...“MOMMY, WHAT DOES 'NIGGER' MEAN?” Study Questions: 1. The author, as a third grader, at first misunderstood a word she has heard so many times before because of the different meanings that the word connotes during different occasions. During family gatherings when she was young, she used to hear the word “nigger” be used in different context. For instance when a person boasts or proudly relates stories, it could mean an approval for strength, intelligence or drive. When nigger is used as a possessive adjective, it could also become a term of endearment for husband or boyfriend. It becomes a word that describes the pure essence of manhood – the struggle and present survival against the odds. On the other hand, nigger(s) could also mean or describe the following: parents who neglect their children, drunken people who fight in public, people who don't look for job, people with excessively dirty mouths or unkempt households. The one she heard when she was at school was used against her. Out of jealousy, the word was used as a curse or derogatory term to humiliate her. For that moment, the word nigger had a negative connotation. But, what about the times it was used positively like what I've mentioned above? Well, according to Naylor, the word itself is harmless but it is the consensus that gives power it. The collective opinion of people controls the meaning of a particular word. 2. Naylor explains what happens when a community decides to take over a word and renegotiate...
Words: 1636 - Pages: 7
...coping with the effects of colonialism. In An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Achebe accuses Joseph Conrad of being "a thoroughgoing racist" for depicting Africa as "the other world". The essay [edit] According to Achebe, Conrad refuses to bestow "human expression" on Africans, even depriving them of language. Africa itself is rendered as "a foil to Europe, as a place of negations at once remote and vaguely familiar, in comparison with which Europe's own state of spiritual grace will be manifest". Conrad, he says, portrays Africa as " 'the other world', the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization", which Achebe attributes to Conrad's "residue of antipathy to black people". Achebe moves beyond the text of Conrad's Heart of Darkness in advancing his argument. Achebe quotes a passage from Conrad, as Conrad recalls his first encounter with an African in his own life: A certain enormous buck nigger encountered in Haiti fixed my conception of blind, furious, unreasoning rage, as manifested in the human animal to the end of my days. Of the nigger I used to dream for years afterwards. The Nigerian author concludes that "...Conrad had a problem with niggers. His inordinate love of that word itself should be of interest to psychoanalysts. Sometimes his fixation on blackness is equally...
Words: 291 - Pages: 2
...James L. Wilson Date 2/14/12 AFAS 160D1 Dr. Yuxuf Abana Essay # 1 The value of language The Norton anthology of African American literature book, does a great job in describing the uniqueness of the early African American language, as the roots for the spiritual and the secular forms of the African American vernacular. But for one to understand the African American vernacular, one must understand how the language was created. The language of the early Africans that occupied north America was unique to only this ethical group, because they where the only forms of Africans in that time that spoke a kind of language that was broken English or formally called “Pidgin” which is known as the language of the slaves. Lets take a look at the active definition for pidgin, so we can come to a clear understanding of the word before we progress further in the paper: “A simplified form of speech that is usually a mixture of two or more languages, has a rudimentary grammar and vocabulary, is used for communication between groups speaking different languages, and is not spoken as a first or native language. Also called contact language.”(pidgin online) so contact language is the language first spoken or developed when the Africans where first In America. The language was created due to the direct result of the times being that Africans by law where not allowed to be educated or to be treated like anything other then a slave...
Words: 1553 - Pages: 7
...simultaneously finds measures within these aspects to gain back his individuality and happiness. He fights back through violence to uphold his right of walking safely in Memphis; he uses all of his ability to avoid beatings from his family, and he finds joy and sense of worth when he writes stories. Ultimately, Wright struggles to keep his sense of identity in a society that degrades his persona, but manages to obtain his individuality in the end. Through violence, Wright begins to understand that society is laying out a persona for him to accept that is not initially his. In the South, he learns he must accept the role as the meek and respectful “nigger.” Wright experiences violence one day that teaches him how whites expect him to act in the South. Wright recounts, “The car stopped and the white men piled out and stood over me. ‘Nigger, ain’t you learned no better sense’n that yet?’ asked the man who hit me. ‘Ain’t you learned to say sir to a white man yet?’” (181). Wright is smashed between the eyes with a glass bottle when he does not answer a white man by “sir”. The repetition of questions from the...
Words: 1735 - Pages: 7
...classrooms and libraries. Many readers have disagreed to letting the novel be used in the classroom due to its vulgar language that is evident throughout the book. Expressions such as ‘nigger’ and ‘damn’ are used repeatedly which most find extremely offensive especially to young readers. The fact that the characters in the book are children and are the ones using the profane phrases has left many questioning the novel and not wanting their children to find such expressions as acceptable (Why Was it Banned). Racism is a major theme in the novel, which parents as well as concerned readers find as a classical reason to challenge the book’s moral standing. Although cultural values in today’s society might seem a little different from the book’s setting of the early 1930’s society, racism is still a major problem that continues to encumber the American society. From the book, we see Tom Robinson conviction very unrealistic. Even though he is totally innocent, Tom is eventually convicted simply because of his black race. Throughout the book, it is stated repeatedly that a black person’s fate is sealed’ conviction, if the accuser is a white person. Colored women, on the other hand, are portrayed as “aids” because they clean, cook and care for the white families’ children. By virtue of the fact that slurs such as “nigger lover” are constantly used throughout the book, most readers find this offensive and unhealthy promotion of inequality and racism. It is because of such terms that the...
Words: 1053 - Pages: 5
...How important in the character of Curley's wife in the novel Of Mice And Men in John Steinbeck. Curley's wife is one of the loneliest characters in John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men. She is the only woman aside from talk of Clara, (Lennie's dead aunt) There for separates her from the rest of the people working on the ranch. She is one of the outsiders, she feels like she can't talk to anyone or Curley will get mad. He pays no attention to her what so ever and uses her more as an object to show off. From her first appearance she is dressed in red which foreshadows danger later in the story, she is blocking out the light which also foreshadows darkening the dream. She has a big dream like everybody else, she wants to be in the movies she says to Lennie the only reason she married Curley was because she didn't receive a letter she had been promised to get into hollywood. She says to Lennie “What kinda harm am I doin' to you? Seems like they ain't none of them cares how I gotta live I tell you I ain't used to living like this I coulda made something out of myself.” Being on the ranch shows that Curley's wife's dream failed. Curley's wife is extremely coquettish towards the other men on the ranch she doesn't do it because she wants to offend Curley she simply does it because she is so lonely and wants friendship. Curley's wife dresses over the top with heavily made up eyes and mules, she thinks she will get more attention if she has a strong appearance. She has no connection...
Words: 706 - Pages: 3
...friend Allison, who is ten, are riding their bikes on a warm summer day. He is not really sure if he actually likes her, but there is not anyone else he can play with. One day he sees a younger girl standing in the neighborhood across her bike, she is watching them playing with the bikes. The little black girl has recently moved in with her family, and Allisons mother has told Allison, that the new family was going to ruin their house. The boy in the story smiles at the girl and she smiles back. Allison tells the girl to get out of the neighborhood while the little girl says ‘hi’ to her. The boy looks at Allison and tries to imitate the older girl’s expression, but he does not look into the little girl’s eyes. The little girl wants to play with them, but Alison just spits after her. She says scornfully that she does not play with niggers. The younger girl walks hurt into the house and they can after a few minutes see a person from the inside looking out at them. The boy is expecting that the girl’s mother will appear from the house and demand them to make it up to her daughter. It never occurs. The boy does see the girl from time to time, and he regrets that he never tells her that he’s sorry, and after a few months it is too late. By then the little girl’s family had moved away. He is still thinking about the little black girl, and how he acted towards her twenty years later. Analysis and interpretation The new girl is a retrospect, and it begins with a calm opening. You hear...
Words: 1085 - Pages: 5
...Common Literary Techniques 1. Imagery: It is the use of figurative language to create visual representations of actions, objects and ideas in our mind in such a way that they appeal to our physical senses. For example: * The room was dark and gloomy. -The words “dark” and “gloomy” are visual images. * The river was roaring in the mountains. – The word “roaring” appeals to our sense of hearing. 2. Simile and Metaphor: Both compare two distinct objects and draws similarity between them. The difference is that Simile uses “as” or “like” and Metaphor does not. For example: * “My love is like a red red rose” (Simile) * He is an old fox very cunning. (Metaphor) 3. Hyperbole: It is deliberate exaggeration of actions and ideas for the sake of emphasis. For example: * Your bag weighs a ton! * I have got a million issues to look after! 4. Personification: It gives a thing, an idea or an animal human qualities. For example: * The flowers are dancing beside the lake. * Have you see my new car? She is a real beauty! 5. Alliteration: It refers to the same consonant sounds in words coming together. For example: * Better butter always makes the batter better. * She sells seashells at seashore. 6. Allegory: It is a literary technique in which an abstract idea is given a form of characters, actions or events. For example: * “Animal Farm”, written by George Orwell, is an example allegory using the actions of animals on a farm to represent the overthrow of the last...
Words: 2032 - Pages: 9
...Paul DeWitt Comp. II N92 19 November 2013 Dr. Bates “. . . the damnedest bunch of coons they’d ever seen. All testimony to the results of a little so-called freedom imposed on people who needed every care and guidance in the world to keep them from the cannibal life they preferred.” —Toni Morrison The Beloved White Outlook of Slavery Toni Morrison's highly critically acclaimed novel, Beloved, intensely scrutinizes the uttermost excruciating moment of the African American heritage, slavery. By way of what Morrison has called “rememory”, the act of deliberately reconstructing what has been forgotten; in this case slavery is the forgotten memory of the African American culture (Gillespie 23). The novel takes place after the Civil War and emancipation, during the period of national history known as Reconstruction. Throughout the novel Morrison gives a strong sense of white dominance with the purpose of exploiting the roots of the Africa American culture to the reader. As well as exploring the effects of slavery on individual characters, individual black families, and the black community as a whole. Beloved documents both slavery's horrifying destruction and survival of the African American people and their culture (Kubitschek 116-7). In Beloved, Morrison develops the story line behind one of the main characters Sethe; a run away slave, a proud and independent woman, and a extremely devoted mother to her children. Though Sethe herself never truly...
Words: 2025 - Pages: 9
...of a people most endowed. How powerful is this commandment! ? ??"... Love your neighbour as yourself" ?? You do want to know who your neighbour is right? Ok! ???? just step into the street for a while..... can you see them? ??????????? The question about who your neighbour is classified more by a stranger (especially the one in need). The true depiction of a man's neighbour is in the identity of "...that man who comes from only God knows where!" The weight of the actual and factual meaning of a neighbour pulls dominantly in favour of the stranger,. (that foreigner, that igbo man or northerner, that "nigger" from the other state, the one whose name I don't even know nor can I track his looks to his tribe) Come to think of it, the whole Bible (God's word) rests on Twain Pillars Pillar 1: Love the Lord your GOD.... Pillar 2: Love your neighbour as you love yourself... It turns out that Pillar 2 determines whether Pillar 1 can stand! Have you thought of that? [How can you love God who you don't see when you cant love your neighbour whom you see] _________________________________________________ Love your neighbour as you love yourself! Here's the crux of my concern, we really have to shift from bothering ourselves with people loving their neighbour to worrying if people actually love themselves first. when a man is prepared to...
Words: 435 - Pages: 2
...superiority and black inferiority had numerous destructive effects on blacks. Toi Derricotte, a light skinned black women who recounts her experience with racism in the memoir The Black Notebooks, and Malcom X whose life story and transformation into a racial leader are told in The Autobiography of Malcom X, both recognize the deleterious effects of internalized racism on themselves and other blacks; however, the nature of their efforts to address its harms differ, reflecting their respective visions for societal betterment. In order to fully understand the harms of internalized racism it is necessary to first examine its origins. Malcom X describes instances when he was young where whites would talk about the perplexing behavior of “niggers” with a casual air and complete disregard for his presence (Malcom X 32). Additionally, certain whites Malcom X met for the first time would look him up and down as if “examining a fine colt, or a...
Words: 1516 - Pages: 7
...existed, Even if he was on this train” (7). Hazel speaks to Mrs. Hitchcock in the train letting her know, he would never want to be redeemed; “If you’ve been redeemed, then I wouldn’t want to be” (7). His ignorant and stubbornly attitude is always against Jesus that even if he existed and had him in front of him, he still would refuse to believe. His ignorant attitude is always against god, but ironically shows remorse with the hope he might receive some kind of sign as he walks with stones in his shoes. Early in the story when Haze first arrives in Taulkinham he encounters a traffic patrolman who admonishes him for being ignorant of the meaning of red and green crossing light, “Red is to stop, green is to go- men and women, white folks and niggers, all go on...
Words: 1108 - Pages: 5
...From this point of view, social conditions at a given time are the expression of an ongoing power struggle between the privilege and subordinate groups” (Brym and Lie, 12). The privileged group would be the Caucasian’s while the subordinate group would be the African American’s. The ongoing power struggle was the white’s trying to maintain their advantage of being able to vote, while the blacks were trying to increase theirs by voting. This was evident when Rosaleen went to town in the attempts to register to vote. Lily and Rosaleen are approached by three white men who instigate controversy and insult Rosaleen asking, “She a smart nigger or a dumb one?” (The Secret Life of Bees). The white men were not only being raciest and prejudice, but also stereotyping Rosaleen as dumb, because of her skin color (Brym and Lie, 79). Rosaleen insults back and is beating and taking away. “Racism, occurs when whites are systematically favored over nonwhites consciously and subconsciously in beliefs and behavior” (Dawes, The”isms”). Later, Lily ask her would she rather have died than just apologize to which...
Words: 973 - Pages: 4
...I was walking into the cafeteria when I heard a roar of voices coming from a table in the corner. As I was walking up to the table I heard, “Niggers don’t belong in this school”. Right then, Linda’s eyes caught mine. I suddenly felt sick. I wanted to say something but the only thing that was coming to the surface was not words. Linda was my friend and I couldn’t say anything. The kids at school would tease me and make a commotion. My parents would find out that their little girl’s best friend was one of them. As Linda looked to me for comfort, I walked away. I didn’t even bother turning around to help her. I couldn’t. As I started to walk home later that day, I heard little footsteps running in my direction. It was Linda trying to catch up with me. I looked down the entire time as she tried to talk to me. I told her that it would be best if our friendship came to an end. I think she had the same idea in mind because her facial expressions didn’t change. I felt something inside of me tear apart. I evolved to act just like my parents. I now looked down upon Linda, like I was better than she was and I will always be better. As I turned to apologize to her, she had already sprinted halfway down the street. That was the last day I saw Linda. Her and her family moved away because protestors...
Words: 936 - Pages: 4
...In this essay I am explaining why the African American has more African-ness the Nigerian Americans. I will examine the origin and the different aspects of the African American culture. I will also examine how the African culture is so rich in the American world and changed many aspect of the everyday life in the new world. Slavery predates back to the 18th century from when African Americans were enslaved. People of color were bought, sold, and used to work on farms, and in the household of their white masters. The progression of African American culture has progressed by leaps and bounds since the1800’s. It took a long time for slaves to be given their freedom. Although they were free, the reconstruction plan was a starting point, which in turn allowed former slaves to become freedmen. Freedmen who were allowed to own land and become upstanding citizen just like their white counterparts. The freed slaves went on to become prominent business owners and family men. They were still some racists who were appalled that they were allowed to go free. Slaves were not allowed to learn how to read and therefore could not read the bible. It was a way for the salves masters to protect themselves from the slaves getting a silly notion of equality from the bible. Religion became a big issue within the African American community. Black churches were established to allow them to come, worship, and not be segregated from their white counterparts. Even during slavery, they would...
Words: 1600 - Pages: 7
