The N WordThe N Word
Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn't, and Why
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Book, 2007
Current format, Book, 2007, , Available .Book, 2007
Current format, Book, 2007, , Available . Offered in 0 more formatsExamines racism from the perspective of its most volatile word, revealing the institutionalization of bigotry in every aspect of American society and arguing that the word is a slur that helps keep blacks at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder.
A distinguished columnist and cultural critic looks at the history and future of racism from the perspective of its most volatile word, revealing the institutionalization of bigotry in every aspect of American society and argues that the word is a slur that helps keep blacks at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, even when used with opposite intent. 30,000 first printing.
A renowned cultural critic untangles the twisted history and future of racism through its most volatile word.
The N Word reveals how the term "nigger" has both reflected and spread the scourge of bigotry in America over the four hundred years since it was first spoken on our shores. Asim pinpoints Thomas Jefferson as the source of our enduring image of the “nigger.” In a seminal but now obscure essay, Jefferson marshaled a welter of pseudoscience to define the stereotype of a shiftless child-man with huge appetites and stunted self control. Asim reveals how nineteenth-century “science” then colluded with popular culture to amplify this slander. What began as false generalizations became institutionalized in every corner of our society: the arts and sciences, sports, the law, and on the streets.
Asim’s conclusion is as original as his premise. He argues that even when uttered with the opposite intent by hipsters and hip-hop icons, the slur helps keep blacks at the bottom of America’s socioeconomic ladder. But Asim also proves there is a place for the word in the mouths and on the pens of those who truly understand its twisted history -- from Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle to Mos Def. Only when we know its legacy can we loosen this slur’s grip on our national psyche.
A distinguished columnist and cultural critic looks at the history and future of racism from the perspective of its most volatile word, revealing the institutionalization of bigotry in every aspect of American society and argues that the word is a slur that helps keep blacks at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, even when used with opposite intent. 30,000 first printing.
A renowned cultural critic untangles the twisted history and future of racism through its most volatile word.
The N Word reveals how the term "nigger" has both reflected and spread the scourge of bigotry in America over the four hundred years since it was first spoken on our shores. Asim pinpoints Thomas Jefferson as the source of our enduring image of the “nigger.” In a seminal but now obscure essay, Jefferson marshaled a welter of pseudoscience to define the stereotype of a shiftless child-man with huge appetites and stunted self control. Asim reveals how nineteenth-century “science” then colluded with popular culture to amplify this slander. What began as false generalizations became institutionalized in every corner of our society: the arts and sciences, sports, the law, and on the streets.
Asim’s conclusion is as original as his premise. He argues that even when uttered with the opposite intent by hipsters and hip-hop icons, the slur helps keep blacks at the bottom of America’s socioeconomic ladder. But Asim also proves there is a place for the word in the mouths and on the pens of those who truly understand its twisted history -- from Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle to Mos Def. Only when we know its legacy can we loosen this slur’s grip on our national psyche.
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- Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2007.
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