For me the bottom line behind the N word is respect (and lack of respect). It was the lack of respect this word showed that caused so much pain in the past, and it is the lack of respect that it continues to show that is causing problems and controversy today. Ultimately, we can't really control who uses the N word and how they use it. Like my mom used to tell me when I was a kid, I have control of myself, but my control really ends there. I can control what I say, but there's no way for me to control what anyone else says.
Wittengenstien described language as a maze, I may know what is acceptable with the N word in one part of the maze (the way my family treated the N word growing up, which was not to use it at all), but I don't know what may be acceptable in a different part of the maze (the way a black family in dominantly black neighborhood in L.A. might treat it). Ultimately, each of us has to make a decision about whether we will or will not use the N word. For me, the decision is easy: I won't use it in public or private conversation because of the lack of respect it carries. May we respect others as each of makes our decision.
2 comments:
Bringing up the maze made me think about how I feel about the N word and how my grandma's feel about. They feel they can use it. They grew up in a different time and with a different outlook on the black community. Every man for his own I guess.I cannot reshape the maze they've created, I can only control my own.
Thank you! Sometimes using language and deciding what my own views on the N word are does feel like a confusing maze and I usually don't know what to say or how to justify my actions and/or decisions. I agree that at some point we all have to make our own decision based upon our own morals and then stick to it. Way to go! I, along with you, have made my own decision not to use the N-word.
Post a Comment