the "nigga" police

"why do i call myself a nigga you ask me/cause police always wanna harrass me" - mc ren

So, it's Saturday night. You're chilling out with friends watching college football at a local bar. Drinking, laughing, basically kicking it! There's lots of loud conversation and horseplay. Somewhere during the discourse you or one of your friends does the unimaginable; YOU SAY THE WORD "NIGGA". Suddenly everyone in the bar stops talking. We start to hear police sirens in the distance. Growing closer, and closer, and closer! Tires squeal. Sirens stop. Sound of two car doors slamming. Red and blue lights spinning light up the dark parking lot. The front door flies open. Two middle aged men bust into the bar, guns drawn. Their names, Rev. Al Sharpton & Rev. Jesse Jackson. They run up on the culprit and yell FREEZE! They read him his rights, hancuff him, and drag him away to "Being A Bad Nigga Prison". What you've just witnessed is a sign of the times. And clearly illustrates what most would love to see happen, any and every time you use the word..."nigga".

At the heart of the "nigga" debate is a growing and ever widening generation gap. On one side you have the civil rights generation. These are the people who marched and fought against blantant racist and the word "nigger". They were hosed down, bitten by dogs, spit on, and were dehumanized for the sake of one cause, ending racism. For them, to embrace the word "nigga" or "nigger" on any level is beyond taking a step back, it's to demean their work and their movement. On the other hand you have the hip hop generation, who politically have no movement. Not only that, but hip hop generally embraces "nigga" as every day slang, a term of endearment, and a way of saying they are the people of the struggle; the have nots, the forgotten, the voiceless. For hip hop, "nigger" is not even part of the conversation, because it has that little relevance in their daily lives. Yet, the word "nigga" seems to hold a rawness or rebelliousness that fits right in with the expressive nature of hip hop. Over the past year, it seems like every other week, said rapper is defending "nigga" and freedom of expression, while people like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are holding mock burials to rid the world of the word altogether. Ultimately, both sides may have a point.

Sesquicentenial. This is a word that we'll see in the news a lot in the coming years, it means 150. That's right, in 2015, black people in America will celebrate their sesquicentenial, 150 years free from slavery. When I think about all the progress that has been made in that time, and all the racism that sill exist, it really puts into perspective just how short amount of time has truly passed. We're basically talking about four generations of people. That's all! No wonder "nigga" is still a hot topic, it should be, but so should the real problem, slavery. Slavery is the untold secret of our country. It's barely discussed in our history books. And the little that is discussed is condensed into some Black History Month tribute. Whereas every major city in America has a holocaust museum, where mandatory class field trips take students to learn about the Jewish plight, the same can not be said for the African-American holocaust. Slavery is skimmed over in our country because it makes too many people uncomfortable. White people don't want to be reminded of their wicked ancestors. And black people, who have never really accepted the horrors of our past, want to distance themselves as far away from those painful memories as possible. Our only constant reminder slavery even happened today, is "nigger" and "nigga". And for that alone, I say thank God for the n-word.

"i'm just telling you, it's uncomfortable to me. i don't like it when black people say it to me, i really don't no more" - richard pryor

If the "n" word stings, hurts, or makes you uncomfortable, good! It should. Because slavery stung, hurt, and was beyond uncomfortable. And the racism that is alive today still stings, hurts, and is beyond uncomfortable as well. But guess what Al and Jesse, it goes far beyond the word "nigger". If that word was never said again in life, we'd still hear it in the gun blasts every time a racist cop shot an unarmed black man. We'd hear it in the slam of the gavel every time a falsely convicted black person was sent to prison. And we'd hear it if we deciphered the words when corporate America justifies their lack of minority employees by saying "there just aren't enough qualified black candidates". You see, "nigger" is the fever that proceeds the flu. In other words, it's simply a symptom of a greater problem, racism and ignorance. And just like the flu, each year racism and ignorance advances and comes back stronger. Although it may keep many of the same old symptoms, it does develop new ones. So "nigger" is simply the sypmtom of racism recognized and watched by the the Civil Rights generation. While "nigga" isn't necessarily viewed as a symptom of racism or even ignorance by hip hoppers. Instead they see things like unfair hiring practices, discriminatory hair and dress codes, and racial profiling by police as the symptoms to watch for. And many even believe "nigga" is a part of the cure. Some would argue, by saying the word, although you can't change its history, you can definitely take away the power it holds today. And uh, if you haven't guessed it, those people would definitely not be Rev. Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson.

Queensbridge rapper Nas will weigh in on the debate in December with his instantly controversial titled cd "Nigger".

So what does it all mean? It simply means, WE AIN'T THERE YET! We have not arrived black people. Racism is still real, and people died to end it. So yes, I'm as pissed off as Al or Jesse when I hear a 12 year old screaming out to his friend with a big ole loud NIGGAAAAAA! There are also times when I'm blazay blah about it when hanging out with the homies, "what up my nigga!" Some months I create a "nigga-free" zone and refuse to say the word, or play music with the word in it. Other months I'm saying it and playing it so much, I feel like Paul Mooney and can actually see it making my teeth whiter. But at least I'm happy to say this is a black debate. For white people the rules are and have been very clear for a long time. Say the word if you choose, but beware of the consequences. See KKKramer. All I know is, if we all knew our history and got more active to end racism, maybe the word would mean a little more to us. And if the world we're living in today was truly a better place, maybe the word would have no real significance in these days and times. But on both counts, WE AIN'T THERE YET. And since I'm bound to say "nigga" a few more times in my life, I got one thing to say to all you folks dropping a dime on me to the "nigga" police... stop snitching NIGGAS!!! One luv.