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Meanings of a Word Essay
Although many African Americans support the use of the word "nigger" in certain circumstances, the mass majority of African Americans who lived in the times where whites used the word in order to degrade African Americans would passionately believe that the word "nigger" should be eliminated from all forms of language. Gloria Naylor clearly states her stance on the issue in "The Meanings of a Word" when she writes, "The people in my grandmother's living room took a word that whites used to signify worthlessness or degradation and rendered it impotent" (68). Consequently, people should never use the word "nigger" because not only does it represent shamefulness, but also the word can serve as a double standard when non-blacks say it.
Before the post-Civil Rights era, whites would frequently use the word "nigger" to social degrade and humiliate blacks. During this time, southern whites would commonly use the word "nigger" instead of "Negro" in order to......

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Approximate Word Count: 999
Approximate Pages: 4 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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