Lawmaker Pushes to Ban the "N" Word

Lawmaker Leroy Comrie (D-Queens) introduced a resolution to the New York City Council yesterday calling for New Yorkers to stop using the controversial racial slur that has become commonly used in the hip hop community, the free daily newspaper AM New York reported. Comrie was joined at the new conference by Kurtis Blow, one of hip hop's first mainstream stars, and Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, former Director of the New York Urban League. Also present were representatives from the nonprofit organization Abolish the N Word, which is launching an essay writing competition in New York City schools to encourage young people to address the subject.

"The use of the N-word probably pales in the face of so many other ills, but our fight is simply not against a word _ it is a war that we are waging against a mentality that continues within the African-American community, to accept less," said Jill Merritt, a founder of the group.

The "N" word has a long and storied history in America. It originates from the Latin word Niger, which means black, and was used by 17^th century Europeans to describe darker skinned people of the society. Prior to the use of the word Niger (which is negré in French or negro in Spanish), dark skinned people were referred to as Moors. Historians and scholars posit that slave owners in the American south mispronounced the original word as "nigger," and therefore became regarded as derogatory term by people of color.

Since that time, the N word has lived a dichotomous life. While many African Americans have considered it a racial epithet, still others have used it to describe themselves and refer to one another. African American comedians, from Redd Foxx to Richard Pryor to Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock, have historically used the word in their routines. With the emergence of "gangsta rap" in the early 1990's, the word "nigga" became increasingly more acceptable in the hip hop community, and is now commonly used by young hip hop fans of all races as a term of endearment. In 2003, the NAACP successfully influenced lexicographers to change the dictionary definition to no longer refer to African-Americans. The controversy over the use of the word returned to the forefront last year when actor Michael Richards, who played Kramer on the hit television series Seinfeld, used the term repeatedly in a verbal assault on a patron at a night club where he was performing.

The Council is expected to vote on the largely symbolic resolution at the end of February.

SOURCE: www.abolishthenword.org