Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

2-11-2009

SSRN Discipline

Economics Research Network; Legal Scholarship Network; Public Choice & Political Economy eJournals; Law School Research Papers - Legal Studies; ERN Subject Matter eJournals; Financial Economics Network; Management Research Network

Abstract

Randall Kennedys book Nigger asserts the startling thesis that nigger may be a loaded termthe worst in the lexicon of racist insultsbut still does not warrant banishment from polite society Because a word is not a crystal transparent and unchanged but capable of bearing many meanings we should not condemn nigger categorically or endow it with more power than it deserves Instead we should use the term casually repeatedly even laughingly so as to deprive it of its sting According to Kennedy this jiujitsu approach will defang the word reclaim it from bigots and enable its former victims to elude its awesome powerOn the way to developing his audacious proposal Kennedy reviews the words origin history and many uses including times when it has found its way into court proceedings He discusses the perils of fighting it and advocates the solutionusing the word frequently and casually so as to weaken its impactthat many of his readers have found so startling The author of leading work on black crime and the death penalty and a critic of contemporary racial movements Kennedy advances a number of familiar themes many of them bracing intellectually appealing and in keeping with the feisty independence that marks his earlier work the need to avoid dwelling on victimization and wounded feelings an emphasis on colorblindness and the need to avoid overreaction He also places responsibility on the proregulation side to show that their problem is real and not the product of a herd mentality increased racial sensitivities or media hype

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