Mahomed
Yasmin Mahomed
May 3, 2015
Professor Shick
English 126
Changing the Word
“I been grindin’ outside all day with my niggas, and I ain’t goin’ in unless I’m with
my niggas.” (YG, 2013) The famous words of “My Nigga” were blasting through the speakers
of my mom’s blacked out Corvette as we cruised down the highway. Finally, I had the chance
to play my music, which contrasted greatly with my mom’s tunes. My mom looked at me in
disgust, as she was not fond of the lyrics pummeling her eardrums. She turned down the
song until it was practically inaudible, and I rolled my eyes behind my Gucci sunglasses, as
I’d known this would be the inevitable fate of my song choice. As we pulled into the garage,
and my mom immediately asked me why I was listening to such “garbage.” I told her I liked
the beat of the song, which was true for the most part. My friends and I had always listened
to this song together as if it somehow reflected the strength of our friendship through the
words. I had never thought about the lyrics of this song much, but my mom said they were
horrible. “Why would black people bring such a derogatory term back into main stream
use?” She exclaimed.
I thought about what my mom said, and she had a valid point; the word nigger and
nigga may have different spellings and pronunciations, but they are derived from the same
word. Yet, when black people use the word nigga, whether in conversational or lyrical use, it
is considered acceptable even though the roots of the word were derogatory to their race
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Mahomed
specifically. My mom made me ask myself, has the meaning of the “N” word changed due to
musical influences?
Throughout school, I was always taught that the word nigger was an incredibly
derogatory term used by white people towards the African Americans. It all started in the
1800’s when “nigger” began to be used as a offensive term, its roots stemming from the
Latin word niger, meaning Black. During the nineteenth century when enslavement was
prominent in the United States, the word Nigger was placed before an African American’s
name in order to distinguish them from any white man who shared the same name. (PBS)
This harsh word was used as a racial slur towards African American slaves and free men
alike, demeaning them and causing a backlash against the white people who were fond of
using this term. It became ironic to me that so many African Americans use the slightly
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