^ J J o rtla n b (Observer
Page A4
Iuly 4. 2007
O pinion
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
Bury the N-Word
Racial slur has no place whatsoever
by M arc II.
M oriai .
A little over a year
ago, a very disturbing
case in New YorkCity
grabbed the national
headlines and pro­
voked much contro­
versy. It was that of a
white man named Nicholas Minucci
accused of attacking a black man
with a bat while uttering an ugly
racial epithet. His defense was that
the N-word had become so main­
stream and so common in its usage
that it was no longer a derogatory
term. Now, he's behind bars for hate
crimes.
decided to lose it in the 1980s
after a visit to Africa.
The Brooklyn-based group
known as Abolish the N Word
presents a very compelling
multimedia argument against
the word's use on its web site.
Employing vivid and har­
rowing Jim-Crow-era photos with
Billie Holiday crooning her classic
protest song "Strange Fruit" in the
background, it evokes a memory of
a culture that originally condoned
the use of the N-word - the same
one that condoned inhumane acts
of hatred against blacks - horrible
crimes against humanity.
Allow the history books to
refer to the N-word as an
obsolete term - a distant memory
o f our nation's ignorant past.
Justice had been done. But the
African-American community does
shoulder a little of the responsibil­
ity for that grievous event. Had we
not tolerated the casual use of the
N-word within ourowncommunity
and through our culture, the sting
of Minucci's attack upon Glenn
Moore might not have been so
penetrating.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary
tells us that while the N-word is
found in the works of writers of the
past - Joseph Conrad. Mark Twain,
Charles Dickens, James Baldwin,
among others - it "now ranks as
perhaps the most offensive and
inflammatory racial slur in English.
It is a word "expressive of racial
hatred and bigotry." the dictionary
states.
The term "niger" - meaning black
- mutated into the N-word as a re­
sult of a mispronunciation by south­
ern slave masters. As contempt for
slaves grew, the word's use prolif­
erated throughout the 1700s and
1800s. By the 1900s. it was replaced
by the word "black" to reference
African Americans. In 1906, Booker
T. Washington endorsed the term
"negro" instead.
Though some blacks in the early
1920s referred to themselves by a
more euphemistic version of the N-
word - "niggah" now "nigga," it
was still considered a pejorative
term. The Black Power Movement
of the 1960s declared, "Black is
beautiful. "They didn’t proclaim the
N -w ord to be b eau tifu l. The
movement’s followers referred to
each other as "brother" and "sis­
ter" and not "nigga."
In the 1960s, black com ics
wouldn't touch the N-word with a
2,000 foot pole. Even comedian Ri­
chard Pryor who freely invoked the
slur in his stand-up act in the 1970s
Abolish the N Word's members
wax nostalgic about the early days
of hip hop music when profanity
wasn't used. "We remember refer­
ring to our friends as homeboy and
homegirl. And we were still cool.
We remember the airing of "Roots"
and the sting of hearing the N-word
on national television for the first
time," the group explains on its web
site.
But now they're wondering how
on earth its use has become so
acceptable within the African-
American community. "What hap­
pened in our community that the N-
word is tossed around freely in
everyday language? When the use
of it makes you cool, down ac­
cepted?" they wonder. I must con­
cur.
When did it become common­
place for us to resort to such a slur
as a term of affection?
Earlier this year after the New
York City Council approved a ban
on the word's use. Tiara Smith, a
black teenager from Dallas, Texas,
made a telling observation when
she expressed skepticism over its
future impact.
"We grew up saying it and it's
what I say all the time," she told the
Associated Press. It's not going to
stop anybody from saying it."
What is clear from her statement
is that our younger generations are
not fully aware of the N-word's
painful role in American history.
As comedian Bill Cosby observed
in a 2004 speech before the Rain-
bow/PUSH Coalition, we are letting
our children down if we don't lead
by example.
"When you put on a record, and
that record is yelling 'n***er this'
and 'n***er that’ and cursing all
continued
on page A6
Trying Juveniles as Adults Doesn’t Work
saulted, are d ealing w ith the death o f a
S om e states are beginning to en d au to ­
loved one o r are at risk fo r suicide. In ­
m atic tran sfer o f ju v e n ile s to adult court.
stead o f assessing th eir psychological and
In2()O5, Illinois G overnor Rod Blagojevich
em otional needs and getting them the help
signed into law a bill that gave ju d g e s
J udge G reg M athis
they need, o u r courts w ould rather
freedom to determ ine w h eth er o r not to
A m ajority o f the states in
tran sfer them into a system that has
try y o uth involved in drug cases as adults.
this country try ju v enileoffend-
repeatedly failed to rehabilitate. M ore
T he law created a cle a r set o f factors that
ers in adult courts, sentencing
alarm ing is the fact that m ost o f the
the co u rts m ust co n sid er before tran sfer­
them to adult prisons if they are
ju v e n ile cases m oved to adult courts
ring a m inor from ju v e n ile to adult court.
convicted. L aw m akers o rig i­
are for n o n -violent crim es.
O th er states should follow suit.
System creates
new criminal breed
by
nally instituted these practices
R esearch show s that m ore than
Processing low -level non-violent youth
80 p ercen t o f the decisio n s to try
offen d ers in adult court only d ev elo p s a
d eter crim e, m aking the co u ntry a safer
ju v e n ile s as adults are m ade by p ro secu ­
new breed o f crim inal, m any o f w hom are
place for us all.
B ased on data from a recent study by
tors (o r legislators), not ju d g e s. Judges
destined to cycle in and out o f the crim inal
w ho can clearly and ob jectiv ely review a
ju stic e system . If w e continue this current
practice, the n um ber o f people in
because they believed it w ould
the A m erican Journal o f P re­
ventive M edicine, w e now
know this is not the case. In
fact, the p ra c tic e has had
exactly the o p posite effect.
Y oung o ffenders, still very
im pressionable, interact with
violent, hardened crim inals
w hile in adult prison.
M any are eventually re­
Trying and sentencing
juveniles as adults, in effect,
creates a 'smarter,' more
violent criminal. The practice
needs to end.
turned hom e, lacking the e d u ­
cation and skills they need to becom e
c a se ’s m itigating c ircu m stan ces should
productive citizens. T hey return to a life
be m aking these decisions.
o f crim e, this tim e using the know ledge
they gained w hile in prison.
our ja ils and prisons w ill continue
to g row . AI ready. the U n i ted State
im prisons m ore people than any
o ther nation. T his costs tax p a y ­
ers billions each year and tears
apart lives, fam ilies and c o m m u ­
nities. Private industry profits,
the rest o f us lose.
W e c a n n o t in c a rc e ra te o u r
w ay out o f so c ie ty ’s ills.
C all y o u r local leg islator and urge them
to support law s that en d au tom atic trans-
Instead, the fate o f o u r y o ung m en and
f e r o f ju v e n ile s to adult court. A sk them to
w om en are being decided by individuals
spo n so r bills that call fo r increased fu n d ­
T rying and sen ten cin g ju v e n ile s as
w h o m erely w ant to show conviction
ing in education, after school and co m m u ­
adults, in effect, creates a ‘sm a rte r,’ m ore
rates com e election tim e. A nd these are
nity youth program s, instead. Y our voice
violent crim inal. T he practice needs to
o u r y o ung m en and w om en. A ccording to
will m ake a difference.
end.
N early tw o-thirds o f all youth o ffen d ­
the A m erican Journal o f Preventive M edi­
Ju d g e G reg M athis is n a tio n a l vice
cine, three o u t c f every fo u r young people
p r e s id e n t o f R a in b o w P U S H a n d a
ers tried as adults are dealing w ith som e
sentenced to adult prisons are o f people o f
n a tio n a l b o a rd m e m b e r o f the S o u th ­
sort o f traum a: T hey w ere raped o r as-
color.
ern C hristian L ea d ersh ip C onference.
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