Don’t be so Prideful about owning the word Niger- you were not the first
Many people take pride in a label or tag for different reasons but one of the constant reasoning is the belief that if you own a label or tag, you then remove the control it has over you and recover that control over it. Now while I can see some truth in this, there are still words that I personally would never seek to take ownership of the number one word for me is Niger. It started out as learning about the origin behind this label and the results of usage of this term. The pain, suffering and deaths that are associated with this word made me decide early in the game never to accept it as part of my character, my definition or my reason. I saw the nooses and even felt the pulling of one around my own neck once so trying to tell me that it was okay for anyone of any color to use the word as if only a selected few had the right to use it only made me see them as nothing more than ignorant of this origin and these results. The more I thought about it, t...