Whispers.
Starting quietly. Said under somebody’s breath, passed between friends like it doesn’t matter.
Laughter.
A joke. Seems harmless because no one reacts. They said it without even thinking about what it means.
Silence.
Staying quiet when the word is said. Ignoring it, because it’s easier to let it fade for comfort.
Most words disappear as quickly as they are heard, vanishing with every murmur and chuckle.
But some words can’t disappear. History won’t let it. It lingers through the halls. It’s etched into the walls. Carried through time as a constant reminder.
There is one word that can never disappear. It’s more than a sound that rolls off the tongue so naturally. The N-word wasn’t created for slang or to make music sound smoother. It comes from a time where the dehumanization of Black people was expected. Stripping them of their identity, reducing them to nothing more than property. As time passed the power of the word didn’t go away. It stayed.
Despite this, the word still echoes hallways. Some may believe that it’s just a word. That it’s okay because it’s in their favorite song. Or that their Black friend still says it. But this ignorance doesn’t take away the meaning. The lack of understanding where it comes from doesn’t change the impact. It only makes the foolishness louder.
The word has always been a tool of oppression. It’s used to degrade, control, and influence inequalities. It justifies a racial hierarchy that puts white people at the top.
The word carries a complex history.
These roots run too deep to just cut.
No matter how casual this word is spoken into the world today. Its history is embedded into every syllable.
At the same time, some controversies have arisen with the Black community using it as a form of endearment. But this reclamation is not erasing its history. It is using the barriers that they have been given as Black people and molding into a brother and sisterhood.
Instead of representing laziness, it has been shifted into a word that reflects culture, resilience, and identity. The meaning shifts within a shared experience of oppression.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) believes that the usage of the word is ultimately harmful and should never be used in any media and artistic performances that don’t highlight the “prejudicial nature” of the word.
This argument is only up to individuals within the Black community for they have been the most affected by this word in society.
Although the Black community has reclaimed the word, it doesn’t justify the usage of it by any one who isn’t Black. Those who have never experienced the systemic racism surrounding the word, don’t have the opportunity to use it.
They don’t get to separate themselves from its history and they cannot pick and choose when it’s harmful and harmless. The ignorance of that reality does not remove the weight of the word.
That’s why every time you hear this word today you have to consider the history and how harmful it was back then and how harmful it can be today.
Another thing to consider is the psychological impact of the N-word. Psychologist Kevin Cokley explores this ideology. It started by reviewing a white person’s first memory of bullying versus a Black person. In every scenario, the Black person’s first experience was with the N-word.
Cokley quotes Malcom X in which he said, “Malcolm X once famously asked, “What do you call an educated negro with a B.A. or an M.A., with a B.S. or a Ph.D.? The answer? You call him a n@#$$, because that is what the white man calls him, a n@#$$.”
The purpose of saying this was to show how the N-word has always been a weaponized tool. In doing so it has been molded to psychologically affect Black people for such a prolonged amount of time, and it greatly contributes to the racial trauma of a Black person.
This psychological impact goes beyond immediate harm. It reinforces the idea that a Black person’s identity is defined by their race. It echoes this past that can never be forgotten. In which understanding this past isn’t about restriction, but respect.
Because some words can never fade and be forgotten.
They stay.
Forever.
