N Word

After reading the book I do agree what Andy Rooney says is applied in the book. However, I don't agree with him personally. I agree with what the other lady had said against him: "We as the whites, need to address the problem and not use the word, however the blacks need to realize it was the past and get over it." That is somewhat of what she said, but I do agree with her. As whites, we don't need to instigate the problem, but as blacks, they shouldn't hold that over our heads (however WE SHOULD NOT use the word!!). While browsing the website I had seen that they had cards you could buy and all though I did think that it was a neat way to spread the word of NOT using the N word, I just don't understand if they are trying to "abolish" the word, why keep bringing it up in all these forms and not just leaving it alone. It's like digging up a grave--what's in the past cannot be changed but you eventually have to get over it...well that's sort how I think of it. Kennedy had showed both sides of the arguement however most of the issues were still towards teh blacks. Starting on page 65, there was a newspaper that was published stating a lot of foul language describing their teacher because he was black. I couldn't believe when I read that because that would never happen today. Especially in the school newspaper!! I think it is good to explore the word, like reading the book, for example. I think everyone should be aware of it, but then again, it's also something we need to move on from as a country. I guess it's really hard to say and very confusing also, when we think about the actions we take on becoming educated with the past...I think it depends on the person if the word can lose its meaning. Of course when we hear the word, as whites, we take a step back and say or think "Whoa, you shouldn't be using that word..." It's basically like an instant reflex, like at the doctors office when they tap your knee and it comes forward. We know its bad, we, as a person don't use the word, however, when it is used around us, we stop and think. So really, I don't think we can change the intent of the word no matter if we use it "friendly" or not because it has a past. And we can't change or erase the past. To me, words don't have power at all. There are tones obviously that may irritate me; for example, if people are being mean to others, but if someone calls me a name, I am definatly not affended by it. Words are very small to be, however this may be different for someone else.