Laughing out loud at 'N' word

THE "N" word received a very public airing from an unlikely source when Barack Obama bravely chose to use it during a recent radio interview.

In the wake of the heinous slaughter at the Charleston church in South Carolina, he was, of course, making the point that race relations in the United States have still many miles to travel beyond just refraining from use of the toxic term in polite company.

It is curious ... the power that a few marks on paper or spoken syllables has to inflict psychic injury, and the manner in which certain terms acquire especial toxicity.

But the contexts can be tricky. "Coloured" was a term I had thought binned some time back, but it seems it is still around, albeit slightly remodelled - as Benedict Cumberbatch recently found to his chagrin when he was pinged for referring to non-Caucasian fellow thespians as coloured, as opposed to being "of colour" which is, apparently, the appropriate argot now.

The "N" word itself started out as just a bit of local neutral vernacular of various spellings deriving from niger, the Latin for black. One version, niggur, was simply then a contemporary word for "dude" or "guy" and could apply to any ethnicity.

However, by the end of the 19th century it had acquired specific pejorative racial connotations and was considered offensive.

Interesting, too, are the various stratagems for defusing the power of the pejorative to wound. Commonly, the subject of the taunt will re-recruit the term for their own purposes, and thus have it rebound on the original user - "Dykes on Bikes" is a case in point.

In the same way, African-Americans reclaimed the "N" word for their own use in everyday contexts, re-establishing ownership and usage on their own terms.

On retirement, Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali's arch-opponent in some of boxing's most epic duels, struggled to find a new vocation. He finally thought he could cash in on his name with a spot of nightclub crooning backed by a group of pretty young things, naturally called the Frazierettes.

Ali happened to be in town and thought he would check out Joe's act for old times' sake. Asked afterwards what he thought of the show, Ali remarked, with characteristic sardonic twinkle: "Joe's the only nigger in the world who ain't got rhythm." How to destroy two stereotypes in one hit with humour and style.

The tragic circumstances aside, if Ali had happened to catch President Obama's rendition of Amazing Grace during his poignant eulogy in Charleston, he might have conceded Joe had a co-contender for the title.

Lenny Bruce, the acclaimed, sometimes reviled, Jewish stand-up comedian of the 50s and 60s, pushed audiences to the edge with incisive comedy that could cut to the core of social and political issues, as well as darkly entertain.

One evening, Lenny sent a hostile ripple through the somewhat seedy nightclub venue that was his natural haunt by asking how many "n******" were in the audience. The only response was a shocked, malevolent murmur bristling back from the stalls.

Undeterred, Lenny pressed on: "Okay, maybe not too many spades [another offensive term for blacks] here tonight. How about Hymies [Jews], apart from myself, of course ... ?

By now the audience was sensing something was afoot, and a few tentative hands fluttered up.

"Yes, I see a couple of Ikies down the back there ... that makes three Hebes, including me. Now what about the Polacks? Do we have a few Polacks tonight?"

As Lenny proceeded to trot out just about every ethnic slang term going, the audience was soon in fits, hooting and hollering in appreciation of his masterclass on how to destroy the ridiculous by highlighting its very ridiculousness.

The slings and arrows of potential verbal projectiles expertly, pre-emptively defused and dismissively shot down.