Murugesan 1

Tarun Murugesan

Professor Granillo

English 101

19 January 2020

The Significance of the N-Word

The N-word, and who can and cannot utter it, is a topic made controversial by its roots in

the darkest depths of American history. This single word represents the systemic discrimination

and racial intolerance that African Americans have faced for the last 400 years. Therefore, it is

understandable that when a society has come to view this word completely detached from its

historical context, people who have been affected by that history will respond. Such is the case

with Hanif Abdurraqib and his response to American American rapper ScHoolboy Q’s

statements regarding the usage of the N-word. As described in “They Can’t Kill Us Until They

Kill Us,” by Abdurraqib, ScHoolboy Q had continuously encouraged his audience to join him in

saying the N-word during his rap concerts, including those unaware of its significance and even

those of non-African American descent. As a result, Abdurraqib was prompted to present his

criticisms of the rapper’s statements and attempts to clarify its meaning to a society that

perceives the word disconnected from its historical background. Abdurraqib effectively conveys

his argument opposing ScHoolboy Q’s statements using rhetorical modes such as interviews and

inductive reasoning to bolster an appeal to logos and personal anecdotes to strengthen his appeals

to pathos and ethos.

ScHoolboy Q has been heavily criticized due to his statements regarding the usage of the

N-word: according to him, the audience of his rap concerts should feel comfortable singing along
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and saying the N-word since they provide him with the ability to sustain a career and provide for

his family. When interviewed, he states that “‘[it is] not like [he is] asking them to go out in the

world and say it, but if they paid for a show and put food on [his] family’s table, [he is] not going

to be up there saying the word alone’” (Abdurraqib 32). Despite its deeper meaning, the N-word

is not something that ScHoolboy Q believes should inhibit his interactions with people in an

enjoyable and entertaining environment. Although the rapper states that he does not encourage

its usage in settings outside his rap concerts, Hanif Abdurraqib still finds issue with the

undeniable, perhaps temporary, disregard for the significance of the N-word.

Hanif Abdurraqib is motivated to convey his stance against ScHoolboy Q’s

encouragement of the use of the N-word due to his belief that such a word should not be thrown

around so carelessly. For example, Abdurraqib states that “[any] language that is a potential

precursor to bloodletting has a small history that it [cannot] be pulled apart from. All black

parents [he] knows… have a story about the first time they were called a [N-word]... There is

often running involved” (33). Abdurraqib believes that a word representing the violence and

atrocities committed against a whole group of people has the real potential to cause harm to

others, and that ScHoolboy Q’s encouragement of its careless usage is dangerous. As a result, he

feels compelled to provide his counterargument and to prompt people to seriously consider

whether the usage of the N-word is necessary or compassionate. In his eyes, a word as potent and

negatively charged as the N-word should not be uttered by anyone in a society striving to redeem

itself from its past mistakes, let alone by those who are ignorant of the struggles that African

Americans have faced.

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Hanif Abdurraqib implements the usage of testimonial evidence in order to effectively

convey his argument criticizing ScHoolboy Q’s statements. For example, Adburraqib cites a

2005 interview in which Raekwon, a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, described an experience in

which he and his black friend Troy were rapping to their favorite black rappers in their college

dorm, and “eventually more bodies piled into the room [and] they were mostly white kids…

[and] the song “[N-word] Bleed” came on the playlist [and] Biggie raps ‘N****s bleed just like

us’ at least that [is] what [Raekwon] wanted to hear... but everyone filled in the blanks…

[Raekwon] looked over at Troy [and] his hand was in a fist [and] it was trembling” (Abdurraqib

35). It is made clear from this testimonial evidence that the utterance of a single word can

emotionally charge someone to a significant extent. To many of those within the black

community, the N-word represents a time in American history when they were not treated as

human beings. Therefore, by including evidence from someone who was directly affected by the

use of the N-word, Abdurraqib is enabled to logically draw the connection between the usage of

the N-word and the resulting emotional distress. Ultimately, Abdurraqib allows his readers to

arrive at the same conclusion and strengthen his appeal to logos.

Abdurraqib also uses inductive reasoning to effectively convey his argument as being

objectively sound and difficult to refute. For example, Abdurraqib states that “[ScHoolboy Q] is

allowing [the usage of the N-word] to be done louder, and more comfortably… a thing that

[Adburraqib has] a problem with is the population of rap show… As a rap artist gets bigger, and

their ticket prices get higher, their audience becomes whiter” (Abdurraqib 37). This evidence

reiterates Abdurraqib’s motivation for writing this essay: to prevent the casual use of a

negatively charged word by people who are unaware or negligent of its potentially harmful
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effects on others. As a result, he conveys this message through this inductive reasoning,

effectively highlighting the repercussions of ScHoolboy Q’s principles and furthering developing

a logical argument.

Finally, Abdurraqib provides his own personal anecdotes to bolster his appeal to pathos

while simultaneously establishing his credibility and ethos. For example, he states that ‘[his]

mother thought [the N-word] to be an ugly word with an ugly history, as so [he] grew up

imagining the word as only ugly. It never felt right coming out of [his] mouth, because all [he]

associated it with were stories of violence. It was impossible … to imagine it as a word of love”

(Abdurraqib 34). By including a personal story and conveying his reluctance to say the N-word,

despite the apparent permission given to those of his race, Adburraqib is enabled to convey the

sensitivity surrounding this topic. He describes the emotions attached to the word and allows his

audience to sympathize with the trauma associated with the N-word and its dark past.

Furthermore, his background and family’s personal connection to the N-word lends to his ability

to credibly speak on the significance of the word.

Author Hanif Abdurraqib uses his essay, “ScHoolboy Q Wants White People to Say The

Word,” as a platform to present his criticisms of ScHoolboy Q’s statements regarding the usage

of the N-word and is compelled to address this because of his concern for a society that

disregards the tainted history that the word signifies. He effectively does so by implementing

rhetorical modes such as interviews and inductive reasoning to strengthen his logos appeal and

personal anecdotes to strengthen his pathos and ethos appeals. Throughout his essay, Abdurraqib

has made it evident that the N-word still has an immense impact on the social interactions

between people today, and that it is essential that this impact is not forgotten. As a society, we
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must not disregard the mistakes of our past, but instead pursue self-reflection and use

compassion to heal the social tensions that have developed over time.
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Works Cited

Abdurraqib, Hanif. ​They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us.​ Columbus, Two Dollar Radio, 2017.