Create West Virginia

How would you fill in the blank?

Neighbor? Nemesis? N****r?

If you chose that last one, you may be a hip hop artist, or a devotee of one. 

How did it come to happen that one of the most notorious racial epithets in the English language – one that the Civil Rights Generation fought hard to relegate to the realm of a racist fringe and that most people, especially “good, sensitive” white people, would be terrified to utter in public, even if they had permission – has become a mainstream term in much of rap music and a term of endearment between African Americans?

(Or, more precisely, when did white Americans come to realize the use of this term among African Americans?) 

The answer, if there is one, can be very confusing. A mix of generational and racial perspectives, the influence of a rebellious hip hop culture that sought to co-opt the word while establishing their own sense of identity and purpose, and corporate media interests interested in selling downloads and advertising all have a part to play.

Similar to the way the gay community has sought to co-opt “queer” in its fight for equality (and isn’t it interesting that the white author of this blog post feels comfortable writing out “queer”, but not “n*****”?) or lower-class rural white people may call refer to themselves as “hillbilly” with pride, the N Word has developed into a perplexing term where the rules for its use are quite precarious.

Recently, a school teacher in Chicago was suspended for using it during a “teachable moment” in his high school class. Yet Jay-Z, a music icon most of the same students probably have on their iPods and who is celebrated by many white media critics, laces his music with the term.

Why does this even matter to most (including white) Americans?

For several reasons. One, because as noted above, similar notorious, derogatory terms are shifting in their meaning depending on the context; this conversation may shine light on these larger trends. Second, because our social media addicted, anonymous blog posting, reality TV-soaked culture is fostering a disrespectful norm; we’re in danger of raising a generation that may have no skills whatsoever in speaking to others in a civil tone. But who gets to judge what is “civil”? Third, many feel the gap between generations has been driven wider than ever before because of our lack of community inter-connectedness.

Benjamin Lee Whorf said, “Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about.”  This is a language issue, a thinking issue and a cultural issue.

Create WV, as a grassroots initiative to grow West Virginia’s capacity for innovation through technology, diversity, education, quality of place and entrepreneurship, is deeply interested in these types of conversations. That’s why our youth engagement program called The Block Project and the First Family Foundation have partnered to hold a very provocative and important conversation on February 26, 6PM – 9PM at West Virginia State University’s Student Union entitled Breaking Generational Barriers: A Discussion about the “N” Word.

Yes, part of this is inspired by Black History Month. But mostly it’s in response to a growing realization that “black” history is really also “American” history, and we would all benefit from these types of conversations.

Whether you are of the 60’s Civil Rights Generation who feels mortified that young people entertain this word, or a young person who uses it extensively and can’t understand what the fuss is about, or a very confused person in between, we invite you. White or black, adult or teen-ager: Please, come to this open, respectful discussion.

Our honored panel speakers will interact extensively with the audience to develop this conversation, including:

• Dr. Gail Mosby, Chair and Associate Professor at West Virginia State University’s Department of Sociology
• Carl Chadband and Toure Johnson of KISRA (Kanawha Institute for Social Research and Action)
• Reverend Ron English
• Jeff James, Chair/Co-Founder, Create WV and CEO of Mythology
• Theresa Horton, Marshall University student and The Block Project alumnus
• K Kutta, a hip hop artist from Huntington  

 Please register today, and bring your family, friends and colleagues. Bring a church or civic youth group. But come most of all with an open mind and positive spirit so we can chip away at those generational barriers and come to a more positive understanding of how to communicate with each other.