The N Word

This has nothing to do with firefighting, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the “N word” lately.

Forced to, actually.

A twenty-something kid moved in with his aunt across the street recently, and he likes to park his BMW on the front driveway, car doors swung wide open with the stereo playing at deafening volume, the thrumming bass subwoofers neatly rearranging tchotchke on every living room end table. Gangsta rap, replete with violent imagery, obscene lyrics, and yes—the “N word.”

Have to admit—I don’t get it. I thought that word was offensive. Why is it off-limits to the main of our society but ok for a certain subculture? For the former, the word was once a tool of oppression and marginalization. But for the latter, it has been co-opted to become the language of defiance. It now carries with it the implied threat of violence. Through these lyrics, the kid is, in effect, issuing a challenge to the rest of the neighborhood: Whatdya gonna do about it? The entire street is cowed into tacit submission.

Some might argue that by adopting this once denigrating word, it is somehow empowering for this subculture. But that’s disingenuous. It has become the language of intimidation, of revenge.

When I hear the familiar rhythmic thump, I close the windows, close the blinds, and keep the kids inside. Rap music in the front yard may seem like a benign example. But when in public, if I hear a group of young men throwing around this word, I move off. It’s no mystery who is the ultimate focus of their simmering, self-righteous anger.

The great Dr. Martin Luther King (whose birthday is commemorated with a national holiday) envisioned a word of colorblindness and equality—equal access and equal opportunity—not generations of retribution. He did not advocate merely turning the tables.

I’m not naïve; I fully acknowledge that racism still exists in this country. But it exists virtually everywhere, among every culture. It is not particular to any one group. Racism is no more pronounced here than elsewhere, and it is certainly not this country’s most pressing problem.

And an offensive word is an offensive word.