The death of the N word is no longer just an idea; it’s been taken into action! On July 9, 2007 the NAACP held a funeral for the N word. Hundreds of people filled the sidewalks and watched as two Percheron horses pulled the casket, symbolizing the words’ death. The NAACP did this hoping that it would put an end to the n words’ dreadful history. “Today were not just burying the N word, were taking it out of our spirit… We gather burying all the things that go with the N word… We have to bury the pimps and ho’s that go with it”, said Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Now, however extreme a funeral for the N word may seem, the message that the N word and all derogatory words should be burried is a relevant one.

Every day I walk down the halls of Lincoln and I hear the N word blasted across the lips of students. Every time I hear it, I worry about what our generation is forgetting.

Recently, a new variation of the word has been made, from Ni**er to Ni**a. This enables us to give it new meaning and convince ourselves that it’s just a word.

It is no longer said to be racist or offensive but rather a term of endearment among young people of all races. Or is it? Blacks can say it, maybe Latinos, and some Asian people, but hardly ever white people. Can you see the irony in that?

And why is it that way? I think it’s very obvious. The word still hurts. The baggage that comes with the N word, as hard as we try to believe that it doesn’t, still exists. The words still hurts. Personally, every time the word is said I tend to think of a giant ship. One in which lie hundreds of dark bare bodies chained from head to toe, immobile, bleeding, sitting in their own fluids, and filled with fear they will never again feel the comfort of home. Sticks and stones may break my bones. And words will do the same.

It’s hard to take a word such as Ni**a, try to flip it in a non offensive direction and at the same time have restrictions on it race wise.

The quote above by Mayor Kilpatrick, that we need to kill everything that comes with the N word proves that it has a mind of its own and we who use it choose to adopt it. The N word is not only a word but has been formed to define a way of life. It is what defines most hip hop videos; it represents a way of speech and clothing. It controls us. In our music the word is there along with the fancy cars ect. The word has slowly integrated itself into the the hip hop culture and has become a qualification of it. Now, it is not the fact that we use the word but that we, through the word, have been duped into wanting the “ideal” bling bling lifestyle that we are taught to favor.

I looked up the word Ni**a on Urban Dictionary and I found three main definitions. The first said that it was a term of endearment like “brother”, the second said that it was just another double standard in society, and the third, which surprised me most, was from rapper Tupac, who said “Ni**er is a black man with a slavery chain around his neck and Ni**a is a black man with a gold chain around his neck.” How far have we really come from slavery when the most we can show for ourselves is that we can buy shiny things?

The N word and pretty much any other derogatory word goes hand in hand with ghetto, ignorant, and limitation. When we use offensive and derogatory words we are confining ourselves through a lack of curiosity, we are lowering our intelligence, and we are limiting ourselves through assumption.

The N word, along with all words, is not just a word. Words are valuable and a needed way of expression. If words were just words the why write, why speak, why say “I love you”. Without words part of the human race dies and it’s not fair for anyone to take away or degrade the gift of speech.

It may seem obvious that the discussion of the N word is a black problem but in reality the fact that the word, and other derogatory words exist, is proof that it’s not just a race thing. It’s a human