The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn't, and Why,   ISBN:9780547053493

Customer Rating: 

This book is a propaganda piece of a predictable type. It begins in colonial times and progresses picking out writings, speeches and events in which a melancholy fact of those times - slavery - was referred to in the then extant language and attitudes. These quotations and attitude would be labeled "racist" if people spoke or acted in such ways today so the author takes those long past events, brings them into today's political orthodoxy and freely vilifies those long ago speakers actors with the "racist" epithet. Thus we learn that Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were "racists." It is a silly exercise but also a sinister one. It is an easy trick to move behavior in one time and place to another and condemn it in its new environment whether it was considered condemnable in its original or not. It elevates no one and nothing but openly and unfairly degrades its subjects. In the context of this book's subject matter it also openly provokes racial hatred. It joins "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in the genre of propaganda works that cast conflicts into "evil oppressor" and "helpless victim" roles. It does not reach the inquiry of how long racial hatred should be perpetuated but contents itself with perpetuating it for the time being.

Customer Rating: 

The N word. What a controversy! How should the n word be used? As an expletive! I use it allllll the time, because it's the 'worst' (i.e., the 'best') swear word ever! It beats the heck out of the f word. People give me dirty looks (or flame me on my blog or my twitter postings) when I use it. But this is what I think. Somewhere in most people's family history there were family members who were slaves. Sometimes they were called 'serfs' but it is the same thing. I come from Hawai'i, so as long as n ppl are gonna use the n word, so the heck am I! (Foolhardy perhaps, but I used to destroy chem weapons for a living, carry an automatic double-action BIG GUN and won't hesitate to use it, should someone decide to hurt me because I use the n word.) You want the negative power of the n word to go away? Bring it into the mainstream english language like 'paki' (in the UK) or 'lolo' in olele hawai'i and turn it into just another expletive. To have black ppl using it and then getting angry if a white person uses it, just supports my contention that in 2009, racism is BLACKS blaming WHITEs for their own lack of initiative and success. BTW, now that you have your 'black president' (who was raised by his WHITE grandparents and deserted by his black sperm donor), accept this reality: NO MORE WHITE GUILT, PPL. NOW you cannot blame 'whitey' for anything. It's your CHOICE to succeed, or live on welfare and spend it on gold coverings for your 'teef'.

Customer Rating: 

This book tells me what I already know so it was a boring read. The only enlightenment was the explanation of the origin of this word, which makes it ashamed for those who do, to use the word amongst themselves.

Customer Rating: 

As the author of this book, I'm naturally disappointed with Ms. Craven's assessment of my work. Of course, I strenuously disagree. Fortunately, my domestic and international travels on behalf of the book have led to fruitful discussions with thousands of readers who have indeed appreciated my work, and their responses have left me enormously gratified.

Customer Rating: 

The interview with the author on Cspan was interesting, but the book itself was a huge disappointment. I read it from BACK to FRONT, because the information I wanted to learn about (I'm studying politics and civil rights) was in the last chapters. The index was seriously lacking. Having lived through much of the history Asim wrote about, I easily recognized his serious omissions of important people and distortions of historical and well-known facts. Also apparent was his strong bias in favor of people he apparently likes or dislikes. Ultimately, the book was useless to me. In this case, the messenger OBSCURES the message.