Dealing With The “N-Word” in
Literature
Why Of Mice and Men has Been
Banned
• This novel uses the n-word 16 times within 6
chapters
• Women are demeaned and sexualized
• Religious groups also take offense to the use
of “Jesus Christ” and “God damn”
So why do we continue to study this
work in school?
• The answer is that Steinbeck's classic employs
themes which continue to be considered
relevant to 21st Century society.
• Most profanity and demeaning language can
be overlooked, but the use of the n-word is a
hotly debated issue that we need to take a
closer look at
• Let’s start by examining the following poem
“Incident”
Countee Cullen
Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me.
Now I was eight and very small,
And he was no whit bigger,
And so I smiled, but he poked out
His tongue, and called me, "Nigger."
I saw the whole of Baltimore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That's all that I remember.
1. Why do you think the
events described in the
poem were the only
thing he remembered
from the summer?
2. What does this poem
teach?
3. In what ways might a
child’s prejudice be
even more disturbing
than an adult’s?
4. What do you think the
poem would have been
like without the nword? Can you
substitute a different
word?
Etymology of the N-Word
• The word originated as a term used in a neutral context to refer to black people,
In the 18th century the word nigger was not always considered derogatory,
because it then denoted "black-skinned", a common Anglophone usage
• During the fur trade of the early 1800s to the late 1840s in the Western United
States, the word was spelled "niggur“ and was similar to the modern use of
“dude” or “guy.”
• By the 1900s, nigger had become a derogatory term. In its stead, the term colored
became the mainstream alternative to negro and its derived terms.
• By the late 1960s, the social progress achieved by the Civil Rights Movement
(1955–68), had legitimized the racial identity word black as mainstream American
English
• In the 90s, “black" was later displaced in favor of African American.
• Currently, some black Americans continue to use the word nigger, often spelled
as nigga
• Langston Hughes in The Big Sea (1940) wrote:
– “Used rightly or wrongly, ironically or seriously, of necessity for the
sake of realism, or impishly for the sake of comedy, it doesn’t
matter. Negroes do not like it in any book or play or whatsoever, be
the book or play ever so sympathetic in its treatment of the basic
problems of the race. Even though the book or play is written by a
Negro, they still do not like it. The word nigger, you see, sums up
for us who are colored all the bitter years of insult and struggle in
America.”
• While Kevin Cato observes:
– For instance, a show on Black Entertainment Television, a cable
network aimed at a black audience, described the word nigger as a
"term of endearment." "In the African American community, the
word nigga (not nigger) brings out feelings of pride" (Davis 1). Here
the word evokes a sense of community and oneness among black
people. Many teens I interviewed felt that the word had no power
when used amongst friends, but when used among white people
the word took on a completely different meaning. In fact, comedian
Alex Thomas on BET stated, "I still better not hear no white boy say
that to me... I hear a white boy say that to me, it means 'White boy,
you gonna get your ass beat.'"
So What Do You Think?
Writing Assignment
• Look at the assignment in front of you
• Take notes in the chart while viewing the
following the clips
• Your notes will help you formulate an opinion
on this controversial topic
Chris Rock
Django Unchained
Tupac
Biggie Smalls