We need to challenge OUR Normal too!

One thing we as a people need to get abundantly clear on: What we speak created our world and our childrens world.

From Psychology today : “One of the most advanced cognitive functions we have is our ability to create, understand and share language. Words, despite their objective Webster definitions, have unique meanings to those that perceive them. As Judith E. Glaser used to say, “Words create Worlds.”

In the language we use, we can create a whole world that our children grow up in. If we take a look at what is going on with young black men today, it is (arguably) the language that they grow up in that has them define who they are.

Or to put it more harshly:

If we think that there is something wrong with young black men and boys, we need to take an insightful look internally at ourselves for their mental state.
If we want to say the system marks our young black men for death or jail since birth, then WE need to own that WE helped mark them.

So lets take a look at the n-word, shall we?

This is not just an expression as some would say. It is an intentional, emasculating, dehumanizing poisonous and hurtful MESSAGE. It is telling them “THIS is who you are!!!”

From the day that they can understand language, they hear that word over and over and over again. It is in the conversations they hear in adults, the music they hear, the television shows they watch, it is EVERYWHERE and, this is not an accident that it is this way.

My guess is that our young brothers are called a NIGGA more often that they are called men or boys and for some of them, more than they hear the names their parents gave them. Just walk around and listen, this ain’t far off the truth!

I did an experiment a few times and listened in to a bunch of young black men talking amongst themselves in a variety of settings, from “the hood” in the city to affluent suburban malls and spaces.

I didn’t hear them call each other by their names, I heard them call each other by the same name: some version of Nigga! So I guess they all have the same name, right? I guess there is no graduation from this nightmare. A young brother is that, no matter what he accomplishes or where he is. In some circles, I hear them talk about “real niggas” like there is something to be proud of.

For comparison, if you listen long enough to a group of white male kids, you can discern fairly quickly their given names.

No wonder our young brothers are angry and confused, they don’t know who they are and don’t tell me that this word does not cause pain. It does and it is inflicted DAILY and in large doses!

In this day of being “woke” Black people may have something against White Men and their patriarchy, but at least we call them MEN!!!

We look at our OWN men and call them NIGGAS gleefully and some of us actually get OFFENDED if a Black man asks another black person that he not be called that.

The reaction of some of us is something like “You think you better than US”.

HOW CRAZY IS THIS?????

Let me be clear: My crying out against this word is NOT saying that I am better than ANYONE. I am not! What I am saying is: WE are better than this!!! We need to do better than this.

If we just take a look at how we refer to each other in language, I think it is arguable that respect White men more that we respect Black men. If you go by what we call them. (Men vs Nigga).

We don’t raise our little girls with this language, do we? We seem to be perfectly OK if someone called our little boy a “little nigga”, but it would be fighting words for damn sure if someone looked at our baby girl and said “let me give that little hoe a kiss”. You would correctly risk death saying this!

We need to drop this word and speak out against it! And…..we need to challenge OUR normal too because it ain’t working!

Almost 53 years ago in Memphis Tennessee in the protest that brought MLK to where he was assassinated. Hundreds of Black men lined the streets with this sign.