*double gasp* The N-Word revisited

So my previous post was a poem that I had wrote a few months ago about the use of the word nigger/nigga... However you choose to spell it... It is interesting enough that a few days after I posted it I found out that the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs was having a presentation on the history of the N-word. The event was called the Co-oputation of the word 'Nigger'. Of course I was ecstatic and already cleared my schedule to attend.

I for one am happy that I attended the presentation, I learned about the history of the N-word. It intrigues me how it originally was used as descriptive word for people with black skin. Pre-Antebellum period the word would be synonymous to our present day black or African American. It also amazes me how this descriptive word slowly transformed into a derogatory term. Never before did I understand or know the history of the N-word, and because of this presentation it has deepened my disdain for its usage. After hearing the presentation, all I could think about was the film we watched last week, Ethnic Notions. Although as a class we did not see the film in its entirety the film ended with a display of current forms of the mammy, sambo, coon, pickaninny, etc. They showed magazine covers, film cases, and CDs. I did the same thing when I went home. I went through my iTunes and skimmed my Top 25 songs, and never did I think that I listened to so many songs that contained the use of the n-word so much!

I admit that the majority of the music that I listen to is rap so it is pretty much inevitable to hear the use of the word, especially listening to mainstream music. But becoming aware of the historical context and then hearing the word in every other sentence become a bit disturbing. So where do I go from here?