Nigger :
1954-
Nigger : the strange career of a troublesome word / Randall Kennedy. - 1st ed. - New York : Vintage Books c2002. - 188 p. ; 20 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-209) and index.
The Protean N-Word -- "Nigger" in Court -- Pitfalls in Fighting "Nigger": Perils of Deception, Censoriousness, and Excessive Anger -- How Are We Doing with "Nigger"? 1. 2. 3. 4.
""Nigger": it is arguably the most consequential social insult in American history, though, at the same time, a word that reminds us of "The ironies and dilemmas, tragedies and glories of the American experience." In this tour de force, Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy, author of the highly acclaimed Race, Crime, and the Law, "put[s] a tracer on 'nigger'," to identify how it has been used and by whom, while analyzing the controversies to which it has given rise. Kennedy explores such questions as: How should "nigger" be defined? Is it, as some have declared, necessarily more hurtful than other racial epithets? Do blacks have a right to use "nigger" even as others do not? Should the law view "nigger" baiting as a provocation strong enough to reduce the culpability of a person who responds violently to it? Should a person be fired from his or her job for saying "nigger"? How might the destructiveness of "nigger" be assuaged? To be ignorant of the meanings and effects of "nigger," says Kennedy, is to render oneself vulnerable to all manner of peril. This book addresses that concern."--BOOK JACKET.
0375713719
2001036442
African Americans--Social conditions.
African Americans--Race identity.
Racism in language.
Racism--Psychological aspects.--United States
English language--Slang--Social aspects.--United States
English language--Slang--Psychological aspects.--United States
Invective--Psychological aspects.--United States
Invective--History--United States--Anecdotes.
United States--Race relations--Psychological aspects.
E185.625 / .K46 2002
F/KEN
Nigger : the strange career of a troublesome word / Randall Kennedy. - 1st ed. - New York : Vintage Books c2002. - 188 p. ; 20 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-209) and index.
The Protean N-Word -- "Nigger" in Court -- Pitfalls in Fighting "Nigger": Perils of Deception, Censoriousness, and Excessive Anger -- How Are We Doing with "Nigger"? 1. 2. 3. 4.
""Nigger": it is arguably the most consequential social insult in American history, though, at the same time, a word that reminds us of "The ironies and dilemmas, tragedies and glories of the American experience." In this tour de force, Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy, author of the highly acclaimed Race, Crime, and the Law, "put[s] a tracer on 'nigger'," to identify how it has been used and by whom, while analyzing the controversies to which it has given rise. Kennedy explores such questions as: How should "nigger" be defined? Is it, as some have declared, necessarily more hurtful than other racial epithets? Do blacks have a right to use "nigger" even as others do not? Should the law view "nigger" baiting as a provocation strong enough to reduce the culpability of a person who responds violently to it? Should a person be fired from his or her job for saying "nigger"? How might the destructiveness of "nigger" be assuaged? To be ignorant of the meanings and effects of "nigger," says Kennedy, is to render oneself vulnerable to all manner of peril. This book addresses that concern."--BOOK JACKET.
0375713719
2001036442
African Americans--Social conditions.
African Americans--Race identity.
Racism in language.
Racism--Psychological aspects.--United States
English language--Slang--Social aspects.--United States
English language--Slang--Psychological aspects.--United States
Invective--Psychological aspects.--United States
Invective--History--United States--Anecdotes.
United States--Race relations--Psychological aspects.
E185.625 / .K46 2002
F/KEN