N***a.
Most Whites won’t dare say it, even while some think it or use it as a racial slur.
Blacks are divided. Some find it an expression of a family bond, others a reminder of bondage.
For Dallas teacher, Curtis Ferguson, it was the latter, an offensive word, causing psychological harm to our African-American youths each time they casually employed the word. And he blamed it on all the rappers who used it in their songs, and the scholars who felt the more the word was used the less power it would hold over Blacks. So Ferguson exerted his power, in homage to his hero, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The teacher fasted for four days. From Friday until Monday, King’s birthday. His way to bring attention to the issue and encourage African American youths to stop calling themselves n***as.
Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
For Mr. Ferguson.
I stopped using n***a a while ago. Its use in rap songs, as well as the words ‘bitch’ and ‘ho,’ is tired. But I’ll admit when Aaron McGruder says n***a in Boondocks, it seems dead on right. Like a teaching tool.
N***a.
N***as.
N***ers.
But unless I turn on some Hot 97 or Power 93. something or KISS 103. on your dial, or pay some hard-earned dollars to hear Fiddy, Luda, or Game, the chance n***a, n***as, and/or n***ers will cross into my audio or visual sphere are slim, nil, and none. Aside from the Dallas Morning News article on Mr. Ferguson on January 13, I saw the word in only one other article on a hate crime in the Daily News.
In contrast, 24/7/365, via our televisions, newspapers, magazines, politicians, books, friends, families, schools, churches, radios, musicians, newscasters, ministers, athletes, internet, pundits, commentators, coworkers, managers, educators, school children, … 297,932,314 Americans, 36,419,434 African Americans are exposed to and accept the concept that people of color are inferior, at best marginal to Whites.
While n***a, n***as, and/or n***ers may be offensive, the word ‘minority’ is lethal.
‘Minority’ is the lethal ‘N’ word.
‘Minority’ – noun …
… Dictionary.Com – (1) a relatively small group of people, especially one commonly discriminated against in a community, society, or nation, differing from others in race, religion, language, or political persuasion. (2) A group having little power or representation relative to other groups within a society.
… Merriam Webster On-line – a part of a population differing from others in some characteristics and often subjected to differential treatment.
… Cambridge Dictionaries On-line – any small group in society that is different from the rest because of their race, religion or political beliefs, or a person who belongs to such a group.
In other words, everyone is a minority of something.
In reality … all Blacks, African-Americans, Negroes, or coloreds.
Except me. I’m not an ethnic minority.
Let me repeat that …
I … AM … NOT … AN … ETHNIC MINORITY.
Don’t call me that. Don’t choose to be that. Don’t want to be that. Don’t use that. Cuz I am not that.
I AM NOT A MINORITY.
And who coined that term to describe Blacks, African-Americans, Negroes, and coloreds in the first place?
I guarantee you it wasn’t a Black, African-American, Negro, or colored.
Minority.
It’s derogatory.
It’s a red flag that says you’re under the glass ceiling looking above at the good other folks – who don’t look like Blacks, African-Americans, Negroes, and coloreds.
It connotes an image of inferiority and pegs one into a stereotype. It is a deliberate insidious part of the American culture that effectively binds an important segment of society; by brainwashing a group of people – the Blacks, African-Americans, Negroes, and coloreds – from realizing their excellence.
“It’s a program for women and minorities.”
“It’s a minority set aside.”
“Minorities will benefit from this program.”
And Blacks, African-Americans, Negroes and coloreds are as much a part of the problem as the solution since we allow ourselves to be labeled.
When the book Cracking the Corporate Code: The Revealing Success Stories of 32 African-American Executives” by Price Cobbs and Judith Turnock, came out, the St. Louis Post Dispatch in its May 4, 2003 issue showcased six of the executives. They all discussed the challenges facing Blacks, African-Americans, Negroes, and coloreds and touted the proven culture and economic benefits of diversity. Four of the executives used the word minority in referring to Blacks, African-Americans, Negroes, and coloreds. These executives were successful people who were a minority to no one. Yet even they saw themselves a ‘minority.’ Inferior. I wondered, how much more could they do for themselves, for Blacks, African-Americans, Negroes, and coloreds, if their minds were not shackled by that word?
Think this is a joke?
“You’re only as strong as your weakest link.”
Bishop Charles E. Blake of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles once said in a Sunday sermon, “When you say something is impossible, you have already denied yourself the ability to reach the possible.” Amen. Amen.
Tell a child he is smart and he will try to prove you right.
Tell a group of people you are a ‘minority’ (not good enough to be a ‘majority’) or you’re in the ‘minority’ (never will be a ‘majority’), you cut their balls before the game begins. Their behavior will reflect the attributes of one in a ‘minority.’ Sound familiar? This is not about political correctness.
Minority. What was the color or gender of the first image that came into your mind?
Minority. Did any part of your thought include “this must be about something bad?”
Minority. Did you think ‘not good enough’ or ‘inferior?’
I stopped saying the word minority even before I stopped saying n***a. Yes, that’s how insidious I recognized the word to be. I stopped when Bryant Gumble did a week of Today shows from Africa. For one week, every Black person I knew got up early and went to work late. For one week, we watched, as normally all pro Bryant was reduced to child like joy because it had taken him years to get Today to even agree to the trip. Then at the end of the week, as he struggled to hold back tears, in his signoff Bryant used the word minority. I can’t remember the context, but he used it to refer to Blacks, African-Americans, Africans, or Negroes. Not coloreds because in Africa those are the biracials, the mulattos. A step above the Blacks, African-Americans, Africans, and Negroes. A vile anger churned in my gut. After a week of watching the glory and joy of my ancestral county and its descendants, in a land where we were the majority, even Bryant saw us as a minority. Inferior.
Last year, Hispanics became the majority in Texas. They’re still called minorities.
This evening ESPN analysts, some Black, discussed how many minorities might get head coaching positions in the NFL.
We’re worrying about being called actual n***as, when we’re still treating our own selves as n***as in our own minds.
Yeah, I’m laughing. Too tired for tears.
It’s time we use Black, African-American, Negro. Please. And truthfully, I apply ‘Negro please’ to all ethnicities that do dumb acts in my presence and expect me to buy it. “Negro puh leeze.”
When discussing more than one non-white ethnicity, it is ‘people of color.’ You can make it work. Give is a little effort.
Or continue worrying about n***a, n***as, and/or n***ers. But while the argument ensues regarding whether those words on records harm our youth, the constant and accepted use of ‘minority’ as applied to people of color, such as Blacks, African-Americans, Negroes and coloreds, will continue to be a detriment to our whole race.
Oops, someone just said it again … and again … and again …
I may be short, I may be fat, I may be Black, I may be phat,
but I’m not a minority; I’m a majority, a majority of ONE.
I can do all, I can choose none, it doesn’t matter, for I am ONE,
a majority, not a minority, of ONE.
I am a person of color, African-American, Black.
I carry titles and degrees, so if you need you can call me that.
You can call me James and Ruthie’s youngest, Genie’s sister, or friend.
If you’re lucky you can call me Renee’.
If you’re blessed you may even learn my first name (not).
But don’t, ever, call me a minority.
Then it’s Ms. West, whether you please.
It’s not a request.
