The N-word historically has been used as a derogatory term towards African Americans. This ugly word has been used to oppress and spew hate throughout american history, but is still a prevalent word. Why? Why is this word still being used when for almost two and a half centuries, it was used such malicious intent? Well before seeing the first episode in season two of Blackish, my opinion of the hateful word probably wasn’t a very popular one; that it doesn’t really matter. To me, words don’t hold much weight unless I allow it. Growing up, my mother raised me to be mentally tough because she couldn’t really be there to always watch me like she would have liked. See, I grew up in my grandmother’s house with five other cousins (only one of which was a girl) and I was the youngest. I was the butt of everyone’s joke. I was the one who was always teased for being different; there was no room to let everything get to you. From a young age I was taught the value of words and how, essentially, they’re meaningless. Unless I make the conscious …show more content…
Throughout half of the episode, the father is constantly trying to prove his usage of the word. He defends his usage by referring to the word as a term of endearment, transforming the word from hate to a term that shows love for your people. Then, he justifies its usage as a birthright, for the suffering of his ancestors. He searches for justification from his father, who only condemns the usage of it. Only for his father to be found of hypocrisy due to his daily usage of the word. Then, the main character looks for solace in his peers , which to only find that they don’t really know whether or not it should be used. At the end of the episode, the father only found that there’s no right way to interpret the word. Therefore, meaning it's up to the individual to decide whether or not to use it. This only confirmed what I