Mr. Nigga

The whole N-word controversy really only stems from the innate belief that Black folks are too ignorant to formulate language and to know what they mean when they speak. No language anywhere is static. If people use a language and their geography changes, their economy changes, their circumstances change, then that language is GOING to be affected. New words are formed as new ideas occur.

This is one of the basic ideas behind anthropology. Anthropologists ideally want to study a culture, including its language, without any outside influence to avoid what they consider contamination. African cultures after the diaspora that spread its people all over this planet underwent a change. They could not stay the same. The languages of the people snatched from their homes and taken to The New World underwent all sorts of change. Cultures clashed violently and like any oppressed people, those who were and who had been slaves took their small victories where they could get them.

Now, consider this: I'm from Detroit. Detroit's first Black mayor was elected in 1970, the year of my birth. My entire existence has been in an environment where the descendants of slaves who are my people were self-aware and self-governing. In that environment, the word 'nigga', as it was used, was & is different than the word "nigger".

Now, this is the part where you start squirming in your chair and declare that, based on your experience, this is semantics. You cannot wrap your mind around this. Even though, you call your female friend your "friendgirl" rather than your "girlfriend" to avoid confusion, you can't see it. Even though you can call your best male friend "ya boy", but would be insulted with him if a White man called him 'boy', you don't comprehend.

So, let me just make it clear to you and to those knucklehead White folks who are clamoring to use the word because we can. I can say 'nigga'. I'm not saying 'the N-word". Fuck that. I know what I mean when I say it. My boy knows what I mean when I say it. That is the essence of communication in this changed English language, Urban American dialect. Until you understand the proper usage, context and differentiation between 'nigga' and 'nigger', you can't use the word. It's one of those things like the "'i' before 'e', except after 'c' rule". It doesn't have to make sense. It can even not apply sometimes. Just roll with it.