High School Students Get Lesson on the 'N-Word'

Modern-day usage of the controversial "N-word" was the topic of debate last Friday at Weequahic High School for the "N-word Remixed," a discussion that centered around whether the word still carries a derogatory meaning among those who use it.

The hour-long forum included a mix of opinions from panelists Dr. Akil Kalfani, chairperson of Essex County College's Africana Institute, hip-hop artist Hakim Green, Star-Ledger columnist Mark DiIonno, and Weequahic seniors Ashley Payne and Shaquille Henry. Bashir Akinyele, history teacher at Weequahic and a member of the school's Black History Month Committee, moderated the event.

Some said the "N-word" has been redefined, used now as a term of endearment that actually empowers those who use it, while others argued the word should still be considered a racial slur, carrying nothing more than a degrading meaning.

Kalfani and Green went head to head on how black history relates to the current meaning of the "N-word," the only topic of the debate upon which the two men agreed.

The word is deeply connected to when it was used derogatorily to refer to black slaves, Kalfani said. Time does not necessarily strip the "N-word" of that racist meaning.

"We have to think about all the social implications of the words that we use," he said.

Green countered with a look into the etymological meaning behind the "N-word," saying it is derived from the Egyptian word N-g-r, meaning God, and the Ethiopian word for king, Negash. In that context, the "N-word" is stripped of its demeaning definition when used in present day.

"The word (itself) is not bad. Bad people are using it in the wrong way," said Green.

Opinions among the younger generation were divided, too.

Payne said the "N-word" is a term of endearment rather than a sign of disrespect, while Green called kids who use the word "ignorant" of its negative connotation.

"Me going around calling someone who has my skin color the 'N-word' is like me being a slave and calling my own brothers the 'N-word,'" Green said.

"It's kind of like me taking a whip and whipping your back," he added to roaring applause.

Usage of the "N-word" as a racial slur was prevalent among white people who blamed the blacks for the 1967 riots, six days of looting and destruction that forever changed the social and economic landscape of the city, said DiIonno. He likened the "N-word" to the word "bitch," both terms being equally disrespectful and derogatory to a particular group.

"When you're out there slinging that word around in your city … you're feeding into a mythology that identifies your area," said DiIonno, the only white panelist. "The image of this city is in your hands."

Black activists and groups have come out against usage of the "N-word," like the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) which famously held a public "burial" for the term in 2007. That same year, New York City drafted a formal resolution banning the word (though there is currently no penalty for using it) and prominent black leaders the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have both disapproved of the term.

But at Weequahic High School, a predominately black school in Newark's South Ward, the jury is still out. The debate ended with a handful students airing their views, neither side outweighing the other. One student, who is half black and white, said she freely calls her friends the "N-word" because of the literal meaning from which it's derived.

"In Spanish, it's negro, which means black. And black is beautiful, black is powerful," she said. "So, I feel like if I'm black, I'm a n---a. I'm beautiful, I'm powerful."