science

Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word

Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word rather than just read about it. In short: Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word is a 2002 book by Randall Kennedy of Harvard Law School about the history and sociology of the word nigger. "The power of 'Nigger,'" Charles Taylor wrote in Salon, "is that Kennedy writes fully of the word, neither condemning its every use nor fantasizing that it can ever become solely a means of empowerment." In the book, Kennedy explores the word's history, and how…

Key takeaways

Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word is a 2002 book by Randall Kennedy of Harvard Law School about the history and sociology of the word nigger. "The power of 'Nigger,'" Charles Taylor wrote in Salon, "is that Kennedy writes fully of the word, neither condemning its every use nor fantasizing that it can ever become solely a means of empowerment." In the book, Kennedy explores the word's history, and how its meaning varies according to the context of its use. "I'm not saying that any particular instance of using the N-word is any more horrifying and menacing than any other such word", he told Daniel Smith in The Atlantic. "I am saying that from a broad sociological view, the word is associated with more havoc in American society than other racial slurs." Darcus Howe noted of Nigger in New Statesman, "Had a white person used the word, rejection would have been immediate. Now white society can always point to Kennedy and say that a negro advanced the view that 'nigger' is acceptable." When asked by Kate Tuttle of Africana how he felt about the controversy over Nigger, Kennedy replied: "What's the worst that happens? That someone writes a very long diatribe in The New Yorker excoriating me...I'm not facing firing squads, I'm not facing exile, I'm not facing jail." The book was prominently featured in an episode of Boston Public in which a white teacher, played by Michael Rapaport, attempted to employ the book to teach his students about the history and controversy surrounding the word (season 2, episode 15: "Chapter Thirty-Seven").

Further reading Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word – online book preview at Google Books. ISBN 0-375-42172-6.

References

External links PopMatters review by James Withers "The N-Word as Therapy for Racists" by Martin Kilson Booknotes interview with Kennedy on Nigger, March 3, 2002. Not While Racism Exists, by Gary Younge

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word

In research: Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2002 non-fiction books, African-American book stubs, African-American culture, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word in simple terms?

Why does Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word.