How offended should one be?
Monday night I was sitting in a public restroom, at the local book store. When I saw that someone had written "NIGG**" on the wall. I was offended, but I didn't know how offended I should be because a black man may have written it
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The entire album is focussed on moving beyond the labels and boxes the dominant culture puts people in, and most of it has to do with breaking out of the "nigga" box. (Saul actually writes the word "NGH" in an attempt to move it out of the negative space which History places upon the word.)
There has been quite a bit of discussion about race and how it related to this music, which is NOT hip-hop, but certainly is rap. One of my own comments was about how, as a white male, I find music which uses words like NGH to be difficult to approach, because it somehow feels that it is not "meant for my ears." Saul's album IS meant to cross racial lines, but then, it's not gansta rap.
It's been an interesting exploration. I don't think anything has been solved, but I don't feel quite as embarassed anymore while listening to this particular album. It still doesn't feel completely inclusive to me, but at least I don't feel like I'm being deliberately left out by the use of language.
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