‘An Educated Black Man Vs. The N-Word’: The Controversial Video

I have wanted to write an article on this video for some time now. Before I begin, I understand that there are a lot of people who are uncomfortable with discussing anything to do with the “N-Word.”?I too used to hate discussing this topic. But I’ve learned that the “N-Word” is part of a larger virus called ?Self Hate,? and that in order to treat and ultimately cure this virus, we must first understand it. That means taking the word “Nigger” or “Nigga” and dissecting it, and dissecting the thinking behind those who use these words when referring to themselves and others.

Nas and Kelis at the 2008 Grammy Awards (Image from Global Grind)
Nas and Kelis at the 2008 Grammy Awards (Image from Global Grind – modified)

Growing up I wasn’t a popular kid. Thanks to my grandmother (God rest her soul) and my mother, I had a much better vocabulary and language skills than most of my other black classmates. Needless to say, I was called all kinds of names from “sellout” to “Oreo” on a regular basis. For years I felt that I wasn’t really black and secretly I wished I was white. I would beg to stay over at my white friends? houses all the time. I almost completely divorced myself from my culture and my people. It took years to realize that the ?Self Hate? in my heart was also in my black peers? hearts, as well.

I began to look at our history and saw how we were conditioned to hate ourselves from the very beginning in America. The hardest thing is trying to convince your own people that they can change. It’s not hard to show people the truth and even have them accept the facts you present as truth. What’s hard is convincing them to change how they think about themselves and their people based on the truths they learn. Self hate is the worst drug in the world. If there is a cure, it might take generations to work, because the addiction took generations to become strong. And for those who know the truth and try to teach people, it can feel like a losing battle. As a black man, I personally hate the word “nigga? because it’s the same as “nigger.”

One of my favorite rap groups, The Coup, once released a song called “I ain’t the nigga.” In this song one lyric jumped out at me more than any other. E-Roc says in the song:

“Nigger is a word we use today, you say
It don’t mean the same if you spell it with an A
But that’s an argument that makes me itch, I twitch
If I took the T out will I still mean bitch?”

Before I share the main video, I would like you to see this other video. It is a CNN report on the origin of the word “nigger.”

Now, here is the video titled “An Educated Black Man Vs. A Nigger”:

As a society, America has a uniquely-ugly racial history. I, as well as many others, believe this country’s wealth and success was built on the backs of black slave labor, and that the children of slaves still struggle with the ghost of ignorance and self-hatred.

The word in question encapsulates black people’s “American Experience.” The word should also force each of us to take a hard look in the mirror and ask ourselves, “Am I making a positive or negative difference in this struggle?” Some people believe they are neutral, that “it’s not my problem, it’s their problem.” Those people are way more dangerous than any rapper or Klansman could ever be.