After All This Time, There’S Still That Hate-Dealing Word

Recently, during a rain, thunder and wind storm, my grandson looked out of the window of his home and saw that one of the “Road Closed” barriers blocking his street had blown over.

Wanting to be helpful, he decided to go out and set it up again. As he got out to the barrier, a white man drove up, stopped and shouted to him: “Nigger, what did you knock that sign over for?”

My grandson is an African American. I guess the polite term for me to use would be to say the man used the “N word.” But, no, I am going to put it out there in all its ugliness, because that is what it is - a hateful, ugly word.

In my experience, when something bad happens to a child, you should always get them to talk about it. This child is 11 years old, and when I asked him how he felt about being shouted at and called a “nigger,” he didn’t answer at first. Then he said, “I went into the house and cried.”

With tears stinging my own eyes, I told him that he had done nothing wrong and that he had nothing to be ashamed of for crying. Someone, in their ignorance, had purposely lashed out to hurt him only because of the color of his skin.

Some in today’s “white America” - some - are quick to say: “It wasn’t us who had slaves. It wasn’t us who espoused discrimination and racism. It was our forefathers, so don’t blame us.”

If that is the case, how did the word “nigger” get to the here and now? Was it blown on the wind through the generations?

Government can legislate against racism. Corporate America can ban racism from the workplace. But what are you doing in your household? Do you allow your children to use the word “nigger”? Do they carry it to or bring it from school or elsewhere?

The only way to get rid of racism is to smother it in the human heart.

My great-grandparents, who were slaves, were tormented by that word.

My grandparents were stung by that word.

My parents were humiliated by that word.

My generation was hurt by that word.

My children were angered by that word.

Now, my grandchild has been made to cry over that word.

It is time for it to stop.