The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn't, and Why

I found this book to be very interesting and full of historical insights that are very helpful to the main argument and often left out of modern discussions over the word at issue.

As the author of this book, I'm naturally disappointed with Ms. Craven's assessment of my work. Of course, I strenuously disagree. Fortunately, my domestic and international travels on behalf of the book have led to fruitful discussions with thousands of readers who have indeed appreciated my work, and their responses have left me enormously gratified.

The only bad thing to say about "The N Word" is what author Jabari Asim said himself. The subtitle, "Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn't, and Why" is a marketing invention that missed the point of the book and does injustice to its purpose. Asim follows the N word through America history, like a trail of bread crumbs through a dark and dangerous forest. There are times when the trail is rather sparse, and other times when the pile of crumbs is wide and deep. The first crumbs are laid by 1619, with the unloading of 30 Africans into the new world. From the beginning, the word has a brutally negative meaning. Some have attempted to soften the word's harshness by claiming that it originally meant little more than an observation about the darkness of a slave's skin. But Asim makes clear by quoting from period documents that pigmentation was considered a radical (and unsavory) deviation from the European standard of lightness. Some even considered it to be literally an infection of the skin. Very quickly, the word took on connotations of inferiority, debased humanity, servility and lack of intelligence. To use the word meant to distance oneself from and to deny another's personhood. Thus it was, thus it has always been. In fact, one thing I admire about Asim's approach is that he does not give in to the now-current opinion that one should not judge past generations by this generation's morality. Asim will have none of this - to capture, sell and own human beings, to separate them from wives and family, and then to ratify that action by creating an enduring culture that belittles and demeans them on account of skin color -- has always been and will always be an act of heartless depravity. Asim takes us on a historical tour with stops at Monticello to hear Thomas Jefferson opine (without basis) compare the alleged lust of black men for white women with the lust of orangutans for black women. From there, we travel to the battlefields of the Revolutionary War, in an army where full 20% of the soldiers were black. We tour the racist and intolerant pre-Civil War North where even ardent abolitionists were convinced of Negro inferiority. Coming from Newburyport, MA, proud to be home to abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, this was a hard fact to acknowledge. Asim shows why "Uncle Tom's Cabin," intended as an abolitionist text, played on caricatures about blacks that were as offensive as they were inaccurate. Asim touches on the disgust of Union troops over fighting for black emancipation. We tour the Reconstruction Era South, which quickly and viciously shut the door to emancipation via lynchings, Jim Crow laws and propaganda. The propaganda took many forms, including popular music (with its depiction of "authentic" Negro dialect) and romances, which offered a sanitized and sanctified version of the glorious and pacific antebellum South in which beneficent whites and their willing slaves lived in symbiotic harmony. From here, we are treated to Northern race riots,

I saw Mr. Asim in Washington, DC during a discussion in April 2007 regarding this book, its origins and the history of the "N word". The discussion was lively, surprising and informational. Lively due to the subject matter, and surprising due to the number of black people, particularly black men, that supported the continued use of the word (in a particular context - read more below). Finally, it was informational because it shed some light - unfortunate though it is in my opinion - on why some blacks advocate for the continued use of this term in any way. -- Now to the book. The book is thorough, well-written, and covers an astonishing period of time in just over 200 pages. Mr. Asim does not advocate the use of the word, but nor does he seek to ban it. Instead he makes a compelling argument that this word - unlike any other in the English language - has had such a significant contribution to the ongoing racism against and degradation and stereotyping of blacks in the US and elsewhere that it is appalling that the casual use of the N word has grown, rather than diminished, over the years. Asim argues that the N word's inability to disappear from the lexicon is hampered not strictly due to hip-hop artists of today, whom he doesn't let off the hook for their incessant use of the word, but by the larger society that began referring to blacks as "niggas, niggers and nagurs" etc. several centuries ago when they were sold as sub-human property. The word moved beyond slavery and continued on in popular culture (books, films and music), pseudo-science (including what is referred to as niggerology), politics (with politicians waxing about how they could "outnigger" each other) and even in war. Asim traces these uses - and the related prevailing and parallel views of blacks as sub-human - to well over 400 years ago, the more recent past and the present day. However, reading this book is not merely a history lesson. It is a chilling reminder of why words are the most fantastic weapons we have against one another. In addition to the valuable historical context he uses to frame his argument, I think Mr. Asim offers a fresh perspective by dealing with the popular use of the term among black people. He makes a compelling point when he argues that of all of the words in the English language why use this word to supposedly show love or familiarity? As a black person are you okay with another black person saying to you "What's up my brother?" or "What's up nigger?" If you respond with both or the latter, your response to that question may change after reading Asim's book.

Nowadays, any time a hot-button issue garners a lot of chatter in the media a hot-button book can't be far behind. Enter The N-Word by Jabari Asim. Of course, the "Nigger issue" isn't exactly a new one. When I was 12 I had a badly designed button that was supposed to say "Stop using the word Nigger" but read as "Stop using Nigger the word" with a big circle-strike through the offending term. I'm a bit older than 12 now. We didn't abolish Nigger back then (in fact, its use has increased) and I'm pretty sure we're not going to abolish it now. Not without a history lesson, anyway. Though it's tempting to write this book off as an insta-title put out to cash in on the discussion, I find that I cannot do so. Even if the author didn't think to write it until recently, it's a book that someone should have already written. What Asim tries to do is put the discussion and the word in context. What is this word? Where did it come from? Who first used it and what did they intend? Does this stuff matter? Hell yes, it matters. Asim does a good job of pointing out that the word Nigger never had anything but a negative connotation. That it's one of the tools white supremacists use to exert control over black people. Language is power. The highest placed black person in business, government, or education can be taken down in the eyes of others with just one label: Nigger. That's why it's important to keep these things in context. I do have problems with this book, but none of them have to do with the subject matter. As I said, Asim has an excellent grasp on the issue and provides a compelling argument against both the casual use of the N-Word and against banning the word all together. (More on that later.) As I read, I kept thinking that Asim could have benefited from a stronger editorial hand. It may be true that this book was put together quickly. It's not as focused as it could be. It's obvious he did a lot of research - there's a lot of history in here. But it isn't always clear how this history connects with the central point of the book. A stronger, less linear structure might have served the subject better. Still, everyone could use a history lesson every now and then. Count me amongst the kind of people who couldn't stand history class but love a book that provides historical context surrounding something we're already interested in. And the stuff Asim offers up about the Founding Fathers, past presidents, and Charles Darwin won't make it into your typical high school history book. In the last chapter or so -- by far the most moving and compelling part of the book -- Asim makes a forceful case for erasing the word from public discourse, but he is explicit in affirming people's rights to speak in whatever way they want in private. The N-Word is definitely a worthy book, even with its flaws. I defy anyone to read it with an open mind and not come away feeling that the word Nigger ought to be retired. Hopefully its publication will keep the issue in

The genius of Jabari Asim's book is not it's exposition of the word "Nigger", a subject that has been explored in contemporary detail by Randall Kennedy, Cornel West and others. Mr. Asim's book is really about the poisonous notion of Black inferiority, its pervasiveness in the American societal framework, and, finally, its expression through use of the word "Nigger". The N Word is destructive because of the vitriolic beliefs and attitudes that are associated with it. Asim teaches us this as straightforwardly as he knows how, and leaves us to make conclusions. I'm sending this book to my closest friends; it is a must for any comprehensive library on American race studies.