Public Comment

I write in response to J. Douglas Allen-Taylor’s recent column about the infamous slur word that is America’s pride and joy. The ignoble word that bigoted, racist, vulgar, people will continue to use. They use it in secret and public to try and make inferior a certain group of American and world citizens. 

Your paper performed a disservice to all your readers, especially your young readers and recent immigrants who may not know the origin and use of this slur. Other people, like the writer Allen-Taylor, also are misinformed and ignorant to whom this word really belongs. The Daily Planet’s editorial staff also will be able to find some light in the following truths. 

This vicious slur word can never be our word (I am an American citizen with African heritage who is nearly 60 years old, born and reared in California). I want to keep our American history in perspective. My grandfather’s father and mother were born in 1860 in Marion County, Mississippi. My great-grandmother lived nearly 100 years and she shared her history with her family, never once did she ever refer to herself nor her people using the “N word.” Mr. Allen-Taylor does himself and many other people a great harm by writing about something he obviously knows little about. And to use two failed comedians for your reference and support…shame on you Mr. Allen-Taylor. Now, some history for Daily Planet readers: 

The slur word originated and first was used by the scum who made their money trading in human beings. This country began oppressing African people early on in its history. As early as the 17th century laws began appearing that plainly discriminated against and offered no protection to Africans on the American continent. The human traders at that early time began referring to African people with the corruption of the Spanish word for black: “Negro.” This was their common identifier for people from the African continent. The human trading and human owning vulgar people were identifying Africans with their slur word, while the Africans were still speaking their tribal language. And even today the slur word is used by racist and other vulgar people in combination with other words like sand (slur word) etc. to denote any so called non-white humans. It is not our word. 

Throughout American states and cities in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries various racist segregationist laws passed. These laws identified the American citizens of African heritage anyway and however they desired. The U.S. census designated their citizens with African blood either B for black M for mulatto, of course cities and states were more creative and would use words like Colored, Black, African, Negro, Negra, on and on. Read for yourself, the laws that were written used whatever word they felt like using to identify us. We were not calling ourselves anything vulgar, any name we were called came from the white rulers, not from the oppressed. When my grandfather needed medical care in Mississippi in the early 1900s from an on the job injury, it was the racist who said we do not allow “slur words” in our hospital. It is the law. We don’t treat colored people. Of course he died from lack of medical care. Him and along list of other. It is not our Word. 

More recently, Gov. George Wallace of Alabama, and of course other segregationist racist white rulers of states in our union, declared on national television, “There will be no [slur word] admitted to the University of Alabama while I am alive.” The governor’s face was twisted and he meant what he said, but he failed. Yet, his stance was nothing compared to the evil racist citizens of Little Rock, Arkansas. Children going to school caused the whole town of white people to become a violent dangerous Mob, and they were calling the teenage students (girls and boys) every slur word you could ever imagine, along with threats that hopefully no one reading this will ever have to endure. Do you not remember? Restoring civil order required the 101st Airborne Division sent by President Eisenhower from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. It is not our word.  

Now Mr. Allen-Taylor, what group of people was calling who what? You say you are not going to allow white people to use the word. You are either ignorant or inexperienced, if you are ignorant to truth; there is hope, why write to justify, write for truth. White people invented the word and use it whenever the hell they please. It is not our word. 

Friday Night High School football is an institution in California. In 1964 our team traveled to the town of Glendale, about 10 miles from Pasadena. As the football team stood by waiting to run on the field, what name do you think the racist scalawags were calling us? “Slur word” and “Slur word lovers.” We fielded a team, an integrated team of mixed human tribes, but those dumbos in Glendale were sick with their sickness. It is not our word. 

I spent 12 months in the Airborne Infantry in Vietnam, shot five times and a survivor simply to be a witness for all time, against war. Believe me Mr. Allen-Taylor, there is not a word you can use or say to make me blink. I see you, and others like you, on the bus, the BART, on the street, all misinformed and lost from your own great history of survival. Stop being ashamed to say “African!” “Africa!” Say it loud….that is your heritage and you need not try and hide from it. Singing songs with and calling yourselves by names invented by the worst human beings displays very clear you have what is known as a slave mentality. Bob Marley reminded us all: Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our mind.