Synopses & Reviews
Its “the nuclear bomb of racial epithets,” a word that whites have employed to wound and degrade African Americans for three centuries. Paradoxically, among many black people it has become a term of affection and even empowerment. The word, of course, is
nigger, and in this candid, lucidly argued book the distinguished legal scholar Randall Kennedy traces its origins, maps its multifarious connotations, and explores the controversies that rage around it.
Should blacks be able to use nigger in ways forbidden to others? Should the law treat it as a provocation that reduces the culpability of those who respond to it violently? Should it cost a person his job, or a book like Huckleberry Finn its place on library shelves? With a range of reference that extends from the Jim Crow south to Chris Rock routines and the O. J. Simpson trial, Kennedy takes on not just a word, but our laws, attitudes, and culture with bracing courage and intelligence.
Synopsis
Randall Kennedy takes on not just a word, but our laws, attitudes, and culture with bracing courage and intelligence--with a range of reference that extends from the Jim Crow south to Chris Rock routines and the O. J. Simpson trial. It's "the nuclear bomb of racial epithets," a word that whites have employed to wound and degrade African Americans for three centuries. Paradoxically, among many Black people it has become a term of affection and even empowerment.
The word, of course, is nigger, and in this candid, lucidly argued book the distinguished legal scholar Randall Kennedy traces its origins, maps its multifarious connotations, and explores the controversies that rage around it.
Should Blacks be able to use nigger in ways forbidden to others? Should the law treat it as a provocation that reduces the culpability of those who respond to it violently? Should it cost a person his job, or a book like Huckleberry Finn its place on library shelves?
About the Author
Randall Kennedy received his undergraduate degree from Princeton and his law degree from Yale. He is a Rhodes Scholar and served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall before joining the faculty of the Harvard Law School. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Association, and the American Law Institute, Mr. Kennedy lives in Dedham, Massachusetts.
Reading Group Guide
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 Toms 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 Kennedys 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 thats what Kennedy does in this book.” Do you agree?
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
“Provocative . . . engaging and informative.” -The New York Times
The introduction, discussion questions, suggested reading list, and author biography that follow are designed to enhance your groups reading of Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. Author Randall Kennedys 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.