Very few words in the English language can generate an immediate and emotional reaction as powerful as the N-word can. In the wake of an encounter with the word, many struggle to reconcile with the shock, anger, and even embarrassment that lingers afterward. After her own point of encounter on the basketball court against McKay High School, senior Nengai Mollel was left reeling.

     “Some girl said [the N-word] and I turned my head really fast, and I was confused for a second because I was like, ‘Was she calling me that, or was she saying that [just] to say it?’” Mollel said. “I didn’t know what to do in the moment, so I kind of just froze. I didn’t know why anybody would say that to someone during a game. It was just so out of context.”

     Just like any word, context is key to understanding its deeper meaning. The N-word has centuries of complex history behind it, starting with the first African slaves brought to the Americas in 1619. Derived from the Latin word “niger,” meaning black, the word was a term used to refer to enslaved Black people. However, it was not until after the end of slavery and the beginning of the early civil rights movement in the late 1800s that the N-word began to be widely recognized as a derogatory term. Even then, the word continued to hold prominence in media during the next century, appearing repeatedly in early blockbuster films like D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation” and Dudley Murphy’s “Emperor Jones,” classic novels such as Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None”, and even as a name for a black labrador who served during World War ll. However, since the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, the N-word has become more of a societal taboo, although some African American groups have reclaimed the word and use it amongst themselves.

     “I’d say that Black people can use it because, historically, it’s been used [against] Black people, or

African Americans,” senior Mahmoud Rashid said. “It’s turned into more of a cultural thing for African Americans when it’s used within communities.”  

     Famous Black rappers like Tyler, The Creator, and Kendrick Lamar use the word frequently in their music, which sometimes causes frustration among fans who are not Black but want to sing along to all of the lyrics. At one of Lamar’s recent concerts, a white fan was asked to stop singing, being told by Lamar that “you gotta bleep one single word,” but at Tyler, The Creator concerts, fans are often given permission to sing along fully.

     “When it comes to singing along to rap songs, if it slips out, it’s like whatever. If you’re actively looking for songs to sing along with just to say it, then that’s weird,” Rashid said.

     The issue of the N-word in Black art goes back much further than modern rap, though. Since the release of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the fictional story of an unfairly convicted Black man fighting for his freedom with the help of lawyer Atticus Finch, society has debated how the N-word should be used in appreciation and analysis of art like this. As Lee’s novel is a staple in many English curricula, teachers must address the word while reading, with some even electing to say it aloud. However, saying the N-word, even in an academic and historical context, can cause strife among students.

     “When it comes to reading literature that has some historical context, it’s important to tread lightly. I think that if a teacher is going to be using a book that has that type of language, there needs to be some pre-teaching of expectations,” Kelsey Costales-Marshall, the GAPS Executive Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, said, “to create safety for students of color in that space and also to highlight that we’re going to be talking about this. And just because it’s in this book never makes it okay to use it in a harmful way.”

     The power the N-word holds when used harmfully is significant, and many Black people have had a negative experience with the word.

      “I honestly think that people shouldn’t say the N-word,” Mollel said. “It’s rude, and when somebody said the word to me one time, I just felt so small.”

     The pain that the N-word can cause, despite all its complexities and history, is why Oregon has prohibited the use of the word in a school setting. However, that doesn’t mean that it is never heard inside school, though it may be rare.

     “I don’t hear it a lot inside of school, but when it comes to activities like football games and outside of school, I do hear it more,” Mollel said. “I think people are just scared to say it in school because of what happened a few months ago when people made it into a big deal.”

     In late fall, several members of the Black Student Union shared incidents and interactions they have had over the years during a visit from Costales-Marshall to their club meeting, bringing up serious conversation about how the N-word is used amongst students. This led to use of the bias incident report system, but it also raised awareness of the experiences of black students in the community.

     “I think [that] at the high school level, kids [that have] been in our system for a long time have gotten used to it,” Costales-Marshall said. “They don’t want to put a target on their back by being a problem, is how I think they feel at times. But in my mind, you’re not a problem for expressing when you’re experiencing harm.”

     Part of Costales-Marshall’s job is handling any bias incident that occurs among students, whether it is related to race, gender, sexuality, or disability. However, without these incidents being reported, she can’t know how to support students, so she encourages every student to utilize these resources if necessary. Most importantly, she emphasizes that the first step towards limiting discrimination in schools is ending the use of derogatory terms that perpetuate any form of bias.

     “No one should be using the word at GAPS schools,” Costales-Marshall said. “The expectation is that no one is using racial slurs, no matter who you are, what skin color you have or [what] community you belong to.”

     However, outside of professional settings, there is no consensus about how each person should use the N-word and its use continues to persist. For Rashid, it is easier to focus on how he handles hearing the word used, rather than who is saying it.

     “While I don’t think it should be used casually, I don’t let it get to me,” Rashid said. “At the end of the day, how I interpret it is if [someone is] saying the word, then they’re going to deal with the consequences of that.”

     However, Rashid highlights that every Black person is unique and has developed their own opinions regarding the N-word. The range of thoughts and feelings on the N-word, while all valid, make it a tough topic to discuss.

     “Every African American person has their own different experiences, and that will heavily affect how they react and how they interpret things,” Rashid said. “As a whole, people don’t really see that. They don’t see the nuances in black people. They just see them and they’re like, ‘oh, you’re black’ without really looking deeper into that.”