Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones...

But Names Don't Bother Me?

By Kwame S. Salter

Incident

“Once riding in old Baltimore,

Heart-filled, head-filled with glee;

I saw a Baltimorean

Keep looking straight at me.

Now I was eight and very small,

And he was no whit bigger,

And so I smiled, but he poked out

His tongue, and called me nigger

I saw the whole of Baltimore

From May until December;

Of all the things that happened there

That’s all that I remember”

By Countee Cullen

Countee Cullen was a leading voice of the prolific Harlem Renaissance period during the 1920's. His powerful poem, above, masterfully displays the confusion, hurt and bewilderment every black child experiences when first assaulted with the N-Word. Perhaps the most poignant line in the poem is… “And I smiled, but he poked out his tongue and called me nigger.” It is a sad commentary on American society that every black parent, still, must either prepare his/her child to expect this assault or be ready to explain to the child why they were assaulted in the first place. How this word gained such destructive power requires that we remember the ‘peculiar institution’ of American slavery. Although humankind has enslaved one another for thousands of years all over the planet, it was the insidious and dehumanizing character of American slavery that set it apart in history. 

In America, not only was the black slave considered chattel property by the owner but also was, naturally, to be considered inferior to all whites—even the poorest and most disenfranchised white person. American slavery both dehumanized and marginalized the enslaved African and forever defined the relationship between whites and blacks in this country. And one word, nigger, was used to remind both groups who was in charged and who was fully human. The word became both a command and a curse. For whites, the word became a vessel for succinctly communicating disdain, hatred and innate superiority over blacks. For blacks, the word felt like a sharp stick being used to pick open a festering wound. Ironically, like so many other ethnic groups, blacks began to use the word as either the ultimate put down with each other or, as some maintain, as a “term of endearment.”

   

Yet, I still cringe when I hear a Polish person refer to another Pole as a “polack”; an Italian casually labeling someone a “dago;”or a Mexican refer to another as a “wetback.” Back in the day when I was growing up, the worst thing one black could call another in a fit of anger was “a black nigger.” During the 70’s and 80’s a slight twist on the use of the word surfaced. Black men, among themselves, begin to refer to their best friends and running buddies as “my ace boon coon” or just simply, “my niggah.”  On the surface, this new usage seemed to drain the word of some of its invectiveness. Still, even with the sense of hatred and insult minimized, the concept of ownership persisted-e.g.,Bobo is “my niggah.” Today, rap artists, athletes and some movie actors use the term in public forums with such ease and frequency that some whites claim that they have become confused. They want to know why you can refer to yourselves with such a vile term; and when is it appropriate for them, as whites, to use the term in describing you? Well, that is a good question. 

Should today’s whites be given a pass if they end the word with ‘gah’ instead of ‘ger’?  My response is no. In fact, we as black people need to, effective immediately, stop using either form. I have heard the ‘context argument’. In other words, if the white person is using the term, like Riley Cooper, in a threatening and violent context should they be condemned and/or sanctioned. What if a black person uses the term in an identical context? Should they be punished?  My answer in both situations is yes. When used in a threatening and/or violent context, the term because material evidence of assault. The legal definition of assault is a “physical or verbal attack: a violent physical or verbal attack threat of bodily harm: an unlawful threat or attempt to do violence or harm to somebody else.” Given the legal definition, the use of the N-Word simply identifies the target of the intended assault.

 What if, as Paula Deen maintains, the term was used in a fit of anger because of an assault against her? Same answer from me, No! Why would you think to classify the assailant using a derogatory racial term?  Paula Deen is a southern woman and knows the how the N-Word has historically been used by her forefathers. She was not giving a description of the alleged assailant—but rather giving vent to a deep seeded sense that her superiority had been violated.  The Philadelphia Eagles’ Riley Cooper’s videotaped rant about “fighting all the niggers” was both racist and absurd. Outside of the security guard, why would his anger extend to “all the niggers?” He sounded like the old Massa who declared he was going to ‘whup all dem niggers’ because one of them stepped out of line. And, most recently, Richie Incognito of the Miami Dolphins, apparently, bullied his black teammate  and used the N-Word with impunity in the Dolphin's locker room and during actual games. His black teammates were fine with his behavior because they  had made him an "honorary brother!" Go figure. Now, if the NFL tries to reduce/contain this latest incident to a specific team's locker room, they are are being duplicitous. As Malcolm X once observed, "if your closet is dirty, your entire house is dirty."

  

Why, you might ask, is this topic  important enough to write about it in a Human Resources oriented blog? Well, for me, the challenge facing black people in all walks of American life is how are we really viewed—as individuals or as a racial monolith? Are we ever truly seen and/or evaluated as individuals and judged by the “content of our character?”Knowing the historical legacy of the word, how can we hope to compete on a level playing field? What images do you conjure up in your mind when you think of a nigger? At what point does the constant use of the word in the workplace reach the level of harassment? Or, is sexual harassment the only harassment that counts in the workplace?

Racial/gender epithets are dangerous shortcuts to thinking. Would you refer to your mother, wife and/or daughter as “bitches” just because you hear it used so easily on ‘Real Housewives of Wherever ‘or in a rap song? Would you say to wife you were using the B-word as a term of endearment? Try explaining to a high potential female employee that you and your team have had some bad experiences with ‘bitches’—and, thus would prefer not to work with one?  I don’t think so. Recruitment, hiring, assignment and promotional decisions are all influenced by racial myths, traditions and stereotypes. The casual use of the N-Word is more pernicious and damaging to how we are viewed and treated in society than we realize.  Wake Up Everybody!