HAPPY birthday to Jennifer Lopez, who turned 31 on Tuesday. Going by the numbers, she had a successful week: Her platinum-selling album J.Lo made big sales gains; the single "I'm Real" continues to rise on the Billboard Hot 100 as its video became number nine on MTV's most-played for the week. It's been a good summer for the Puerto Rican singer/actress. That is, of course, with the exception of being called a "rice-and-bean-eating [expletive deleted]" on the radio ("No Halo for J.Lo as Fans React to Lyrics," Washington Post 7/14).
Using slurs, whether you are part of the group you are speaking of or not, is unnecessary and hurtful. If we could learn to use a little bit of word economy, the world would be a much better place.
The particular insult launched at Lopez, and the signs declaring "P.R. Stands for Pretty Rotten" held by protesters at her July 13 live performance for the "Today" show prove this point. A new remix with lyrics by Ja Rule and his producer sparked a controversy because of the line "I tell them niggas mind their biz but they don't hear me, though." Stephanie Eccles, a Queens college student, captured much of the angry sentiment by saying, "She has no right to use" the word 'nigga.' By implication, Eccles thinks that someone does have the right, as she is not protesting its widespread use by other performers. As law clerk Pedro Cruz noted, "I think there's a double standard at work here. Dr. Dre uses it. Snoop Dogg uses it. What are they going to do? They should come up with a list of who can say it and who can't."
That would be nice. Chris Rock can say it, but George Carlin can't. Spike Lee can say it, but Quentin Tarantino -_ despite what he might think - can't. The pattern, one might observe, is that black people can use a word that has historically been used to degrade them, but non-black people can't. Such is Rock's rule, as he likens racial insults among black people to insults within a family. You can call your child an idiot, he says, but if anyone else does, there will be a fight. After Lee counted 38 appearances of "nigger" in Tarantino's film Jackie Brown, he said, "I'm not against the word, and I use it, but not excessively. And some people speak that way. But Quentin is infatuated with that word. What does he want to be made - an honorary black man?"
Probably not, considering that Tarantino would then be treated the way black men are treated. He would have to deal with being called "nigger" by people who want to hurt him. From his perspective as a white person who grew up in a predominately black community, Tarantino claims that "nigger" is just a word, one which we grant too much power. His characters use it the way most people would use "guy" or "person."
Lopez seems to look at the word as a term of affection. When an interview was interrupted by a call from friend Marc Anthony, she answered, "What's up, Nigga?" ("Boomin' System," Vibe Magazine, August 1999) Presumably Lopez does not intend to murder her friend Anthony, even though she was using the last word heard by hundreds of black victims of lynching. After all, like the rest of us, she's heard it over and over. When she helped Black Rob with his song "Spanish Fly," she heard him use it twice. The Big Punisher said it while rapping on "Feelin' So Good," from Lopez's debut album On the 6. Perhaps she can be forgiven for forgetting that she hadn't received a "say 'nigga' for free" card.
The question should not be, "Who can say it?" but rather, "Who would want to?" Attempting to take the sting out of racist or homophobic epithets by using them as terms of endearment may sound like a good solution. No matter how many times a lesbian's friends might call her "dyke," however, she will continue to challenge the word when it comes from strangers.
As long as people remember the original intent of a word, it will always cause hurt, both intentionally and unintentionally. Judging by the frequent usage of "nigger" by hate groups, and the reaction to its appearance in Lopez's music, people have long memories, both of hating and being hated. Even though Lopez and Ja Rule didn't mean to hurt anyone by saying "nigga," they did. Once it slips out of usage, maybe we can say "niggard" again without giving unintentional offense.
"Nigga" isn't the only term of endearment used specifically within the black community; a generation ago, black Americans tended to indicate familial feeling by calling each other "brother" or "sister." The English language has over 200,000 words, including several to designate people of African ancestry: black, Afro-American, African-American. Surely with this wealth of words, we can afford not to use one.
(Pallavi Guniganti is a Cavalier Daily columnist. She can be reached at pguniganti@cavalierdaily.com.)
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