The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn't, and Why

In 2003, Randall Kennedy's book Nigger started an intense conversation about the use and implications of that epithet. The N Word moves far beyond Kennedy's short, provocative book by revealing how the slur has both reflected and spread the scourge of bigotry in America over the last four hundred years. What began as false generalizations became institutionalized in every corner of our society: the arts and sciences, sports, the law, and on the streets. Asim argues that, even when uttered by hipsters and hip-hop icons, the slur helps keep blacks at the bottom of America's socioeconomic ladder. But he also proves there is a place for this word in the mouths and on the pens of those who truly understand its twisted history--from Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle to Mos Def. Only when we know its legacy can we loosen this slur's grip on our national psyche.