The N word has been draped in controversy for so long with many people feeling uncomfortable with it, and thus offended. But the only true way this word can be defeated is through the deconstruction of the feelings derived from it. No word has any meaning nor power until bestowed by those around it and the emotion both received and delivered. That word which in newer generations can be heard often from rappers to normal friends using it to signal camaraderie. Has been shifted into limbo by those who are overly offended to prove their progressiveness. I personally use the word on a regular basis, because that word has no power over me. Now this is an opinion based discussion, but even so no opinion is not without a degree of merit.

For generations the black people of America have stood together through slavery, segregation, racism, and numerous tragedies each only strengthening our union. However, recently that bond has been strained by one word that seeks to elevate and demean our people. First I find it hypocritical to be offended by the N word, but not being called black the color of charcoal. Or would one prefer African-American, for me and probably a lot of us have no close relatives originating from that continent. I promise if from looking at cultural alone the similarities between africans and us is only skin deep. So, that category is paradoxical in the belief that one is not from both Africa which is a continent not depicting any national to correlate with the nationality of the American half. When asking a white person who they are they would most likely say American, pure blooded if the individual is from south of the mason-dixie line. That in itself is semantics with the true origin for them being european, but in reality no human is originally from the continent, with the native americans crossing the land bridge some 10,000 - 12,000 years ago depending on the study of course.

So what should identify ourselves as well black has worked for me for sometime with the word being just as equal to being called white. My friends both black and white call me by my first name which works perfectly. But, we our looking at a collective of people so honestly I have no idea of what to call our group. In Jay Z’s song the “The Story of O.J.” he uses the N word repetitively and signifies all the different types, but ultimately still one group of people. He emphasizes the need of the word to look back on our past and to march forward. Our focus should not be put on words with no true value, but on rebuilding our special group that exists nowhere else in the world. The N word had power over the older black generations because there was more hate in their time. No we have not made it up the mountain, but we will never make it if every pebble stops our movement. How will we conquer a mountain if we are defeated by the hill. The time has come for us to assimilate the word not vice versa, yes rappers use it because they have power over it. We have power over it, do not fear the history; acknowledge the strife, but own the history as our own.

The easiest thing for Americans to do is try and forget the past, act like it never happened and pretend we are not feeling its everlasting effects. But, to forget our past is to forget the bond that seeps in our culture, that gave the civil rights activists a limitless well of power. No words can defeat me, only my own fear can do that. I will not be chained to a word, I will own the word, I will own my people’s past, and be all the better. Do not be controlled by this SJW who go ranting about the offensiveness of a word they seek to blind you from progression. When was it that we sought to build our own future, by letting others lay out the plans. When was it that a group of people said when a word is off limits because they have empathy towards a people. I do not speak for my people as a whole, but just the same no one else does that either. Come I offer you the chance to vanquish your fear and conquer a word that has plagued generations of people, who never saw the mountain over that hill.