Part of my lecture on Language and Culture in my Into to Communications and Interpersonal Communications classes centered around reclaiming words. The n-word is a reclaiming word. (As is bitch and the f word for gays)
My students really understood the lecture, asked questions, and the conversation in class was always cordial. I encourage those who weren’t apart of those communities, especially related to the n word, to ask questions if they had them as my class was an open classroom. The few Black students I had in those classes would also share their experiences and their thoughts, and overall during my years of teaching, this lecture was always positive.
Until…
I always ended the lecture above with this question—what happens when another culture adopts the n word and they start saying it? My students would always look puzzled and ask “dr. Pancho, what do you mean?” And I’d have to explain that I, a Black man, have personally started to hear more Latinos use the n word than Black people. Then I asked my students, “should I be offended at that? Should I say something?”
I just always leave it there and allow the class to dictate the conversation. It’s very, very interesting. What’s more interesting is the amount of Latinos who start to realize that oh shit, they and their homies actually do use the n word and then they wonder if they should stop.