'N-word': Nope. Never.

I’ll admit, I have mixed views that mostly lean toward disagreement. Initially, I was appalled. While I don’t agree with using the extremely offensive word simply because it is part of one’s “history,” or likening it to the role of a state representative as a “public servant,” I do think Greene made a valid point when he said society needs to unify. There is so much hatred and disconnect, and I see it in rural Minnesota — where we’re supposed to stick together and embrace our love of small towns and familiar faces — more and more every day.

Greene also said he wants to encourage people to focus on issues at hand, not “trivial matters.” I agree with that statement as well, but I don’t believe using the N-word — under any circumstance — is a trivial matter.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines trivial as “of little worth or importance.” That said, I believe inclusion of the N-word in today’s vocabularies is entirely on the contrary. Combating use of a term that since the days of slavery has implied racism should be of high importance. There’s a reason the term has been rendered a social taboo.

A 2015 article by the Washington Post said surveys from 2006 showed that the American public widely perceived usage of the term to be wrong or unacceptable, but that nearly half of whites and two-thirds of blacks knew someone personally who referred to blacks by the term. Nearly one-third of whites and two-thirds of blacks said that they themselves had personally used the term in the last five years.

I’ll reiterate my point in this example. When directed at someone who is black, the N-word does exactly what defines “trivial”: It makes the person feel “of little worth or importance.” When we make people feel this way with hurtful words, does it really not matter to politicians? Is this hatred for fellow members of the human race really trivial?

American history shows that people used the term to degrade those they considered less than themselves. When I hear it enunciated, as I did in Greene’s video, my mind travels to horrific scenes I’ve read about and seen in movies in which people of color were whipped and forced to perform free labor for ignorant white sociopaths, and later, excluded from using the same bathrooms as their white counterparts.

Greene identifies his heritage as African-American, Cherokee Indian and white. Of course he wasn’t promoting racism. It’s important to note that the word has been culturally reappropriated, and when used by black speakers is sometimes intended to be neutral or even affectionate. Rap music is a good example of people who have reclaimed terms such as the N-word that were previously disparaging. For instance, the N-word has been rendered to “nga” in several rap songs. Knowing this, I still believe it’s a word everyone should exclude from their vocabularies because of its strong link to inequality and degradation.

In my research, I read about Netflix executive Reed Hastings, who this year fired his chief communications officer for using the N-word twice during internal discussions about sensitive words. In explaining why, Hastings wrote:

“(The word’s use) in popular media like music and film have created some confusion as to whether or not there is ever a time when the use of the N-word is acceptable. For non-black people, the word should not be spoken, as there is almost no context in which it is appropriate or constructive (even when singing a song or reading a script). There is not a way to neutralize the emotion and history behind the word in any context. The use of the phrase ‘N-word’ was created as a euphemism, and the norm, with the intention of providing an acceptable replacement and moving people away from using the specific word. When a person violates this norm, it creates resentment, intense frustration and great offense for many.”

I’m saddened that as a society we feel the only way to capture the attention of others is through negativity.

Greene’s use of the N-word certainly accomplished his mission of drawing significant attention to his campaign. But do I think it will help him get elected? I’ll answer that rhetorical question with a more socially accepted N-word: nope.