12/5/2015

FannyTrianafanny:ResponsetoGloriaNaylor's"Mommy,Whatdoes'Nigger'Mean?"

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FANNYTRIANAFANNY
T H U R S DAY , O CT O B ER 8, 2009

ResponsetoGloriaNaylor's"Mommy,Whatdoes
'Nigger'Mean?"
GloriaGaylorisanAfricanAmericanwriterwhoshowshow"words
themselvesareinnocuous[and]theconsensus[aretheones]that[give]
themtruepower"inheressay"Mommy,Whatdoes'Nigger'Mean?"

FO LLO W ER S

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Therearenomembersyet.
Bethefirst!

originallypublishedinthe"Hers"columnoftheNewYorkTimes(February
20,1986)here,shesharestheexperiencethatshehadwhenayoungboyin
herthirdgradeclasscalledher"nigger"inahumiliatingway.Atfirst,she

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wasconfusedbecauseshedidnotknowwhattheword"nigger"means.
However,whenherteacherscoldedthechild,deepinsidesheknewthathe
wastryingtohumiliateher.Also,sheaddstoheressaythatthemeaningon

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somewordsinthiscase"nigger"dependsonthewayandwiththeintention

2009(3)

peopleuseit.Asanexample,theboyatschoolusedtheword"nigger"asan
insultwhenathomesomeAfricanAmericanwomenuseitasa"possessive
adjective"bysaying"mynigger"whichmeans"boyfriendorhusband".So,

October(1)
ResponsetoGloriaNaylor's
"Mommy,Whatdoes'Nig...

hereGaylorraisesthequestionofWhydoesthewaysomebodysaysaword
ismorepowerfulthatthewordwrittenitself?

August(2)

Inmyopinion,thisquestionaddressesthemainpointofGaylor'sessay.
Nowadays,Idobelieveinthefactthatsomethingassimpleasawordcan
hurtsomebodydeeply.Inthiscase,theword"nigger"canbeusedasanice
complementoraninsultwhichconveysracism.Also,suchwordcancausea
reallybigimpacttowardsthepersonthatisreceivingtheinsultandsadly,

ABOU T ME
F AN N Y
V I EW MY CO MP LET E P R O FI LE

thepersonwhosaysitdoesnotreallycare.Ibelievethateverybodyis
equalthereforeIthinkthatparentsshouldnurturethesamevaluetotheir
kids.Theyshouldstartbytellingthemthatcallingnamestopeopleisnot
rightandtheyshouldwatchthewaytheyexpressbecausewithoutknowing
theycanhurtsomebody.However,thisessayportrayshowAfrican
Americansstillfaceracism.
Gaylorwithdrawspartoftheoriginoftheword"nigger"somehowby
omittingthemeaningofracismthatthiswordalsoconveys.Asweknow
AfricanAmericanswerehumiliatedandcalled"Niggers"bywhitepeople.
Behindonhistory,mostAfricanAmericanswereslavesandasaresulttheir
liveswerecoveredondraconianactions.Sadly,backthen,whentheword
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12/5/2015

FannyTrianafanny:ResponsetoGloriaNaylor's"Mommy,Whatdoes'Nigger'Mean?"

"nigger"whichcomesfromtheSpanishword"negro"andLatinword
"Niger"andEnglishcombinedittobecome"Nigger"wascreated,itwasno
differentthancallingaSpanishpersonSpanish.However,itwasinfluenced
andsadly,thesocietymadeitbecomederogatory.Onheressay,Gaylor
doesnotgetintouchwiththisracismissue.However,itseemsthatthe
thirdgraderboyintendedtousethiswordtowardsGaylorinaracism
manner.
Inthetransformationpublication"TheQuintessentialMale",thereisa
publicationcalled"HeyNiggerThePowerofaWord"wheretheauthor
portraystheideaofhowpeoplehastolearnthatwheneverawordissaid
withahatefulandmaliciousmanner,theycantraumatizesomeone
poignantlyasithappenedtotheauthorofthispublication.Also,thearticle
statesthemainpointthatGaylewantstoportraytoeverybodyinheressay
whichishow"wordsthemselvesareinnocuous[and]theconsensus[arethe
ones]that[give]themtruepower".InTheQuintessentialMale'sarticle,the
guythatcalledhim"nigger"traumatizedtheauthorbecauseofthewayhe
addressedthewordtowardshim.However,onGayle'sstory,whenher
classmatecalledher"nigger",sheaddressesthathesaiditinabadtonebut
notasbadastheguyfromtheQuintessentialMale'spublication.Asa
result,thekiddidnottraumatizeGayle,butthemenfromtheotherstory
didtraumatizetheauthor.Here,itshowshowimportantistobecareful
wheneveranindividualreferstoanotherineverywayandhowwordscanbe
morepowerfulthantheyseem.
P O S T ED B Y FA NNY A T 3: 22 P M

1CO MMENT:
Ayala October8,2009at7:35PM
It is really interesting the way that you established your
argument.Itistruethatotherculturesalsohaveawordsimilar
tothewordniggerandthecommunityisresponsibleforgivea
negative power to those words. Also, the example that you
broughtupabout"TheQuintessentialMale"itisagoodfactto
analize because many people do not realize that some words
canbeveryharmfulfdependinditscontext.
Reply

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12/5/2015

FannyTrianafanny:ResponsetoGloriaNaylor's"Mommy,Whatdoes'Nigger'Mean?"

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