I
feel like I should answer this out of respect to those who both came before me
historically, and those who commented on this stat.
You
are "niggers" do not ever make the mistake, or marginalize what we
have done as a people by laying to rest the very word that has defined you
since you people came here. While I agree with about the struggles we have
faced, to remove the word from our triumphs both negates our successes and
leaves our past forever stained. We are responsible as a people to correct
history, to teach our value to those who cannot see it. To love ourselves and
each other the way our leaders have always intended. Burying our past, laying to
rest who we are, will never all us the peace we seek.
For
all of the struggles of; the civil rights movement, and of slavery, the
contributions of the "black church", the "militants" and
the Muslim it was the "nigga" who went to college and joined corporate
America at a rate higher than any time in history. It was the "nigga"
and their misogynistic music that made crack in the ghetto a taboo; it was the
nigga who turned every sport on its ear. It was the nigga and their education,
and physical prowess, and hard work at long hours on assembly lines that built
this country, and its middle class. We have struggled, we have survived and we
are here.
So
when I say “my nigga”... that is my victory. That is my negative turned into
positive, their hate turned into our self love. We are the only people asked to
forget and bury our past, Jew was a racial slur in this country in the 40s they
turned it into worldwide empire. "Nigga" is a reminder of where we
were, where we are, and how much further we have to go. Do not encourage your
children t "embrace their African culture" there is no such thing.
Africa is a continent, with many countries; those countries have many different
cultures. We gorge ourselves at Afro-Centralism as if it were a buffet, filling
our plates with starches, sweets, and improperly prepared meats. Africa is
hardly healthy for us.
We
need more home cooked meals. We need to know our history, Tulsa, Lynching, Jim
Crow, the 80's, we need to know and learn the word "Nigger." In my
opinion we need to use the word more, it makes whites uncomfortable because of
what this country has done in the past. It instills a fear of uprising, it
separates them from us culturally. No matter how "cool" one of our
white friends may be, will they say the word openly without fear of offending?
I am not preaching separatism but I am advocating having our own, and honoring
that dream. I wish sincerely in my heart Jay-Z, Barak Obama, Lebron James,
Colin Powell, Cornell West, Tavis Smiley and Tiger Woods ... etc finally said
openly, America the only place in the world that does not respect our skin,
THAT WE ARE NIGGERS and that they should look at us now!
What
would that word mean then? What pride would our children take in seeing what
they've done? What history would they understand in identifying with that past?
That moment would do more to heal the open sores of our history, and bring our
communities together than any amount of prayer, education, or reparations ever
could. But we have been raised to fear what we are, separate our past, from our
future, and we hate each other as vehemently as we hate our oppressors, we are
our oppressors. Ignorant to the fact our future lies in embracing our past,
conquering our demons and relegating many of us to the moniker "Nigger."
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