BC Students Reflect on N-Word Ban

In New York City, freedom of speech is granted depending on which word you use. You can call your neighbor a "scum bag;" you can flip your finger at the posh woman applying L'Oreal mascara while she's driving near the I-95, Cross Bronx Expressway; but don't dare let the "n-word" slip to your comrades.

The "n-word" has been around for nearly as long as language itself. According to Merriam-Webster, the origin comes from the "neger" modification, and the French "negrè," and the Spanish "negro."

However, within the English language, the n-word was used to depict blacks during the slave trade. Blacks subsequently embraced a more palatable form, "negro." Then in the early 90s, the Hip-Hop culture coined the term "nigga," or the variant, "niggaz."

Today, even more "mainstream" hip-hop recording artists slide the n-word into their albums. And when they clamor their way up the Billboard pop charts everyone listens - including the New York City Council.

Recently, The Council of the City of New York passed a resolution calling for the symbolic ban on the use of the n-word.

"Given the recent events surrounding the Michael Richards incident and the current campaign in many quarters to abolish the use of this hateful term, I thought it would be appropriate to encourage my fellow New Yorkers to join this movement," said Council Member Comrie in a press release. "It is my hope that this resolution will spark a dialogue in all communities and begin to move our society, especially in our entertainment culture, toward a place where the use of the 'N' word is simply unacceptable in any context."

Some people find the resolution encouraging but Brooklyn College student Seve Chambers, a journalism major, finds the new ban baffling.

"I know about the ban, and while I do think it's a admirable effort to ban such a word, I don't think it's the right way to go about eliminating it," he said, "because usually what happens when you try to outlaw or cut down on something of controversy, instead, you bring more attention to it and more people will want to rebel against such laws. Me, personally, I don't use the word because of the negative meaning behind it and see it as a word that will always be degrading to black people." In spite of the rebel factor, he still thinks people will understand the premise, even though they might not understand the "full effects of such a word," as he put it.

Mohamad Awad, a history education major at the college, had a slightly different perspective.

"I think [the n-word ban] was good. I don't think it's necessary to use the word, even amongst blacks themselves," he said. "There's so much history behind that word, them calling each other that. It's degrading themselves and [the] accomplishments of civil rights activists. And if it's not a big deal, how come they don't want anybody else using it? By the fact that other blacks feel it's okay to use it amongst themselves, and not for other ethnic groups to use it towards them is an indicator that the use of the word is flawed."

Awad also stated that change doesn't happen overnight, but it did for Ckovon Flowers. Flowers lounged at home one Sunday night a year ago, while listening to the Street Soldiers on Hot 97, a New York radio station with a hip-hop and R&B line up.

"Listeners were calling in because they were talking about who can use the n-word," he said. "Young people called in and said, 'We use the word to turn it into a positive.'" That was a defining moment for Flowers. Shortly thereafter, he launched "Abolish the 'N' Word Project Inc."

The grass-roots organization armed themselves with a domain name, www.abolishthenword.com, educational materials and attend community events to raise awareness about the ill effects of the n-word.

"People are aware of it. It's a positive step. We don't want to rely on Al Sharpton (reverend and civil rights activist) or Reverend Jesse Jackson to get things done," said Flowers. "If people feel the need to define their brothers or sisters as that, then that's their choice, but people say, 'How are you gonna just stop saying a word? People are trying to censor.' That's not what we're after."

So what is the Project after? Flowers said, "Fighting words' provision. You can't say words that break the bonds of peace. For example, if you go into a movie theatre, you can't say, 'Fire!'"… Everybody feels they have to be tuff, a gangster. For hip-hoppers, it's about the money. A lot of them don't want their kids talking that way. Hip-Hop is a creative culture; things will change. We're redefining the use [of the n-word]."

Abolish the 'N' Word Project Inc. has many worldwide supporters, with a mailing list of 27,000 people and 13 million hits on their Web site. But Flowers conceded that occasionally he receives an email or an in-person remark stating that focusing on a word will not solve the multitude of problems that remain within the black community.

A curious onlooker from Portugal emailed him to reveal that he didn't know the n-word was so "offensive" to blacks in America. Still, Flowers remains positive. "Other cultures are looking at us now," he said. "We ultimately hope to achieve a cultural center; other ethnic groups can participate. I I would love that."