Reclaiming Racial Slurs and protecting their misuse

Reclaiming Racial Slurs and Protesting Their Misuse

I am sure that you have heard individuals use the n-word in reference to black people reclaiming such a derogatory term, but it is time to pay attention to the individuals who say it in order to gain social approval, and those that say it without thinking about the history of the word and how that specific term has affected generations of racial minorities.

The association of the n word as being a term that only African Americans are allowed to use with few exceptions drives many to delve into the roots of the word. Upon doing so, they come across the term “reclamation”. Today, I write this article hoping to provide you with an answer to a modern day dilemma- what is reclamation ?

Reclamation is when members of certain communities use words that were used to oppress and degrade them in order to remove the negative connotations of the word and change its social context. 

It is common knowledge that for almost 370 years, people of color were treated as less than human. Ranging from being whipped, slashed, beaten, or murdered to being put in zoos, on display for those that found amusement in watching them suffer brings society to a standstill as they dwell on why exactly human beings were treated so abhorrently. 

The buying and selling of human slaves was considered to be normal back in the day, but not on such a grand scale. It first started off as simply gaining labor on farms in the Southern states of America to feed the ever growing cities, which, combined with the racial superiority that had been ingrained in white minds, led to the absolute destruction of several black lives, and the infamous American Civil War. .

The n-word soon became synonymous with the degradation that black people have faced and continue to face. In today’s world,  the word is considered very offensive, although some communities may equate this term with companionship. The spectrum of the n-word exists to showcase the partial reclamation of the word as well as its sordid past.

The problem at hand is not the people of this community choosing to  reclaim this slur, but the increasing number of ignorant individuals who do not think twice when using it. People often do not understand that the reclamation of the n-word is  something only black people are entitled to. 

It is the African American and black community’s right to either keep the past in the past or to  use it and create something new altogether. The misuse of the n-word can be interpreted as a justification for the horrors that black individuals have had to go through, when there is no sane and comprehensive justification for such treatment available, whether it be on social media or in academic research papers.

 It is time for the public to understand that it is not “cool” or “funny” to say the n-word. It is the harsh truth of the world that certain communities are still being targeted, despite having gone through the most trauma. It should be acknowledged that those of the black community have been forced to rebuild their lives from scratch, whether it be when recovering from the loss of a loved one at the hands of racist institutions, or, generations ago, a new beginning post one’s enslavement.  Individuals belonging to other communities have no right to speak for black people themselves, and people who cannot see that have no right to reclaim something that is not theirs.