Words are tools and sometimes a weapon.
And sometimes words are a shield.
All too often words are used as a weapon intended to cause harm - and sometimes - words are used as a defensive shield against those who use words to cause harm.
A counter, if you will. A way of taking the sting out of an attack.
The N-word being a prime example of a word used as a weapon.
A vicious word loaded with hate and violence. It's intended to dehumanize; a means to attack and destroy. A word that carries with it a history of abuse and oppression - of lynchings and rapes - of discrimination and enslavement.
But also a word that has been utilized as a shield. By using the word not as an attack and instead adopting it as a means of expressing the rejection of the word as used by racists, the word has become a symbol of perseverance and defiance against the oppressor.
The sting is removed - to a point.
White people need never think they are included in the expression of defiance. You're simply not part of that club - and never will be.
Much like my women friends can call me a b-word - but no man is allowed to be part of that club. It ain't happening. Men don't get a pass. I don't care how much of a feminist a man is or how much he supports equality - No. Still not a member of the club.
The same applies to hate-driven slurs some straight people use to attack the LGBT community. How a community expresses itself about itself is one thing - that isn't an invitation for bigots to join in.
Within any given minority community, words of hate can take on a whole new context - a meaning in defiance of the haters.
A "Fuck you", if you will, to the oppressors.
A way to take the sting out of the years discrimination and attacks. Of the day to day experiences of bigotry and prejudice.
Growing up in the South, and living outside the South as well, I've come across white people who make claims such as:
- Even white people can be the N-word. In an attempt to explain how their use of the word isn't racist. Claiming it simply means a sorry person. A criminal. Trash.
My response is always -
Oh, yeah? Picture an African-American man walking down the street and a white man carrying a bag while he hurries up the street, both passing your home at roughly the same time, when you hear someone yell, "That N-word just robbed me". Who are you going to look at first?
Spare me. That person sees one thing only when they hear that word - and it ain't the white guy.
- Then there are those who want to explain how there are black people and then there are N-word. And these people tell themselves they aren't racist because they don't think all black people are the N-word. Only the "bad ones" - you know, the black people who don't know their place.
In both cases, there exist a whole lot of denial (and ignorance).
Now let's say that particular thinking gets turned around. Let's say, born out of the frustration, the hurt, and the anger of having to constantly deal with racism, bigoted stereotypes, and the ever present denial of the dominant white society about the impact of racism on day to day life for people of color - words and concepts meant to cause harm are now used as a shield. Imagine taking that soul-crushing ignorance heaped on you by this dominant white society and injecting a little humor and a bit of the turn-around.
Now you have wypipo.
You can take the word as an insult, as an attack. If you want...
Or
You can see the point of it. You can look beyond your own hurt feelings and defensiveness to understand the why of it.
Victims of racism fighting back by taking the exact same words and concepts that racists use as a weapon against them, and they turn those words and concepts around and use them as a shield. A shield against racism.
You can't claim to understand (or abhor) the impact of a dominant white (or male and straight, for that matter) society on minorities then get all outraged to discover that the victims of that dominance fight back with humor, with creativity - turning the hate directed at them into a shield against that same hate.
= new reply since forum marked as read
What an amazing post.
Thank you.
