Synopses & Reviews
Nigger: it is arguably the most consequential social insult in American history, though, at the same time, a word that reminds us of “the ironies and dilemmas, tragedies and glories of the American experience.” In this tour de force, distinguished Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy—author of the highly acclaimed
Race, Crime, and the Law— “put[s] a tracer on
nigger,” to identify how it has been used and by whom, while analyzing the controversies to which it has given rise.
With unprecedented candor and insight Kennedy explores such questions as: How should nigger be defined? Is it, as some have declared, necessarily more hurtful than other racial epithets? Do blacks have a right to use nigger even as others do not? Should the law view nigger baiting as a provocation strong enough to reduce the culpability of a person who responds violently to it? Should a person be fired from his or her job for saying nigger? How might the destructiveness of nigger be assuaged?
To be ignorant of the meanings and effects of nigger, says Kennedy, is to render oneself vulnerable to all manner of peril. This book brilliantly and sensitively addresses that concern.
Review
"Nigger is, above all, an argument for the restoration of context and intent in judging uses of the word. Kennedy isn't just a good, clear writer, he's possessed of the uncommon virtue of common sense....The power of Nigger is that Kennedy writes fully of the word, neither condemning its every use nor fantasizing that it can ever become solely a means of empowerment." Charles Taylor, Salon.com
Review
"A lively treatise on the most offensive word in the English language, from a renowned expert on civil rights and black legal history." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
From the acclaimed author of "Race, Crime, and the Law" comes a comprehensive, explosive reckoning with the word "nigger" and with both its effect on and place in American culture.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. [465]-468) and index.
About the Author
Randall Kennedy is the author of
Race, Crime and the Law (available in paperback from Vintage Books). He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton and his law degree from Yale. A Rhodes Scholar, he served as
a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. He is a professor at Harvard Law School and lives in Dedham, Massachusetts.
Reading Group Guide
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
“Provocative . . . engaging and informative.” –
The New York TimesThe introduction, discussion questions, suggested reading list, and author biography that follow are designed to enhance your group’s reading of
Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. Author Randall Kennedy’s explosive bestseller enriches our understanding of race relations, the power and complexity of language, and conflicting perspectives on free speech and its limits, while inspiring close examination of our lives and the values and customs of our individual communities.
1. How should nigger be defined? Is there only one meaning of the word? How has the semantics of the word evolved over time? What does this term mean to you personally? What do you think it means to your parents’ generation? What does it mean to those in other racial communities? Does its meaning vary depending upon age, race, community, class, and setting?
2. Is nigger part of the American cultural inheritance that should be preserved? Should we ban books from the nineteenth century such as Huckleberry Finn that contain the word? What about books from the twentieth century such as To Kill a Mockingbird or Uncle Tom’s Children or Invisible Man? What about contemporary works such as the movie Rush Hour?
3. Why does nigger generate such powerful reactions? Is it more hurtful than other racial, ethnic, and religious epithets? Why are such words so plentiful? Should nigger be treated differently that other racial or ethnic slurs?
4. Should Kennedy have used “the n-word” instead of nigger in his book? Should the title have been “The N-Word”? Does the title or Kennedy’s continued use of the word throughout the book offend you? Why do you think that Kennedy used nigger as the only word in the title?
5. Should blacks be able to use the word nigger in ways forbidden to others? Why or why not?
6. Is there an important distinction between “nigger” and “niggah”?
7. Under what conditions, if any, should a person be ousted from his or her job or school for saying nigger?
8. How can we go about changing the connotations of the word nigger?
9. In an episode of the television show “Boston Public,” Marla Hendricks, a black teacher, wants Danny Hanson, who is white, to be fired for discussing the word nigger in his classroom. She says, “That word has always stood for hatred coming out of a white mouth. No teacher in any school is good enough to erase that in a sensitivity class.” Do you agree with her? Would it have made a difference if Danny Hanson was black? Is a commercial television show an appropriate forum in which to explore this type of issue? What do you think the program hoped to achieve? Has it succeeded?
10. Do you feel we should be discussing the word and its social and cultural connotations? Or is this issue too explosive to be resolved? What do you think about discussing this word in the classroom?
11. What is your reaction to hearing nigger or niggah in rap lyrics sung by blacks? How about when used in skits by black comedians? How would you react if you heard these words used in a routine performed by a white comedian on “Saturday Night Live” or Comedy Central?
12. Andy Rooney of “60 Minutes” has said that “the best way to get rid of a problem is to hold it up to the bright light and look at all sides of it, and that’s what Kennedy does in this book.” Do you agree?
Teacher Guide
NOTE TO TEACHERS
In Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word, Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy grapples with a key term in the lexicon of race relations. He traces the history of the word nigger, showing that it has been primarily deployed as an insult, probably the most notorious racial epithet in America, and perhaps, the world. Kennedy also demonstrates, however, that people have used the term nigger in other ways. Some have written or spoken the word in order merely to document its usage. Others have written or spoken the word in order to condemn it. Still others have written or spoken the word in order to attempt to transform its meaning, to convert it from a negative slur into a positive gesture of solidarity. Hence, in music and movies, on playgrounds and subways, one can hear and see people greeting others as nigger (or niggah), not in enmity, but in friendship. All of these uses are intensely controversial. Many observers believe that everyone should refrain from using nigger given its history, its continued deployment as a wounding slur, and the very real risk that it will hurt feelings regardless of the intentions of a given speaker or writer. Kennedy describes and assesses these arguments and counterarguments. Along the way he brings readers face-to-face with intense debates over such issues as the propriety of assigning to students Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn (in which the word appears 215 times), the wisdom of imposing special speech codes on college campuses, conflicting ways of defining nigger in dictionaries, and contending approaches to disciplining those who respond violently to racial insults.
Kennedy advances his own views regarding these subjects. He also describes alternative viewpoints. Moreover, he offers a detailed discussion that will enlighten any reader regardless of that reader’s ultimate conclusions.
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
Randall Kennedy is a professor at Harvard Law School who served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. His previous book, Race, Crime, and the Law, was awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Book Prize in 1997. He can be reached via email at [email protected].
TEACHING IDEAS
The questions, assignments, and discussion topics that follow are designed to guide your students through their study of Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. The book should enrich their understanding of race relations, the power and complexity of language, and contending perspectives on free speech and its limits. The book can also usefully frame dialogues in and out of the classroom amongst all communities and races. Careful study of Kennedy’s book should inspire students to examine their own lives and the values and customs of their own communities.
DISCUSSION AND WRITING
In the opening pages of his work, Kennedy poses a number of questions that can be asked of your students both before and after reading the book.
1.) How should nigger be defined? Is there only one meaning of the word? How has the meaning or meanings of the word evolved over time? What does this term mean to you personally? What do you think it means to your parents’ generation? What does it mean to those in other racial communities? Does its meaning vary depending upon age, race, community, class, and setting?
2.) Is nigger part of the American cultural inheritance that should be preserved? Should we ban books from the 19th century such as Huckleberry Finn that contain the word? What about books from the 20th century such as To Kill a Mockingbird or Uncle Tom’s Children or Invisible Man? What about contemporary works such as the movie Rush Hour?
3.) Why does nigger generate such powerful reactions? Is it a more hurtful epithet than chink, kike, honkey, wop, mick, gook, turban-head? Why are such words so plentiful? Should nigger be treated differently that other racial or ethnic slurs?
4.) Should Kennedy have used “the n-word” instead of nigger in his book? Should the title have been “The N-Word”? Does the title or seeing the word throughout the text of the book offend you? Why do you think that Kennedy used nigger in the title?
5.) Should blacks be able to use the word nigger in ways forbidden to others? Why or why not?
6.) Under what conditions, if any, should a person be ousted from his or her job or school for saying nigger?
7.) How should we go about changing the destructiveness of the word nigger?
REVIEWS
"An analytical tour de force that challenges readers to go beyond ideology to resolve the most vexing questions of race and justice."—American Lawyer
"[Kennedy] can make [legal] decisions and reversed reversals into tense intellectual drama. . . . He's made his case: that this 'troublesome' word is only a word. And that words—like people—can always change."—Newsweek
"The best way to get rid of a problem is to hold it up to the bright light and look at all sides of it, and that's what Kennedy does in this book. He takes a lot of poison out of the word while he's doing it. . . . This is the way to get rid of words like 'nigger' and all the contemptible ideas that go with it."—Andy Rooney, "60 Minutes"
"Calm, correct, informative."—The New York Observer
"Kennedy's commitment to racial justice is plain, and so is his impatience with the subverting of empiricism by the theatrics of the underdog. . . . He frequently throws the cold water of common sense upon issues that are too often cloaked in glib histrionics."—The New Republic
BEYOND THE BOOK
1.) In an episode of the television show Boston Public, Marla Hendricks, a black teacher, wants Danny Hanson, who is white, to be fired for discussing the word nigger in his classroom. She says the following, “That word has always stood for hatred coming out of a white mouth. No teacher in any school is good enough to erase that in a sensitivity class.” Do you agree with her? Should it make a difference if Danny Hanson was black?
2.) Is a commercial television show an appropriate forum in which to explore the issue posed by the “Boston Public” episode? What do you think the program hoped to achieve? Has it succeeded?
3.) Do you feel we should be discussing the word? Do you feel we should be hiding from the word? What do you think about discussing this word in the classroom? How does it make you feel? Awkward? Annoyed? Empowered?
4.) Is there an important distinction between “nigger” and “niggah”?
5.) What is your reaction to hearing nigger or niggah in rap lyrics sung by blacks? How about when used in skits by black comedians? What if you heard nigger or niggah in a routine performed by a white comedian on “Saturday Night Live” or Comedy Central?
6.) Andy Rooney of “60 Minutes” has said that “the best way to get rid of a problem is to hold it up to the bright light and look at all sides of it, and that’s what Kennedy does in this book.” Do you agree? Disagree? Why?
Other Activities
You might want to consider a) organizing a debate regarding one or more of the cases presented in Kennedy’s book; b) asking students to do research on other derogatory epithets; and c) assigning writing assignments on the protection of speech and the limits of speech.
OTHER TITLES OF INTEREST
An American Dilemma, Gunnar Myrdal
Black Culture and Black Consciousness, Lawrence W. Levine
The Black Image in the White Mind, George M. Fredrickson
From Slavery to Freedom, John Hope Franklin
Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
100 Banned Books, Nicholas J. Karolides, Margaret Bald & Dawn B. Sova
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
Race Rules, Michael Eric Dyson
Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang
Shadow and Act, Ralph Ellison
The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. DuBois
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe
Uncle Tom's Children, Richard Wright
Up from Slavery, Booker T. Washington