Continuing Orientalist Thought: Colourblind Discourse + The “N-Word"
A case study of the language associated with colourblind discourse and the ways it is used to explain and address racial issues without acknowledging the histories surrounding them.
I was interested in examining the relationship between the Black community’s re-appropriation of the N-word and the White community’s opposition to it. I chose to analyze the 2018 article, “Society’s use of the N-word demonstrates hypocrisy”, by Mackenzie Gleysteen. I argue that Gleysteen’s use of language throughout the article reproduces the power relations that emerged from colonialism and Orientalism, as it attempts to maintain the superiority of White people over the Black community. Because this slur was traditionally used by White people to categorize Black people as inferior, the Black community’s reclamation of this word poses a direct threat to White Americans’ use of language in the reproduction of their power. I argue that discourse surrounding the appropriateness of the Black people’s use of the N-word today emerged in an attempt to regain control over the Black community.
“Gleysteen’s rhetoric simultaneously ignores the experiences and autonomy of Black people, while placing the onus of eradicating oppressive language on them.”
Written For: Professor Shana Almeida (Ryerson University)
Categories: race, identity, language, power
Year: 2020
