One of the things that took getting used to when I – a white, liberal Canadian raised to think that the word “nigger” was the very worst word in the entire world – moved to NYC was hearing people use the word “nigga” in casual conversation. As we’ve moved from a more Hispanic part of Brooklyn to a more black part (the R to the F to the Q), I’ve heard this even more. Anyway, like a lot of confused white people trying to figure it all out, I’ve noticed interesting shifts in usage over time. From being a linguistic in-group marker, especially as a form of address, the term “nigga,” seems to have come to often mean simply “person.”
It’s only a single data point, but I thought my experience in the gym today was interesting. Two young black men were looking for adjacent machines, and I was on the middle of three stairmasters. I heard one say to the other, “Hold up, let’s wait for this nigga to finish with his machine.” Since I like the middle of the three stairmasters much more than the other two and was in the middle of my workout, I turned around and told them I would be twenty more minutes. They thanked me and moved on. I’m pretty sure that they weren’t being sarcastic or condescending; it was just a way of referring to me.
Now. It seems to me that the day that two young black men refer to a badly dressed lily-white dork who’s listening on his mp3 player* to . . . no, I can’t bear to tell you what I was listening to. Besides, it’s important to group blog morale that, as Scallywag-in-Chief, I maintain a dignified image. Anyway, I think it’s safe to say that the day that I’m a “nigga” is a day when the term can no longer be functioning exclusively as a linguistic in-group marker (though obviously the term was being used by members of the relevant in-group).
It seems to me that we’re in an interesting grey zone here. On the one hand, as the word inevitably loses its bite, it becomes increasingly indiscriminately deployed. On the other hand, it’s pretty obvious that it still has the power to offend, and that should hardly surprise us either. It’s still really annoying – and I expect it to continue to be really annoying for quite some time – for some asshole white guy to try to excuse the fact that he’s offended people by pedantically pointing to the difference between “nigger” and “nigga.” If the first thirty seconds I watched of this video are anything to go on, this guy, for example, is clearly a complete fuckwit.
Anyway, writing about the gym reminds me of something I really like about the workout machines: they’re almost impossible to fall off of. By impossible, of course, I mean “only two or three times in my life,” the latest such incident being today.
* Of course they couldn’t hear what I was listening to, but it’s all part of the vibe.
DC | 24-Feb-06 at 9:53 am | Permalink
This reminds me of a hilarious controversy in city hall here in Dublin a few years back over one council member’s use of the word “niggardly” – a personal favourite of mine with which, alas, I don’t think I have ever elicited the response I have hoped for.
Chris | 24-Feb-06 at 1:00 pm | Permalink
There was a similar controversy in the U.S. back a few years, if I remember correctly. You know, that one is tricky. Of course of course “niggardly” doesn’t have any connection etymologically with “nigger.” Of course. And so it’s obvious that someone might well use the word completely innocently.
And yet. And yet. Context matters so much here. It’s just so easy to imagine someone putting on his or her innocent face, using it to offend, and then protesting his or her innocence. And it would be offensive in that context because the intention would be to sort of wave a red flag in front of someone’s face, and both parties know it, even if one won’t acknowledge it. Moral of the story: There are just so many ways to be a dick, and it’s hard to theorize about them a priori.
Here’s another example: Suppose I say to someone with a Chinese background, “Oh, that’s the chink in his armour!” Again, innocent or subtly mallicious depending on context, intention, etc. etc.
Paul | 24-Feb-06 at 1:31 pm | Permalink
We were eating out at an Chinese restaurant a while back. When the waiter brought the drinks, I suggested that we “chink before we drink” by touching the glasses together. Bad idea.
Chris | 24-Feb-06 at 1:55 pm | Permalink
Bigot!
DC | 25-Feb-06 at 9:20 am | Permalink
Yes, context. I’m sure there was no race-related context at all in the Irish case.
Is it me or have we discussed this on this blog before? Rings a vague bell with me anyway, though of course I could be going quite mad.
Chris | 25-Feb-06 at 10:05 am | Permalink
Perhaps both, though I can’t recall anything quite like this, and a search for “niggardly” doesn’t bring up anything relevant.
upyernoz | 25-Feb-06 at 10:28 am | Permalink
you just can’t resist whipping out that picture of you in the hat, can you?
Chris | 25-Feb-06 at 11:00 am | Permalink
Upyernoz,
I think it’s good for blog morale, so my reasons for repeatedly posting it are purely selfless (except, of course, insofar as the astonishing success of the blog enhances my own fame and prestige).
DC | 25-Feb-06 at 11:01 am | Permalink
Righto.
More to the point, come on, what were you listening to? I would have thought music listened to in the gym ought to be cheesy – it was “Eye of the Tiger” wasn’t it? You can trust us not to laugh.
Chris | 25-Feb-06 at 9:38 pm | Permalink
It is true that there’s something great about cheesy, swelling music playing on my mp3 player while I imagine in my mind’s eye tearing off my shirt and diving into icy water to save a boat full of orphans – all while the CNN news crew who just happens to be driving by shortly before the boat capsized transmits footage of my chiselled, powerful upper body pumping away in the water – transmits that footage, I say, into the homes of every single woman who ever told me “erm, no.”
But I’m keeping it to myself because I don’t like to reveal embarrassing things about myself on this blog. That’s not what this blog is about, see?
DC | 27-Feb-06 at 7:15 am | Permalink
I’ll take that as a yes.