2-THE CAROLINA IIMt&—o/ai
I, ucucmdch m, 1993
1993 Home.
1983 Fnce.
Think of it.
You can buy a Cimarron home
at Wingbrook for what homes sold
for 10 years ago.
A brand new, 4 bedroom, 2-1/2
bath home with an attached
garage is selling at a cost-per-
square-foot comparable to 1983.
For as little as $119,950, you
can own a new 2,003 sq.ft, home.
complete with fireplace, energy-
etfcient Apollo Hydro Heat system,
hardwood entry floor, walk-in
closets, GE appliances and a
garden tub in the master bath.
And there're several floor-
plans to choose from.
So, should we pihch you now or
when you get here to see our
model home?
CIMARRON
t=r
WINGBROOK
Sales by Prudential Carolinas Realty
490-1295
Model Open: Mon.-Sat. 12-5, Sun.1-5
2,003 sq. Jl. $119^950.
BECAUSE ONLY BY
. Celebrating Culture
Can we hope to inspire art.
Whether made with words, images or music, art resonates through
African-American life. Recording our experience, revealing our humanity,
depiciiAg our soul. It can soothe or excite, enlighten or entertain, constantly
compelling us to look and listen.
At Kraft General Foods, we're proud to help bring the visions and
sounds of ethnic culture to the community. Not only helping people to
experience the art of others, but inspiring the artists themselves.
Because only through the celebration of art can we begin to under
stand what makes us human.
KRAFT General FOODS
\«iveeta.
Whip,
GOURMET.
V
An Explosive Word
Still Divides the
Black Community
By Jesse Washington
(AP) Mothers use it to call their
children, and rappers wield it like a
weapon or bestow it like a title. It
seems the right to call black people
"nigger" is one of few privileges
reserved exclusively for blacks.
The word has been used for
centuries as a racist term to
describe blacks as property. These
days it thrives among many blacks
as an expression of affection and
familiarity - despite efforts to purge
it from the black vocabulary.
When whites say it - emphasizing
the 'cr' - the effect is less than
friendly. But when 17-year-old
Marcus Driscoll says "That’s my
nigga," ho’.s usually describing his
best friend.
"There ain’t really nothing
wrong with slang, and that’s all it
is," said Driscoll, a Detroit high
school student. "There’s a right
time and a wrong time to use it.
When you’re just hangin’ with your
friends, it’s OK." The word is so
ingrained in black speech that even
many older blacks feel it is
acceptable in the right situations.
"There arc 101 situations in
which 1 would never use the word,"
said Robert Steptoe, 48, a Yale
University English professor.
"But I’ve got my friends, ni;.
home boys, and when I’m around
them, I use the word. And 1 don’t
think I’ve sinned." Still, the word is
hardly universal among blacks. For
years, many have never dreamed of
using it. And these days, blacks
who casually drop the word in
conversation arc more likely than
ever to get a dirty look or a rebuke.
"The use of llic word (by blacks)
... has a dehumanizing effect," said
thC' Rev. Jesse Jackson. "In a time
when African-American males arc
seen as less than worthy, the use of
the word ... only maximizes dial
condition." Even rappers
considered some of the worsi
offenders by people who dislike the
word - arc speaking out against it.
Public Enemy, one of rap’s most
respected and popular groups,
included a song on its third album
called "1 Don’t Wanna Be Calleil
Yo’ Nigga." The theme: Don’t call
me nigger - especially if you’re
black.
The song hit home for rap fan
Mtu Pugh, a 22-ycar-old chemical
engineer with Procter & Gamble
Co. in Cincinnati.
"Using that word is like
oppressing myself. Why do I need
to do Uiat?" Pugh said.
"White folks have done a good
enough Job of oppressing my
people. The last thing I’m going to
do is help them. I’m sure they love
it when they hear black people
using that word. Then, they think
they’ve got us trained to denigrate
ourselves. ’’ The most common
argument against black use of die
word is that whites who hear it may
think they too can use it the way
blacks do.
That’s apparently what happened
at Central Michigan University,
where a white basketball coach was
fired in April after telling his
mostly black team, "We need some
more niggers on this team." The
coach, Keith Dambrot, said he used
the word to describe toughness and
tenacity and that his players gave
him permission to use the word as
they did.
All the players agreed Dambrot
isn’t a racist, and most weren't
offended by the incident. In fac-t,
nine of the 11 black players on last
season’s team joined Dambrot’s
lawsuit against the school, although
four later dropped out. A federal
judge dismissed the suit last month.
Dambrot’s lawyer, Robert Sedler,
said the coach’s use of the word in
that situation was acceptable.
"The language of black America
is not the language of America.
The word has a number of
meanings for blacks," said Sedler,
who is white.
"We’re not going to apologize fi
what happened." Tell that >
Tommy 'Williams, a 23-year^)i
part-time supermarket worker.
’"There ain’t a white person alitj
that thinks we don’t eare if tht]
eall us nigger," Williams said whi|
waiting for a pickup game aij
Detroit basketball eourt
"The way we say it, it’s elear if
a black thing," he said.
"As much as we say it down hci
if a white boy was down here at
said it, he’d leave with a coup
less teeth." For years, the word E
sparked debate in the blat
community.
When northern blacks began i
forge a new cultural identity duhi
the Harlem Renaissance of i[
1920s, many black intellectuj
were horrified by the celebration i
words and images that had ncvi
been available to a white audicnct
In 1965, activist-comedian Bit
Gregory titled his autobiograpi
"Nigger.” It ends with the won
’’When we’re through, Momm;
there won’t be any niggers i
more." In the 1970s, comcdii
Richard Pryor’s liberal use of #
word provoked outrage along vt
laughter. Yet even the rauncl
Pryor denounced the word aft
returning from a trip to Afrit;
"There ain’t, no niggers in Africi
The use of the word "nigger"
■’entirely opposite what people a
trying to do in perpetuating (
heritage of Africa," said Vivj
Buffington, director of rat
relations for the civic organizaij
New Detroit Inc.
But even as Afrocenu:
awareness increases, images ai
products of black ghetto life ai
moving into mainstream America.
Rap groups like the no*
disbanded N.W.A., short ft
Niggas Wit’ Attitude, top the pa
music charts. Black urban cloihii
styles appear in suburbia and liij!
fashion maga"zincs. Quality .mpvit
about black ghetto dwellers rakii
dollars and garner critical prais
from w'hitcs.
The culture of being poor ai
black is becoming a grudginjl
accepted, even celebrated, parii
America. And although use i
"nigger" is by no means confincili
the lower classes, that’s where
thrives.
"It’s just part of the language aj
the culture of being black," sai
Williams, the supermarket worka
"There’s lots of things that ulii
people took from blacks and niaj
their own - just look at Elvis, II
was copying black people.
So why can’t I take this
that’s used to keep me down ai
use it in a positive way?" Somes^
younger blacks wouldn’t be ^
quick to use the word if they la
ever heard it used in a rac^
fashion.
"White folks used to figure it«
an honor if they called you ‘nigpj
or ‘boy.’ They thought at least ibi
were talking to you," said U
Jackson, a 67-ycar-old Arkaiia
native who lives in Detroit. "Blac
folks who use that word dm
respect what their people have gd
through." "For people in the sub-)
generation, a‘ lot of them hai
never been called ‘nigger’ by
white person. It doesn’t have i
same context for them as it hasfl
a lot of older blacks," said aiiili
Nelson George, who has wriiB
eight books on black culture.
And George said the word li
carved a permanent niche in bliJ
English.
"It’s here for good," he said. "II
it to disappear, it would have to|
rejected by the people who J
saying it. Not by the ones ivl
don’t say it."
William Pitt, otherwise knowiil
“Pitt the Younger.’’ became prinl
minister of Britain in 1783 at III
tender age of 24.
THE CAROLINA TIMES
L.E. AUSTIN
Editor-Publisher 1927-1971
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