More than a book… an experience! (5 stars)
By a curious whim of chance, I bought this book from an African-American man. He happened to be working behind the counter at the bookstore when I purchased it. He was very cheerful, and while I’m sure he noticed the name of the book I was buying (it’s hard to miss), he didn’t seem fazed by it in the least. While I might not have noticed his ethnicity normally, I was quite aware of it in this situation.
In this way, reading this book was an experience in itself, and this experience further highlighted what the book discussed, and why it is a subject that needs discussion. While reading it, my awareness of those around me was sharpened. It felt strange, even somehow wrong, to even have this word on display in my presence. And yet, the fact that it was there sparked some valuable conversations, which I think Kennedy may have appreciated.
It was a bit hard for me to imagine a book that focused on a single word so closely without becoming trite or repetitive, but Kennedy accomplishes the task admirably here. It helps that this particular word is so rich in cultural background and societal impact. It’s an important word, even if it’s a vile one, and Kennedy never loses sight of that. In the course of the book, he briefly covers the word’s history and etymology, but moves quickly on to discuss its cultural impact, how this has changed over time, how different groups or individuals can use it in different ways, the reactions one finds when certain people use it, how the word has affected legal proceedings, and how the word is being handled today. Through all of this, he is neither overly critical nor overly apologetic about the use of the word; he is simply honest.
About halfway through the book, while discussing an effort to have the word removed from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Kennedy states “Nigger should have a place in any serious dictionary. The word is simply too important to ignore.” After reading this book, I’m inclined to agree. In fact, I’ll take it a step further and say that it the word is so important to American history and culture that it demands examination and open discussion. This is not to say that it should be used in the ways that it once was, to belittle and hurt people, but that it should be understood for what it is, and what it represents, both in a historical and modern context. Kennedy seems to argue toward the same end, especially when he describes the ways in which the word has affected some court cases.
Kennedy brings up the use of the word in high-profile cases, such as the O.J. Simpson murder trial, as well as some lesser-known but important cases, particularly cases of employer/employee discrimination. He looks at both criminal and civil cases. Kennedy examines each case closely, and is quite fair-minded about it. In some cases, he agrees that the use of the word was at the heart of the issue, in others he finds that while the word was an element of the offense, it was at best a distraction from the real issue, which was less offensive and so less likely to win the case for the complainant. In other words, he found that some people had genuine problems that were best solved in the courtroom, while others were simply trying to use the word to their own ends, often for their own personal gain. Given human nature, this should not exactly be a surprise.
Kennedy’s look at the entertainment world was also quite revealing. He spends some time talking about African-American comedians Richard Pryor and Chris Rock, who make extensive use of the word in their routines, often with the effect of “de-fanging” the word for the audience. He does point out, however, that white people still (justifiably so) have less recourse to use the word in a similar fashion, and points to popular white rap singer Eminem as an example. While Eminem uses a great deal of outrageous and often offensive language, and is widely admired and respected among fellow rap artists, the word “nigger” is “not even in his vocabulary.” The special status of this particular word is off-limits even to his extreme stylings. Kennedy also makes some mention of the radio and television show Amos ‘n’ Andy, giving a brief history of the show and some interesting insights into the flip-flopping of opinions over its impact on American culture.
Perhaps most valuable to me, personally, was the aforementioned experience of reading the book. From the moment I bought it I was aware of its presence, and its potential impact on people around me. While I was reading it on the bus, a Hispanic girl sitting near me asked what I was reading. Rather than tell her, I showed her the book. Upon seeing the title, she did a double-take and looked at me quizzically. I explained (briefly) what it was about, and we actually talked for a few minutes about it. I also noticed, while reading the book on the ferry I take every day, that I was made significantly more aware of who was around me while I was reading. I never hid the book because of this, but it certainly made me think about what someone else might have thought upon seeing me reading it. At work, someone noticed the book on my desk and flipped it over. When I asked if he was seriously offended, he laughed it off, and when I explained what the book was about, he told me a story of someone he used to work with who was fired over the use of the word. It sparked what I considered to be a valuable discussion about what is and isn’t appropriate in the workplace. As I said earlier, if Kennedy had a goal in mind when writing this book, I think it would have been something like this; encouraging serious discussion about some of the difficult topics associated with the word he wrote about. If I’m right, I’d say he accomplished this goal.
In practice, reading this book changed little for me. I rarely used the word in the first place, because it does have a special status in American culture as one of the most offensive epithets in the English language, and I have never used it to insult or degrade another person. What reading this book did for me was to make me a little more aware of why the word has the status that it does, and of the cultural significance of the word. My feeling is that Kennedy is right about many of his observations in this book, but in particular the point that the word is too important to ignore is one of the things that makes this such a valuable book to read, and to discuss.
