The "N" Word and Virginia Politics Senator George Allen is being accused of using the "N" word 30 years ago. Wannabe Jim Webb says that he never used the word directed at any one individual and that ALL southerners have said the word. Ok, so let's be clear about what word we're discussing (and get lots of hits on the blog over the next few days).

Nigger is a term used to refer to dark-skinned peoples, especially Africans or people of African descent. Its use by other races, particularly white people, is regarded as offensive in most social contexts.

At the time of the Atlantic slave trade, it was a standard, casual English term for black people. The word later became associated with an overt contempt, a racist assumption of inherent black inferiority, making it extremely pejorative.

from Wikpedia

and the etymology

The Spanish word negro originates from the Latin word niger, meaning black. In English, negro or neger became negar and finally nigger, most likely under influence of French nègre. Neger (sometimes spelled "neggar") prevailed in northern New York under the Dutch and also in Philadelphia, in its Moravian and Pennsylvania Dutch communities. For example, the New York City African Burial Ground was originally known as "Begraaf Plaats van de Neger."

In the United States, the word nigger was not originally considered derogatory, but merely denotative of black, as it was in much of the world. In nineteenth-century American literature, there are many uses of the word nigger with no intended negative connotation (see below). The perception of the term nigger as derogatory is no doubt related to the fact that the Negro race itself was widely regarded as inferior, lazy, simian-like in appearance, stupid, and criminally inclined, by many whites of the time. There is an observable pattern of terms denoting black people which have come to be regarded as derogatory, just as exist for all ethnic groups. Some well known ones are: Nigger, darky, coon, Spook, and colored, all of which were at various times acceptable, but are now considered offensive in North America. Black was generally the preferred term from the late 1960s until the 1990s, but has now been displaced in politically correct usage by African American, which resembles the term Afro-American that was in vogue in the early 1970s. However, Black continues in widespread popular use as a racial designation.

In Cuba the Spanish word prieto (similar origin to the Portuguese preto) is not derogatory. In Cuba a prieto is someone who is very dark, but not black ("Negro"). The Spanish word for "black" is "negro." White Southern dialect in many parts of the southern United States changes the pronunciation of "Negro" to "nigra." The form "nigger" may have come about from "nigra" through metathesis.

At times, black people have appropriated the slur, subverting it to a self-referential term that is often suggestive of familiarity, endearment, or kinship.

The word is occasionally spelt nigguh or even nikuh in imitation of some speakers' pronunciation. However, the forms nigga and niggah are far more common alternatives. Other variations designed to avoid the term itself include nookah, nukka, and nagger.

Of course usage by white folks just isn't politically correct (PC) and really hasn't been all my life (more than 30 years). That's not to say I haven't heard the word used. I have and with all sorts of inference. I've heard it said from behind a blade intended and expected to cause a fight. I've heard it said defiantly by a black soldier, "this NIGGER ain't doing shit for you." I've heard it used in race relations discussion groups in the Army by black NCO instructors and all participants. I've heard it used in comedy and said on TV. I've heard black and WHITE kids calling to one another using the word as they run down the alley behind my house.

So, what do I think of the current dust up in Virginia politics? I think it is so much BS. After his 30 years of public service somebody finally decides to come out and charge George Allen with using the word ONCE in the midst of a college football game. ONCE. Why? Because Jim Webb is a putz. A former Republican who switched parties and is running as a Democrat and is now LOSING. A man who knows he can't win on issues, whose party's senior senator is a former GRAND WIZARD of the KKK who probably used the "N" word in ways that would make my short hairs curl.

Who will I vote for this election? George Allen. He's a good man. He's a straight shooter. He will do what needs doing to keep the nation protected and whole and defeat the terrorists. He's a man who can reach across party lines without compromising his principles or his party's principles or my principles.  ¶ posted by The Editor 10:31 AM