Use of the N-word in Today's Society

WARNING: Contains language that some would find offensive.

Monday night, a Florida state senator from Miami was accused of using the n-word to a pair of African-American colleagues at a members-only club. Ironically, Senator Frank Artiles wasn't accused of calling the African-Americans "niggers." He was referring to six members of the Republican Party in Florida, who have no elected African-Americans. For those of you keeping score at home, this means a white politician used the n-word to characterize six white elected officials. To make the story even more interesting, Artiles defended his actions by saying he didn't call them "niggers," but "niggas." In some circles, the use of "nigga" is not out of hate or racism, but out of friendship or family. My worst fear has come true: our justification for the "positive" use of the word has come back to bite us in the ass.

This senator shows us the danger of allowing a word that contains such anger and hatred, to be repackaged and used again. In the heat of the moment, we don't hear the subtleties between saying nigger versus nigga. Through music (especially rap and hip-hop), comedians, and movies, use of the n-word has become chic. Because of this, America's youth are using the word with alarming frequency. Over the last six years, I have been dealing with teenagers on a daily basis. I can't tell you how many times I have heard students use the word in my presence. On a handful of occasions, I've even had students call me both a nigger and a nigga. This has come from both white and black students. As a teacher, I don't have the time to determine what the intent was behind the use of the word. There are certain words that make your ears perk up when you hear it. The n-word is one of those words that make people pay attention.

When you look at other cultures and races, there is no talk of transforming a derogatory term into a positive by slightly changing it. Hispanics aren't walking around calling each other "spics" and expecting other races to stop using it at the same time. Orientals don't ask us to accept them calling each other "chinks." Nor have I noticed Middle Easterns calling themselves "towel heads" while being mad at the world when others do it. As African-Americans, we need to recognize we can't have it both ways. This word still carries a lot of pain for those of us who have been called it in a derogatory way. While I might be able to tell the difference when someone tries to say nigga, the word has no place in public settings like school, church and work.

So I say to Senator Artiles, you were wrong for being so obscene to your colleagues. Just because your circle of friends like to say nigga or nigger, doesn't mean that everyone else does. You did the right thing by resigning from your position. On a personal note, I have never written the n-word more times than I have in this post. I needed to put it on paper in it's literal form so we can all see it for what it is. The word is destructive and devisive to everyone involved. Every single time you say "nigger" or "nigga," you're telling someone that you hate. Maybe you hate African-Americans and this word accurately expresses your feelings. Maybe you hate whites and saying "nigga" is your way of getting back at them. Or just maybe, you truly believe it's a word that has lost it's power over the years. No matter your reason for using it, I would challenge you to use something else. I am not anyone's nigger or nigga.

The One-and-Done Needs to be Over-and-Done

Another successful season for John Calipari, right? Depends on who you talk to and what the expectation is. Under any other circumstance, an Elite Eight appearance for a team with three freshmen starters would be a huge success. Why? Because we could look at the team and see four returning starters with over 150 games under their belt at the college level. To see this team as a huge favorite next year to win the championship would be an understatement. Unfortunately, we are living in the era of the one-and-done so our four starters have all declared for the NBA Draft. For this reason, I see the need to change what UK is doing and act more like a traditional team. John Calipari needs to take his circus act out of town if he can't see we won't have another championship team anytime soon.

Calipari handles his team like it's all or nothing every year. He is a master recruiter and sells these McDonald's All-Americans on the dream of playing college basketball with the most visible team in the nation for a year and going on to be a NBA lottery pick. Any team with this level of talent can win most games on it's natural ability alone. Coach Cal can look at the Big Blue Nation and show them a winning percentage of over 80 percent. There are few teams that can boast success like that. But, when you are promising titles in exchange for the support of your system, you better produce.

What is even more sad about this system is Calipari's apparent need to accumulate McDonald's All-Americans at all costs. When you look over his rosters for the last nine years, you see that very few of his players last the full four years with Kentucky. He looks at these freshman as if they are only good to him for a year and then they're either put on the bench or they transfer. The Harrison twins were not ready for the NBA as sophomores. Neither were lottery picks and one of them isn't even in the NBA anymore. Question...what does a starting junior have that a freshman doesn't? About 60 more college games under his belt.

Under the current system, Calipari has no room for returning starters. That forces the freshmen to make a hard decision when the season ends. Do I enter the draft and take my chances or do I stay with Kentucky and hope Calipari has a rough recruiting year. This year, there are two players that are making the jump to the NBA too soon. Issiah Briscoe and Bam Adebayo have declared for the draft (Adebayo has not hired an agent yet so he could return to UK if he wants). Calipari has these young men believing that their only option is to make the jump because there won't be room for them next season due to the next one-and-done class.

When you create this type of environment, your team's Achilles Heel will always be lack of experience. Look at this year's Final Four and all of the teams had a lot of tournament experience. When a team has "been there before," they know how to win under different scenarios. There was a stretch during the middle of the season when UK couldn't hold a lead. That was all inexperience and a lack of team cohesion. Imagine if we had Adebayo and Briscoe come back next year. Those two would have experience that could turn an Elite Eight team into a champion.

Another reason to hate the one-and-done system is the joke it makes of the college experience. There are no other students on a Division I campus that have no intention of getting an education. The motivation to go to class is solely based on staying eligible to play basketball for a year. What no one wants to discuss is the potential for academic fraud due to the school, the team and the player knowing the student/athlete will likely not be there next year.

We need to be honest with ourselves. The school uses these kids for their athletic prowess and could care less if they graduate or not. Coach Cal doesn't care because he has made it plenty clear they aren't supposed to be there more than a year. Most importantly, the player is only there because they can't go straight into the NBA. These one-and-done programs are promoting nothing more than a farm system. The schools are making millions off the kids so they don't mind and the kids are looking for the big payday so some coaches are willing to put up with the instability this style of playing causes.

No one plays the one-and-done like John Calipari. He shows little desire to keep these young men on the team in a vital role if they don't have the goal of going to the NBA after their freshman year. This is bad for the school, the team and the player. Everyone involved has sold their soul to the devil in order to get what they want. If the player doesn't make it to the NBA in the first year, he loses. If the team doesn't win the championship, the school and the team loses because there is no next year. We have to rebuild and start over every year. The constant rebuilding is getting old and will, ultimately, do Calipari in if he doesn't hang another banner soon.