The “N” Word

Upon reading works of fiction, such as Of Mice and Men, Grapes of Wrath, The Land, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the reader comes face-to face with the notorious “N” word. The general public knows that this is a slur coming into use when there was slavery with the African Americans in the eighteen hundreds. The term was also used up to the sixties, but is still in use today; sometimes as a joke and others as the true meaning. But what is wrong with using this term in books? Some parents oppose schools that support books with using the racial slur.

"There needs to be an examination of these words that elementary school kids are reading," said Darryl Brown, who lives in Live Oak in northeast Hillsborough. "I want them pulled." But the thing this, when is it appropriate to use the word, if we cannot use the word in historical fiction books? Why isn’t it okay to depict the time period?

“Let me put it this way, since others typically use their cultures/experiences to measure the African-American experience: what's the difference between "bitch," "fag," "kike," or "nigger"? Certainly, each word has led to hardship. There have been women, homosexuals and Jews (and the list could go on) who have been oppressed and murdered (the ultimate oppression) by others who have used these "obscene" terms against them,” states Richard Thompson, who is African American and says the banning the “n” word wouldn’t make any sense.

There are several sides to it, but I don’t think it should be banned unless it is used inappropriately. But there are also other offensive terms such as “cracker”, “spick”, “and fag”, that should be used appropriately too, but we all know that that is not possible in our culture.