After yesterday's post on Burma, I'm thinking about writing about more serious topics occasionally (Jo's monthly advocacy post?) I doubted I'd be touching on controversial subjects again so soon.
Then I found an article on the BBC website about how New York City is trying to ban the use of the N-word because its historic meaning/context, despite which the word has recently become so prevalent and 'cool' in pop culture (as I'm sure you all know). This prevalence is, according to some, because the meaning has "changed", and the argument, that, through using a negative word in a different connotation, it is reclaimed. It's also suggested in the article that some people theorize that the 'youth generation' doesn't know what the historical meaning/context is.
Personally, I knew what the word meant by age 10 (Mum had to explain after my first exposure to Gone With the Wind, even though just how it was used it the movie was enough for me to realize it was a 'bad word') and I knew just how bad it was that, when it started becoming 'cool', I can remember yelling at a couple of my sister's classmates for using it. I've always felt that there is absolutely no reason why I should be using the N-word - it was never applied to 'my' (please note, I am using 'my' loosely, hence the quote marks) people, and therefore, there's no reclamation involved for me - my use of it, knowing the connotations, would be unacceptable to me/ of me.
And, as for the youth, if I'm not mistaken, I'm JUST the wrong side of 'youth' now, at age 25.
I'm not qualified to speak on reclaiming a word from its previous meaning, because I can't think of many that apply to me that have been reclaimed (I'd wonder if 'bitch' counts, but any reclamation of that seems to have been at a pretty frivolous level). However, I'm still curious about how this will work, whether or not it's a good idea/enforceable, and many other things. So, while I'm not qualified to discuss it, I'm throwing this open for comment:
Do you think this is possible, and is it a good idea? Can the/has the N-Word be reclaimed? Do you think such an idea would work in your own city? And, for those of you in the NYC area - what's your feelings on this as a 'correspondent in the field'?
I know this is a topic that is flammable, and that it could stir up a lot of things, so I'm laying down some ground rules:
I'm interested to hear other people's opinions, but with one caveat: If the N-word gets printed, or comment is derogatory/ flammable, then the comment gets deleted. If someone gets offended by something that I don't catch before they do - please, PLEASE let me know, and I'll delete it immediately.
The idea of this is to get other people's views on a particular idea (the regulation of words), not to start fights, or heavy-duty discussions of race relations. It's not that I mind having that type of conversation, but someone may get hurt or offended, especially as some might take advantage of the anonymity provided by the internet - and I don't want to see that happen.
For those who'd like to know more about the article in question, please click on the link, or click on this link to read an opinion piece posted on the topic on BBC.
