Book Review continued - country (not county), this word is a problem, regardless of that side of the line you're on. At the time I wished sincerely that someone had actually written a book like that, I remember thinking how much I wanted to read it, and how annoyed I was that is was just a "pretend" book for the show. Then, I discovered that the book was in fact, a reality. Randall Kennedy is a Rhodes Scholar Harvard graduate, and an author of several other books, all slightly less controversial than his latest. He spent over five years researching for this book, and he has been quoted confessing to reporters that, "The more I learned about this word, the more research I did, the angrier I got". Mr. Kennedy was very thorough in his book. He dives into a variety of angles including the origin of the word, the growth of its use, and the social / legal ramifications. I took a very personal interest in this book. I was always curious at the boundary this word erected between my friends and myself when we came from different backgrounds. I learned very early that it was not a term I could use without offending a great number of people, and eventually, became too intimidated by six little letters to ask why.
While Randall Kennedy never directly answers the question, "Should whites be allowed to say the n-word?" he does explain why the word has gained so much power through the centuries, and perhaps, put the word into perspective for every reader. You can't take words away, forbid the use of them; this nation was not built on such principals. I don't think that getting rid of vocabulary is the answer to this situation, but I think that education is. A friend of mine once explained it in a way I will not soon forget. She told me that being called the n-word, always felt like a slap in the face, one with just a little more force, and a little more venom than a slap could ever hold. When we were kids, we were always told that the pen is mightier than the sword. Perhaps its time to teach the next generations, that the voice can at times be more powerful than the hand. |
