International Support for 'N' Word Issue

ATLANTA ATTORNEY RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR RESOLUTION CHALLENGING BLACK SOCIETY TO DISCOURAGE THE USE OF THE "N" WORD AND MARK IT OUT OF THE DICTIONARY ON AUGUST 1, 2006

Atlanta, GA (BlackPR.com) - In May of this year, Attorney Roy Miller of Atlanta, Georgia announced his challenge to blacks to mark the "n" word out of his or her dictionaries on August 1, 2006. Attorney Miller has encouraged groups, clubs and organizations to adopt resolutions discouraging the use of the "n" word against a child or to describe a child and to make the resolution a part of their guiding principles. He has called on families and groups to meet on August 1, 2006 and discuss how the use of that word has impacted their lives. Miller, who specializes in juvenile law, has asked for them to sign a resolution to pledge to discontinue the use of the "n" word when referring to themselves and particularly when referring to children. As a show of solidarity, he as asked for the children to initiate marking the word out of their dictionaries and out of their lives. The children will take the lead and announce to the world that it is not acceptable, humorous, nor in style to refer to them as "n" words. Since that announcement, support has poured in from across the globe.

Since his 12-year old niece was shocked and offended by the definition of the word "nigger" that she found in her dictionary, Attorney Roy Miller, of Atlanta, Georgia has launched a crusade against its use by black persons in general and toward black children in particular.

That incident provided the motivation to make Attorney Miller beseech dictionary publishers to delete the "n" word from future publications. In 1994, Attorney Roy Miller became the first and only person to succeed at having the "n" word deleted from a major dictionary. Part of his argument has been that, if we have any respect at all for our ancestors, Black adults should be ashamed to refer to their Black babies and children by that offensive and disparaging term.

Attorney Roy Miller is renewing his challenge to families and organizations to meet on August 1st, 2006 and talk about how that word toward them and its affect on their lives then adopt resolutions pledging to acknowledge the "n" word as the ultimate insult against the black race. Furthermore, Attorney Miller is asking that all persons mark out the definition in their personal dictionaries on August 1, 2006 as a show of unity. A sample resolution can be found on Attorney Miller's website.

Since the initial publication, Attorney Miller has received worldwide support. The London-based Organization Ligali, founded by Toyin Agbetu, has partnered with Miller and pledged support. Jill Merritt, of www.abolishthenword.com, included Miller's challenge in the site's recent newsletter. In Detroit Michigan, a grade school teacher is using the resolution and discussion as the basis for a class project. Gabrielle Ellison, a broadcast communication major at Purdue University Indiana, will be hosting an assembly of fellow students to discuss the issue from the "20-something" perspective.

Other groups and companies that have expressed agreement include Morgan Communications of Atlanta, Georgia, the Atlanta Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, and the Dayton Ohio Chapter of the NAACP.

Attorney Miller states, "Zero tolerance towards being disrespected must be established in the Black community and it must start with Blacks respecting Black children. How can our babies be children of God and 'n' words at the same time? Does not such reference to the child also refer to the father?"


About Attorney Roy Miller
Attorney Roy Miller, P.C. practices juvenile law in the state of Georgia. www.attorneyroymiller.com


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I know I'm going to have my mailbox bombed, but here goes.

To me, this is just another example in a long line of situations where the black community has it's priorities skewed. Don't get me wrong, that word has been a staple in this country to keep blacks down in various ways throughout the years, most recently psychologically. But to simply dismiss it's history entirely and delete it from Amercian history (much less black history) is a symptom of a much larger problem. That overall problem being our willingness to want to erase the past, however wonderful or horrible it was.

Look folks. Let's just be open. As a black man myself, I shudder inside when another race/ethnicity uses "nigger" outloud. Most notibly, grand wizards of the KKK. That denotation is derogatory and offensive. No one disagrees. But part of having a dictionary is to note the various words and languages which are spoken within a society, much less a culture. To simply eliminate a word just because some would find the very utterance of it's sound horrible is no real reason to abolish it completely. The words are there in order for the new generation to learn about the horrors of the past. For instance, everyone can find a definition on slavery in the dictionary. Or the Holocaust. Not to mention the seven ugly words "you can't say on TV." Those words are deplorable. But is it any reason to delete them from our history entirely?

I know my argument is a little thin right now. But what I'm attempting to really say is as a country we all are trying to get a quick fix when we should be trying to resolve long term issues of greater importance. Black people should be trying to resolve child illegitimacy, a history of poverty in families, low marriage numbers, lack of EDUCATION, etc. The "N" word should be lower on the pole where racism is. We should be trying to get our own houses in order rather than tackling much larger broader issues.

I'll give more definitive explanations once more responses come in.

 

Personally, I have no problem with any of this, but I see what hellspawn is also gettin' at.

 

One of the biggest problems with abolishing that hideous word is others have embraced it because of excessive use and will never give it up. And guess who's a major contributor here?

 

Who cares

Maybe stop giving a sh*t about the word one way or other. No fun for the the redneck and no fun for the thug. No fun equals no use. Kind of like proper grammar.

 

I agree, Daphne.

 

Re: Who cares

Many Blacks aren't down for the usage of this word same as those who are offended when they are referred to honkies, crackers, spics, kikes, hymies, wetbacks, guineas, dagos, micks, gooks, chinks, injuns, japs etc. I doubt if anyone would ever expect them to not give a sh*t about slurs directed at them.

 

Lex- you forgot dot head and french.

Whats a hymie?

 

I also forgot sand N***** and diaper heads. Hymie is a reference to jewish people. Someone is still being villified to this day for referring to NYC as Hymietown in a private conversation.