Member-only story
Nigger! The Ongoing Saga of a Most Controversial Word
One thing is for certain; despite the undeniable and unprecedented havoc that the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has wrought across the globe, the truth is such a dilemma has not prohibited some individuals from participating in behavior that is nothing short of recidivist and reductive. Psychopathic men and women have threatened to infect others https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/clarissajanlim/new-jersey-man-coronavirus-terrorist-threat with the virus. People have engaged in retrograde horrendous racist and xenophobic behavior, menacingly targeting specific groups for harassment due to their race or ethnicity. Singling out people based on regional geography has also become commonplace. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_incidents_of_xenophobia_and_racism_related_to_the_2019%E2%80%9320_coronavirus_pandemic .
However, this article is not about the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead it is about the ongoing use of and debate surrounding the socially loaded N-word: nigger. Recently, a NASCAR driver, Kyle Larson, was fired from the league for his casual and callous use of the word while speaking with others in a tense conversation. https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/04/14/sports/ap-car-nascar-larson-fired-.html. To his credit, which is not saying much considering the situation at hand, Larson did not attempt to deflect blame, dance around the controversy…
