"I calls you my nigga, cuz I got love for you."
(This is for you.)
You hypocritical fuck.
Yeah you. I'm talking to you. Cuz you know daaaaamn well that word tastes GREAT.
I don't care what side of the human race your color falls on... it just does.
The same way yelling "Oh God...fuck me harder!" goes perfectly when you've got the right bloke on the stroke...hitting the right spot at the right time and don't give a damn if you need braces and a breath mint.
You know where I'm going. Like a great red wine and a perfectly marinated seared steak...like a kiss after three too many Cosmos...like eyes looking up at you when you're getting head...some shit just belongs.
And sometimes,...sometimes... "Nigga" has it's place. And let it take it's rightful place as one of the greatest stress-relievers of all time. Because that's exactly what the fuck it is.
I agree with (insert forgotten comedic genius who said this first here). When white people use the word, "Nigger"...and mean it (let's be clear about that ...) it takes about five pounds of misplaced racist stress right out of them. NIGGER...Poof! Ahhh.... White privilege may be constantly threatened, but not as long as you can use that ace in the hole of white angst. So let's say... if, while watching the BET hip-hop countdown you're secretly pissed off you can barely pay your rent and meanwhile, "TI" is "making it rain 20's" at some stripper, you can safely say (amongst those who'll nod in agreement), "Those niggers are crazy", and POOF! ...instantly feel better about your position in life! I mean, it's gotta be blamed on something...right? It'll also stop you from doing a Pumpkin yourself and spitting on hard-working baby-momma Lequisha at Stop and Shop. (Which, for the record, would be a fucking no-no.)
As for me, I've said "nigga" only when I truly...TRULY meant it and I don't just mean for people of African decent. I've called whites, puerto ricans, asians, babies...whoever the fuck deserved it... a nigga with no pause. Sure. I know initial definition and origin of the word is...but words, as do most things in life, change. Meanings change. Intentions change. Here's what I mean.
Cunt USED to mean "to conceal or hide". It was a verb. The word became a noun when the actual hiding place became known as a cunt. Dyke? Originally, a barrier blocking passage. A faggot is a bundle of twigs intertwined. Right.
Nigger? Comes from the spanish word "Negre'." meaning "black." Now...using a white persons uncanny ability to fuck up any Spanish pronunciation, try saying that word. What does it sound like?
Get where I'm going with this?
The word Negre changed to Nigger...Nigger..changed to Nigga but for most...the buck stops there. (pun...intended.) Because the Trans-Atlantic Slavery was such a stain on humanity, the term, which distinctly separated slave from owner, was also taboo. Slaves were "niggers", owners were not.
Nigger attached itself with a pitbull grip to the self-esteem of the African descendant. A nigger was not the thing you wanted to be...or strived to be..it was what you WERE. As for the African-decendants...well...we did what we did best. As we've always done. We made lemonade out of lemons. (Or rather...chitterlins outta pig intestines, depending on how you see thangs.)
We took a word used solely by owner to property...flipped it and made it our own...but changed the pronunciation. We made it warm. We cleaned up, made curtains out of the left over scraps of pride and called it home.
Gals in the 20's giggled amongst each other when another said about the guy working on the field down the road, "Ooh. That's a big nigga right there."
A sweet young thang in Harlem in the 70's said, "Nigga please..." when some jive turkey tried to make her love come down.
Boys in the hood in the 90's proudly proclaimed, "This is my nigga!" when introducing a new jack to his peoples and them.
Later that decade, in the best argument I've ever had to date, when asked, "Why are you being such a bitch", by my fiance, I quickly turned to face him, with a neck swivel and attitude that would have made Pam Grier proud, responded with the famous black woman preface, "Nigga let me tell you something..."
"So what you want nigga...want nigga? I got a six shooter and a horse named "Trigger"," Method Man warned to his kind..or any kind that tried to test him.
And when Method said "nigga", when Biggie said "nigga", when HIP-HOP said "nigga", you knew EXACTLY what it meant. Right underneath our noses, the word... changed. It was OURS. We owned it and had won the biggest battle in the history of slavery. Then...suddenly...it changed again.
It turned into the "N-word"...and instead of the term of endearment we'd scratched and clawed for, it became an ugly and hateful again. Whites wanted to know why, if we could use the word, they couldn't... and instead of asking, "Why the fuck do you want to?" we answered like five year olds. "Because you just can't, that's why."
But Puerto Ricans can! And our answer to that is..."Cuz Puerto Ricans live in the hood and are niggas too!"
No. Stop it. Cut it out. Either explain yourself without bullshit or take the power away for the damn thing altogether. No "funerals" for a word. No substitutes. Call a spade a spade. (Pun intended.)
I'm saying it. (tap-tap...is this thing on?)
From this moment on, white people can use the word, "nigga" too. That's right I said it.
Why?
Because if you live right next door to that mutherfucker who don't do shit but smoke weed all day and live with his baby momma, no matter what his color...until he do better...he's a nigga.
If that same dude never hesitates to knock on your door to see if you want to share this blunt with him and watch Sports Center cuz he knows yours is off, no matter what his color, that's your nigga.
If he sat down and let you tell the story of your moms dying, saw you cry and never told a soul...yep. That's your nigga right there.
If he made you make noises you never knew were possible...yep. That nigga blew your back out.
And lets not forget...it's a great stress reliever. ("Excuse me" gives off a different vibe than, "Nigga MOVE...")
Bottom line...it's a cultural thing. African descendants are so damn busy trying to erase culture, we hardly take the time to embrace the reason why it exists. I fully understand the Erykah Badu set will be up my ass in a minute about this post...but fuck you. In your heart, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about...so don't front. I'm still your nigga.
-Nye
PS. Next, we'll tackle "ho" & "bitch" and how those terms pole- jumped RIGHT over the color line. Cuz those fake tittied "Rock Of Love" ho's are worse than any nappy headed "Flavor Of Love" ho I've ever seen. Like.. whoa.
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