well.
I don’t really care about the philosophical contradictions in this approach. I am moreso analyzing how I feel when it’s happening. Interestingly I am still on the fence about whether or not to use nigga or ninja. We’ll see what happens.
Please share this with friends, enemies and temporary allies alike.
Thanks for reading, sharing and commenting!
R.I.P. SKH
Flickr image by by doctorserone
About S. Maxam
I like what you did here. Even though you avoid using pejoratives in your personal life (as do I), when talking *about* those words, you use them. It’s important to use the actual words when having an adult conversation about language. This often comes up when discussing the use of nigger. Saying “the n-word” makes it harder for people to have an open and honest conversation about using the word and race overall.
Maybe it’s a genre trope. If I’m watching a musical, people will break out into song and dance. They just will. Not in my real life, only in musicals. So if I’m taking in certain genres of movies, comedy, or music, should I expect that people will talk that way? Not that people in my life ever say these words (except to examine whether they might ever be said in real life, and often referred to as “the n word,” though we will use the strongest profanity otherwise).
I’m trying to eliminate “nigga” completely from my vocab but it comes out at times. The word “bitch” is one I don’t use but I notice a lot of women refer to their female friends as such and they are ok with it. That doesn’t sit well with me but trying to drum this into some people’s heads in pretty difficult. I also know men who think its ok as well but that’s intolerable in my book…
This is a very interestingly honest and straightforward post. In my own life I do not use the word Nigga at all. In fact I literally cringe when ever I hear it in public or in any form of media. I cringe because there are a lot of people whose sole way of learning about other ethic/racial groups is via the media. With that being said if someone of a different race or ethnic group hears blacks calling themselves Niggas in a movie, a music video or even a stage play for example then they are most likely to think that it is perfectly acceptable to refer to all blacks as that why – because that’s what they heard other blacks use the word. Realistically speaking why wouldn’t they think that way?
Remember when Gwenyth Paltrow tweeted, These are some real Niggas in Paris” , as she sat very comfortably next to her BFF Beyonce at the Jay Z concert in Paris? Hmm…I think that until we begin to challenge this unconscious internalized self hatred that has been institutionalized in the black community, which is a direct result of slavery, this buffoonery will never end. I like to pose the following questions to those who favor the use of this word. Who was the first person that you can remember that called you a nigga? And ,What do you think a nigger is and how do you personally identify with that word and is that how you want to be viewed by the world?
Conversely I do use the word Bitch however, but in only two very limited settings. I use it either in a friendly manner in general conversations among friends or if I am upset and I am referring to that individual when I am speaking with close personal friends. When using the word Bitch I apply it to any race, sex ethnic group etc. Other than that the only other time that I may use that word is during the very rare occasion of an on line comment or rant.