The view and the n word

“Teaching the N-Word” by Emily Bernard details the difficulties the author had in jumping between her own opinion of the use of the “N-word” and the view that she wanted to project to her all-white class. In her African- American studies lecture, she introduced the topic of the N-word, and her students’ avoidance of it. In her lessons, Bernard separated herself from the N-word, claiming that she didn’t have more of a response to it than any other person. However, as her discussion in the class continued throughout the span of the story, she began to notice her awareness of the word. At the conclusion of the story, she related her own experience with the word to her class in an essay; one that nobody ultimately responded to.

I have noticed that several different types of discomfort are present with the N-word in the story. One is that of white individuals; many fear saying the word lest they be associated with those who use it with malice and hate. They do not want that possibility of hate to grow within them. At the same time, avoidance of the word gives it power, elevating it to a pedestal of things one must never say. There is also the discomfort of those to whom the word is addressed; Bernard becomes acutely aware of how afraid she is of the word as she converses with people of different walks of life. Up until the end of the story, she avoids her own personal encounter with someone who hurled the word at her. It brings up thoughts of the past, and worries that hate could infect those she respects and interacts with in her own life.

There is a huge difference in race relations from “Notes of a Native Son.” Jim Crowe laws have been abandoned and equality has been achieved; the author is married to a white man, and teaches among people of various races. Butt then there are instances in which one wonders whether everything is as peaceful and “equal” as it seems on the surface. Bernard has fears that the evils of the past can emerge in the present through the use of the titular word; what would she do if she ever heard it used against her negatively by her husband or her friends? This underlying worry shows that there is still unease when it comes to issues of race. The overt discrimination of “Notes of a Native Son” has largely disappeared, but there is still the question of how easily it can return.

My question would be, why is there so much avoidance of this particular word compared to other slurs/phrases aimed at certain individuals?

Through a series of anecdotes, Emily Bernard’s “Teaching the N-Word” from the American Scholar explains how Bernard attempts to reinforce her interpretation of applying the “N-word” to her all-white students in her African-American literature class while she is trying to find her own connection with the notorious racial epithet. Bernard observes that the students in her class are not comfortable with expressing the “N-word” in its actual term. The students are aware of its negative connotation and feel even more restricted to speak the word with their African-American professor. When one of Bernard’s students asks her, “…how does it feel for you to hear us say that word?” (p.27), Bernard continuously tries to conceal her true feelings and thoughts toward the word while her students try to pry more insight from her. Bernard tells her students “not to confuse [her] body with the body of the text” (p.27) but it seems as if she is not following her own advice. For example, she states that she dresses up for class because she may be the first African-American teacher her students have ever had, which shows that she is still feeling the aftereffects of her cultural past with insecurity. She is to some extent bothered by an underlying, subconscious white supremacy, displayed by her comparison of the way she dresses compared to Todd, her white co-worker. Throughout the essay, Bernard approaches people from different backgrounds and experiences with the “N-word” and elaborates on each conversation that explores a variety of implications and references of the word. The diversity of the people involved allows the readers to view the “N-word” at different standpoints, from the common offensive usage of degrading an African-American individual, to the respective usage such as the case of John’s relative in referral to former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, to the casual modern usage when Jay-Z said ‘Nigga, please’. Bernard ends the essay with talking about her students’ lack of response to the poem “Incident” by Countee Cullen, which was stated at the very beginning of the essay. This poem describes an encounter between an African-American child and a white child. The African-American child gives a friendly smile, but the white child responds with a rude gesture and a racist epithet. As an adult after all his or her years in Baltimore, he or she can only recollect that one incident of the outburst of irrational hatred and contempt from the white child, which left a scar of inferiority to the white race.

Times have changed between the writing of “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin and “Teaching the N-Word” by Emily Bernard. Baldwin and Bernard lead contrasting social lives as Baldwin lived during the times when the Jim Crowe laws were enforced and Bernard is now married to a white man who interacts comfortably with people of different races. The sense of contempt and aggression toward the African-American and white races have diminished in Bernard’s writing compared to Baldwin’s text. The ending of the Jim Crowe laws alleviated a lot of the stress exerted upon the African-American people and greatly limited the usage of the derogatory term, ‘nigger’. The relations between African-Americans and whites have generally improved, as white supremacy became much less eminent in society. Since this racial epithet had such a strong presence in American history, many still consider this label extremely offensive specifically due to its use in the Jim Crowe era of segregation. Fifty years after the Jim Crowe era, maybe things really haven’t changed all that much. The tension between the races are evident in both Baldwin’s and Bernard’s accounts. In “Teaching the N-Word”, Janice, the radio host of Bernard’s on-air interview, said that she doesn’t trust white people, just like Baldwin’s father in “Notes of a Native Son”, who despised the white peoples’ debasing treatment of African-Americans. Perhaps one of the main reasons why ‘nigger’ is still such an detestable word is because this one term sums up all the bitter years of struggle and insult African-Americans had to suffer through in America. A word that is tied so closely to such an overbearing past is impossible to let go, accompanied by the unhappy memories that continue to strike so many of us in one way or another.

How do you feel about the various usages of ‘nigger’ in popular culture today? Why do we resort to using this particular racial epithet? Does the freedom of using this term depend on who it is directed to?

“Teaching the N word” recounts the experiences of a black woman teaching African- American Literature, in a white dominated environment, with racism and the word “nigger”. Each anecdote details a specific event that deals with the discussion of the word nigger, personal experiences with racism from the white people in her daily life, personal thoughts on the word nigger or even the stereotypical view other blacks have on the author because she married a white man. While reading, I categorized myself into the group of people that feel uncomfortable with saying the word nigger, especially since I know the history behind it. But personally, I feel that the word has lost its potency over the years because now you even hear blacks addressing each other with it. I was able to personally relate to the author’s experience described in “Incident”. Ever since childhood, black people have mocked me because of my ethnicity. They would come in groups and in a sneering manner say “ching chang wang” to my face and walk away laughing. It’s almost as though they are too afraid to say it when they are alone, but once they are with someone else it becomes easier to day. As a child, I always felt embarrassed every time it happened. I was also angry that they were mocking my culture despite their lack of knowledge of it. Even the words that they say to my face reflect their ignorance because it was just nonsense syllables. It just goes to show that even now everyone, regardless of his or her ethnicity, can be racist and be subject to racism. A question that I would like to discuss is what is your opinion on the word nigger. Are you comfortable with saying it?

There’s a big difference in how the subject of race is discussed in “Notes of a Native Son” and “Teaching the N word”. As opposed to “Notes of a Native Son”, “Teaching the N word” demonstrated that oppressive discrimination of the white people on the blacks has diminished significantly. The Jim Crow laws are no longer in effect and people are more accepting of black people. After all, Emily Bernard was allowed to teach African- American literature in a white dominated college, hang out with white people in a bar and even marry a white man. All these events would have been impossible when “Notes of a Native Son” was written. In addition, there is no longer the phrase of “We don’t serve Negros here” that drove Baldwin’s father to insanity. But despite these improvements, racism still remains. Even in the society that Emily Bernard grew up in, there’s still tension between the whites and blacks. There are also still people that are prejudice towards black people but it’s not as suffocating as it once was.

on September 26, 2011 at 6:28 pm | Reply christina mckeever

“Teaching the N Word” describes the difficulty people have when choosing whether or not it is appropriate to use the N word. Bernard attempts to understand the mixed feelings that the predominantly white students in her African American studies class have towards using this word. She finds that many are uncomfortable with saying the word out loud in class. Although Bernard tries to keep her personal feelings out of class discussions, her students seem to be most interested in how she feels about the topics brought up. Compared to “Notes of a Native Son”, this story has extreme differences. The blacks were just starting to gain their freedom and still dealing with the post effects from slavery. In “Teaching the N Word” Bernard is married to a white man and has no problem interacting with whites on a daily basis where as in “Notes of a Native Son”, after being freed some blacks could not stand to even look at a white person. Bernard feels that there will always be race issues in the world and fears the possibility of history being repeated. I feel that there will always be harmful slurs towards any race and it is hard to eliminate all bad sayings in the world. Using the N word will always be a controversial subject and some take it more personal than others. How do you think you would have reacted as a white student in Bernard’s class?

on September 26, 2011 at 6:51 pm | Reply Leandra B. Bourne

“Teaching the N-Word” is an essay written by Emily Bernard about her interactions with the word “nigger” and how it affected her life as a college professor. Her husband, her colleagues, and her students are all white in the essay, which causes her to believe that they all deeply have a negative attitude towards her. Coming from the South where the prejudice is the strongest, Bernard feels like the black sheep at her job at a college in Vermont, being one of the only black professors at the school. When having to use the word “nigger” in front of Bernard, the students choke up and sometimes use the phrase “the n-word” to substitute in order to prevent her from feeling offended. Bernard tries to tell her students that she is comfortable with her students saying the word because it holds no strong meaning in her heart, but on the inside, she wants to focus more on educating the students on African American autobiography, instead of her feelings. It then becomes a question of if they would feel comfortable saying the word without her in the room.

Bernard’s uncomfortableness being around the white race begins with her interview at a New York radio station, with a woman named Janice who has a stereotypical view against the white race and believes that they all cannot be trusted. After Janice finds out that Bernard is married to a white man, she states that she cannot be married to a white man because of her fear of him calling her a nigger. This creates a negative feeling inside of Bernard and makes her afraid to be called a nigger by the closest people to her. Her relationship with her friends, coworkers, and husband transforms as she feels divided from them because of her race. Hearing and discussing the word nigger becomes stressful on her and simple class talks on the word give her negative thoughts on the word that she denies. Bernard opens up to her friend, Hilary, and tells about the first time someone called her a nigger, when she was sixteen years old. She attempts to talk to her friend, Anh, who is also a minority, but instead of responding to Bernard when she brings up her class discussions, Anh goes on about the issues she is having with her white husband. When Anh says the word “nigga”, Bernard seems to have no issue with her saying it. That makes me question whether it was the word that bothered her, or the people who were saying it.

“Notes of a Native Son” and “Teaching the N-Word” are similar in the writers’ uncomfortableness around the white race. In “Notes of a Native Son”, James Baldwin endures racism during the 1940’s in New Jersey and in Harlem. He sees the separation of the races and the inequality that blacks have to deal with as he is turned down when he orders food at restaurants. He realizes why his father was paranoid all those years, and wishes that his father was still alive to give him answers. Emily Bernard’s writings take place in the year 2004 in Vermont. All though the racism has died out, it still exists and being an African American autobiography professor to a class of white students makes it difficult for her to handle hearing the word “nigger” in discussions. The time gap between the two writings show that racism is dying out, but still exists and is not easy to cope with.

on September 26, 2011 at 7:06 pm | Reply Andrew Laperuta

“Teaching the N-Word” by Emily Bernard tells the events of a black women teaching a predominately white class about African American Literature. Each part of the essay associates with the use of the N-Word and the different ways its used. Most people do use the N-Word in a hateful way. But people also talk to one another and use the word. But when she told the class about her experience with the word no body responded to it. Mainly because no one could relate to how it was used against her.
Mostly in today’s world people do use the N-Word. You could turn on most rap songs and within the first minute you could hear the word being used. Also in every day surroundings you could walk and almost always hear someone say “Yo ma nigga” to someone else. But to me if people are going to be calling one another by the word then someone else will use it one day and it’ll be in the word context and then the person will be in trouble.
The difference in “Notes of a Native Son” and “Teaching the N-Word” is that the harsh discrimination and almost de-humanizing that is seen in “Notes of a Native Son” is long gone. But in society there will always be ignorant people who think in hurtful ways. And there will always be people who will be mad at the ignorant people so it’s sort of a never ending cycle. “Teaching the N-Word” is a more diverse book. The African American Literature class is being taught to anyone who wants to take it.
My question is could we ever spiral back into the ways of hatred we had in “Notes of a Native Son”?

Emily Bernard provides a fresh perspective on race, and more specifically the n-word in her essay “Teaching the N-Word.” As a professor of African American studies, her discussions with her students sometimes elicit the pronunciation of “nigger.” Her ability to put the education of her students before her own humanity was impressive. Bernard provides insights on the differences between races in her essay, such as one of her white colleague’s ability to dress more casually than her. What make the essay far more personal, though, are the revelations concerning her own life that she reaches through some of the class discussions and other events that occur in her life. The true feelings that she keeps hidden from her students are shown to the reader. Her marriage to a white man also adds to the uniqueness of her outlook.

The rage and bitterness that filled James Baldwin in “Notes of a Native Son” is unseen in Bernard. This is reflective of Baldwin’s more traumatic experiences with discrimination. Another noticeable difference is that the whites in Baldwin’s time were more polarized, because racism was more exposed and prevalent. Bernard, instead, must wonder whether the word “nigger” is at the back of the throat of even her closest white friend. Racism is less likely to reveal itself when it is so frowned upon.

‘Teaching the N-Word’, was the title given to Emily Bernard’s essay about the mental struggle she has with the usage and non-usage of the word nigger. This struggle was then introduced to her all white, African American studies class, who all had a different view on the use of the ‘n-word’. Throughout the essay, the discussion of the issue with the word nigger is not only kept within the classroom and her mind but is also shared with her white husband and white friends. At the end of the time with her class they have a class dinner where each person was asked to share a book, poem or some form of material that affected them in their life. At the end of the night she wondered to herself why she did not share with them the poem ‘Incident’. The poem was about an eight year old being called nigger. After her class time had officially ended she posted the poem ‘Incident’ for the students to see on their listserv and asked for their responses. They all sent her emails and even visited her but it was all about other matters. Only one student it seemed was brave enough and responded to the poem, while the rest were silenced.

There were several differences between the essays, ‘Teaching the N-word’ and ‘Notes of a Native Son’. First of all I would like to highlight the fact that ‘Teaching the N-word’ was written with a setting in the year 2004 while ‘Notes of a Native Son’ had a setting in the year 1943,giving the essays a very large time gap as it related to the treatment of black people. Emily Bernard in her essay is a black female professor lecturing an all-white class this we can see has come a long way from black people being told they cannot be served in the same place as whites, as was the case with James Baldwin in his essay. We also see that Bernard has white friends whom she goes out with and is served in the same environment this was the opposite for Baldwin. In ‘Teaching the N-word’ Emily Bernard was openly married to a white man, so from this we can conclude that it was way past the time of the Jim Crow laws and racial segregation that was the setting for ‘Notes of a native Son’.

Another significant difference that was spotted in the two essays was the level of hatred. In ‘Notes of a Native Son’ Baldwin’s father hated white people and after a while that hatred grew within him because of his many bad experiences with them. However in ‘Teaching the N-word’, Bernard did not hate white people although it was mentioned that she did have a bad memory of a white person who called her nigger at age sixteen. Bernard’s experience although not as severe as Baldwin’s did affect her but not in a way that turned her against white people and made her hate them. The issue of race was very blatant in ‘Notes of a Native son’ while in ‘Teaching the N-word’ it was a very fragile subject that most people would avoid talking about if given a choice. My overall opinion on the essays of ‘Teaching the N-word’ and ‘Notes of a Native Son’ was that it was a great contrast between what life was like for African Americans during the days of racial segregation and what is it like more recently.

on September 26, 2011 at 7:22 pm | Reply Pawandeep Singh

“Teaching the N Word” by Emily Barnard is a story about society and its view of racism at the time. This story highlights racism through the word “nigger”. Barnard is a African American studies teacher whose class consists mainly of white students. In this class they discuss the origins of the word and its implications. From the beginning, we are told how this word makes some of the students uncomfortable and only a couple of students are able to actually able to say the word instead of saying “the n word”. The teacher is black herself and thus many students feel uncomfortable using the word in front of her. The questions arises and students say that they wouldn’t use the word anyways but a student calls everyone out on it saying that if the teacher was not in the room, that they would not have such a hard time saying it.
In relation to “Notes of a Native Son”, the attitude of society towards blacks is a lot more accepting. At the time where “Notes of a Native Son” takes place, the use of the n word was used in conversation and to belittle black people. There were Jim Crow laws at the time, and society was not very accepting of the black community. In “Teaching the N Word”, society is more accepting of black people. Because the students feel uncomfortable using the n word, it shows that society has moved on. Also the mere fact Barnard is able to teach is an example of the elapsed time and change in society. Another thing that shows the change in society is that interracial relationships occur and are somewhat accepted in society. This is a huge change for society to accept.

“Teaching the N-Word” Emily Bernard is about Emily teaching the concept of race and usage of the word nigger. The message she is trying to send is the difficulty people have with using the word nigger even when it’s the title of a book her students still refused to saying it claiming that they did not want to be the type of person who said it. To begin with, in comparison to “Notes of a Native Son” everyone in Teaching the N-Word does not hate black people, in fact the author Emily Bernard is married to a person who is white and she teaches student on a daily basis who are also white. Another major difference is that in Notes of a Natives Son, Blacks had just gained freedom and at the time racism was still strong but in Teaching the N-Word there is not only tolerance but acceptance of black people.

on September 26, 2011 at 7:34 pm | Reply Yehudis Zimmerman

The narrator of “Teaching the N-Word” is an African American teacher of a mostly white class. Although Emily Bernard, the author, is married to a white, she still feels like the odd one out. Her students are white and her colleagues are white. Instead of saying “nigger” in front of Bernard her students feel more comfortable using “the N-Word”. Bernard wonders if the students would feel comfortable saying the word if she wasn’t there. Bernard then goes into detail about the first time she was called “the N-Word”. The whole essay shows the reader that Bernard feels uncomfortable with her race and feels that she is different.

Both essays are written by an African American and are portraying their interactions and relationships with whites. But, they are extremely different. The time difference of the two essays makes them almost incomparable and Bernard is even married to a white. It was a little surprising to me because one would think that if someone was married to a white and was living in a mostly white society in 2004, that they would be confident and comfortable. I think racism is much less prominent than it was many years ago when the first essay was written but after reading the second essay, I think that racism still does exist even if in a much less obvious form.
Would Bernard’s situation have differed had she been in 2011?

“Teaching the N-Word” depicts Emily Bernard’s relationship with the n-word. Bernard is a professor at the University of Vermont, a white dominant college. Bernard writes about her different experience with the n-word inside and outside a classroom environment. In her only a few students are willing to say the word, most of the other students just say “the n-word.” She also discusses some incidents where she encountered someone calling her the n-word. When I was reading this I could relate to the students. I would probably never say the n-word. I hear it used it music and sometimes when my friends talk to each other. I feel that such a word has been deemed derogatory. My discussion question is how comfortable do you feel using the n-word. The difference I see between “Teaching the N-Word” and “Notes of a Native Son”, is the relationship between the whites and the blacks. Bernard got her B.A. and Ph.D at Yale University. She also teaches at a mainly white university, friends with white people and has a white husband. It is obvious that the hatred between the races have decreased since Baldwin wrote his essay. No longer does it seem that white people treat blacks like slaves. But from Bernard’s stories there is still tension between the two races. For example Janice, Bernard’s interviewer, could not imagine herself ever marrying a white man. Racism still exist today but is it displayed less.

on September 26, 2011 at 7:41 pm | Reply Michael Fuzaylov

In “Teaching the N-Word”, Emily Barnard discusses her difficulties in confronting the n-word with her White students and with the people she encounters and having them confront it. More than anything, however, it is about an identity crisis and Barnard’s attempt to confront race relations in America and what it means to be an African-American. It is similar to “Notes of a Native Son” in that both stories detail the author’s identity crises and conflicts with society and race. The authors however are very different in their approaches to the issue and what they wish to take from it. Baldwin is of a different time period and is more accepting of the difficulties, yet he wishes to grow from it. On the other hand, Barnard is awkward, she isn’t sure of what she wants of her students or others in regards to this issue, and seems to be stuck personally. Both authors have experienced a traumatic race-heated experience but it is in their responses to it that they differ.

In Baldwin’s time, a Black man would avoid White areas, a white teacher was revered, and talking with a White woman could get a Black man killed. 50 years later, Barnard, an African-American woman has married a White man, White students are wary of offending a Black teacher, but some people, like Janice the radio host, have still not learned how to accept and progress from the past.

Racial discrimination has always been a major issue in America. Although the race-card isn’t openly played as much today because of the strict laws enforced behind it, there are still traces of racism lurking in the shadows of our society. In “Teaching the N-Word,” Emily Bernard tells us her story of being a Black English professor teaching to an all-white class, specifically educating them on the studies African-American literature. As the title states, the entirety of the essay revolves around the word “nigger” and branches out from there.
I feel that the part where Nate says, “Don’t you grant a word power by not saying it? Aren’t we, in some way, amplifying its ugliness by avoiding it,” is very true in today’s society. The word “nigger” is used everywhere and is extremely common. Of course, there are two different variations. When the “er” in “nigger” is pronounced, it is usually deemed as racism. On the other hand, when a person pronounces the word as “nig-ah,” it often means something synonymous to “bro, homie, dude, man, son, etc.” I grew up being enlightened by some of my black friends when I was younger that as long as you don’t enunciate the “er,” it’s fine. However, that is really just limited to the area where I grew up in; I can’t speak for others.
The essay, “Notes of a Native Son” and this piece by Emily Bernard are completely different, in terms of racism at the time it was written. In “Notes of a Native Son,” racism was still severe and the Jim Crowe laws were still in effect. Furthermore, James Baldwin subject to the completely open discrimination against blacks. For example, there wasn’t a single time where he was served food. However, 50 years later was a completely different story. Emily Bernard was married to a white man and taught in a school that was predominately white, a situation unimaginable during the days Baldwin’s essay took place.

In “Teaching the N-Word,” Emily Bernard as a black woman is teaching in the white society the African-American studies. She encounters racism and using the word “nigger” in her class. Bernard sees that many of them were unable to express using the n-word towards her. However, they were interested in her feelings as the only African American in the class how she feels if she hears them say the word. She experiences the view in how the society uses the N-word towards her. Her feelings were kept inside from others to view her hatreds.

Compared to “Notes of a Native Son,” the treatment towards the African American improved. In Baldwin’s essay, the white waitress did not want to go near him. Many of the white society were segregated from the Africans where they could not accept them than in Bernard’s. There was a better relationship in Bernard’s year because she was freely able to interact with the whites. However, both stories state that there was still distrust upon the white Americans.

on September 26, 2011 at 8:21 pm | Reply Michelle Shayowitz

In “Teaching the N-Word,” Emily Bernard, a black woman living in a dominantly white community, constantly jumps back and forth in time relating several personal experiences and discussing people’s attitudes towards the “n-word.” Most of Bernard’s students feel uncomfortable saying the n-word and therefore refuse to do so. One student, Lauren, observes that Colin looked as though he was being strangled as he said the n-word while the rest of the class cringed, as if it was unbearable to hear a fellow student articulating this word out loud. Bernard attempts to keep her own emotions out of these conversations by telling her students that the word doesn’t affect her any more than it would affect a white person. She wants her students to be brutally honest and not to hold back any of their opinions in order to avoid insulting her. Although Bernard gives off a confident impression in the classroom setting, in actuality, she is extremely self conscious of how people view her and even a bit paranoid. She says that when she’s around her friends, she wonders which of them has the word “nigger” in the back of their throats. Later on she wondered whether or not her senior colleague, David, had the opinions of his racist grandmother in the back of his throat as well. At the end, she tells her students to read “Incident” which is a poem about a black child smiling at a white boy while passing by, but the white boy doesn’t reciprocate. Instead, he calls him a “nigger” while sticking out his tongue, and this is all that the black boy could remember. Bernard can relate to this story because she too can’t forget the time that she was called a “nigger.” She even tries to avoid crossing the street from the parking lot to her office because this action brings back bad memories from the past and she is perhaps fearful that history will repeat itself. One line that stuck out to me was, “I’d just like to remind you that just because a person refuses to say “nigger,” that doesn’t mean the person is not racist.” In the context that this line was said, it seems as though Bernard was accusing her students of being racists but not wanting to show it, thereby emphasizing her paranoia. This essay is different from “Notes of a Native Son” because it was written when the Jim Crow laws were no longer in effect. Although in “Notes of a Native Son” Baldwin is told by waitresses that they would not serve a negro, in “Teaching the N-Word,” public facilities are already integrated. Bernard is married to a white man and teaches a classroom filled with only white students. However, even though whites and blacks are now interacting with one another, there is still a sense of wariness and hostility between them. Janice, the radio host, says that she distrusts white people and would never consider marrying a white man. Bernard’s mother worried as she dated a white southerner and they soon broke up. It seems as though no matter how much the relationships between races in society improve, we will never live in a world free from all prejudice and distrust.
Last week while I was with my group discussing what to choose for our thesis statement, I said the line, “we do not serve Negroes here” out loud. Although I would never normally say that word, I was quoting from the text but I felt so weird after saying it. I wonder how everyone else in the class feels about saying this word, even when it’s in context.

In “Teaching the N-Word,” African-American professor, Emily Bernard, discuss her difficulties teaching African-American studies in a dominantly white college. Being the only African-American out of her colleagues and students, she faces difficulties teaching the course while being completely impersonal. Her essay begins during her class when she is teaching her class about the word “nigger.” The word creates tension within the class and many of the students refuse to say the word out loud. The word is usually dubbed as the n-word and if used it would be in quotation marks. When a student asks her for thoughts toward the word, she lies. She wants to believe that the word is just a word but that is far from the truth.
I find it strange the Bernard openly wants her students to embrace and say the word nigger. Her goal is for them to understand the history and context of the word. However, her conscious mind wants the exact opposite. She is as uncomfortable as her students when it comes to the word. She asked her students would it be easier to say the word nigger if their professor wasn’t African-American. Well, would it be easier for her to teach the class if there was at least one African-American student in her class?
The biggest difference between “Teaching the N-Word” by Emily Bernard and “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin is the time. Many things have changed since Baldwin’s time especially the attitude toward blacks. Baldwin lived in a time when segregation was actively happening. Bernard lives in a world where this type of discrimination is no longer in existence and the general view of African-Americans had changed. The word “nigger” or “nigga” is said so often by everyone that it lost its original meaning. In Bernard’s class, her student, Nate, is able to say the word nigger and he is obviously influenced by black culture. The difference between these two essay is that Baldwin faced a very real world of discrimination while Bernard is only haunted by the memories and history of the word nigger.

In “Teaching the N-Word”, Emily Bernard addresses the usage of the N-Word in her African American Literature class which is ironically made up of white students. She then confronts her class the N-word being used in class and later on with her colleagues as well as with her husband, who is also white. She uses her own humanity as well in order to help the students understand how African Americans felt about the word. A class on a different culture can change your perspective about that race. If African Americans were so offended by the word a long time ago, why is it brought up today in everyday conversations?

There is a big difference between Notes of a Native Son and Teaching the N-Word. James Baldwin talks about the Jim Crowe Laws that was a controversial issue at the time being abandoned. Emily, many years later, is now in an interracial marriage with a white man. Many changes have gone to pass through 50 years, racism has been depleting more and more compared to what it was in the past. From the KKK to the grandfather clause, where even white people with the slightest history of African American blood in him made him black. How will another 50 years effect racism, not just to African Americans but to any other group or minority?

“Teaching the N-Word” is an essay about personal experience and cultural standing on race and the expression of it. Emily Bernard, an African-American Autobiography professor, has a small class that she teaches at the University of Vermont. The town that the university is populated by mainly white men and women. When in her class, Bernard brings up the word “nigger”, she tries to understand her student’s view on how it is used and who is allowed to use it. The essay continues with Bernard’s personal experiences with this word and her evaluation of if it culturally acceptable.

Bernard has only had one experience where she has been called a nigger. She was sixteen at the time. In her essay, she seems to be a much older woman. Years have passed and she has not had overwhelming personal encounters with this word, but has continued to worry some about it being referred to as that. She is married to a white man and teaches in college that is mostly populated by white students. She is socially and culturally accepted.

Baldwin, on the other hand, wanted to be an open minded person but was influenced by his father. His father, living during a time of extreme segregation warned him to beware of white people. Baldwin goes out into the public trying to go against his father. He personally finds that he is discriminated against despite an integration of white and black people in the community. He wants to change these ways and stay open minded despite experiences that would leave one jaded.

I wonder if the term “nigger” is truly acceptable. Not only that word, but many derogatory words? Where is the line drawn on what should or should not be said?

In “Teaching the N-Word” Emily Bernard describes her personal experience of dealing with the use of the N-word. Bernard is a black teacher of African-American studies, however, that’s not the reason why she teaches this subject. Throughout the teaching activity it’s extremely important for her to know how easily or not her white students can say a word “Nigger”. She contradicts herself by saying that hearing this word doesn’t hurt her, however somewhere deep inside she is still hurt as she mentions how offended she felt as a teenager when someone called her the N word. In my opinion, by a constant raising to surface the word “nigger” she provokes her white-students’ opinions against her which is the evidence of racial strain. To ignore the conflict the class feels more “pitiful” for her from what she gets nervous. Bernard is against the fact that someone would talk about her personal life and feelings, therefore, in my opinion, she feels herself slightly strangulated, and although Bernard doesn’t show it in public. In essence, Bernard’s class follows the cues of humanity she taught them over the semester. The class stays tolerant toward the teacher from the beginning till the end, but somehow breaks the chain by not responding to the teacher’s essay. They act friendly avoiding the N-word in the class, besides it is interesting to see how one of the students interrupts the class discussion by saying that everyone would be able to say that word if the teacher weren’t here. Bernard gets more concern when she remembers about the fear of conflict with her white husband and either after this he would call her “nigger”. However, the case with a radio interview helps her to forget it and moves her perception about whites to other level. After collecting the people’s opinions, evaluating her class and meeting her friends she, finally writes an essay “Some of My Best Friends which stays ignored by her students.
“Notes of a Native Son” and “Teaching the N-word” both contextualize the theme of race and struggling against it, however, they both have a different approach to people actions. In “Teaching the N-Word” Bernard occupies the teaching position without any discrimination on it from white students or co-workers. Bernard had some close white friends and a white husband where she was trusted by them. Meanwhile, in “Notes of a Native Son” Baldwin was still a target of Jim Crow Laws where he hasn’t had a right to be served. There wasn’t that much connection felt between white and blacks in both pieces. That made me conclude that there hasn’t occurred any changes in society over the 50 years.

This particular essay addresses the controversial use of the n-word (I don’t even know how to refer to it in this response). Bernard recounts her various experiences, specifically a class in 2004, and their struggle as well as her struggle with the n-word. Her piece is characterized by short and related experiences, such as when she had an interview with a blatantly anti-white host and her experience with each student.
I enjoyed how Bernard had a student for every reaction to “nigger”. There was the one over-rightous, I won’t ever say that word girl and the one I’m- educated-enough to say the word and the boy who’s overly earnest and eager not to offend as well as the one person who wants to lessen the power of the word. I felt as though that while Bernard herself didn’t know her stance on the issue, she says that the attention and the frustration over the word is the right attitude. It was almost as if she was enjoying the frustration by the way she jokes about it. She is in no way anti-white though. Her white husband and contrast with the radio host tells us that she has no particular malice. She just wants respect and it doesn’t matter in what form it is.
What does everyone think about saying the word? Do we give it some special power by skirting it?

on September 26, 2011 at 11:32 pm | Reply Michelle andres

The essay “Teaching the N-word” is a story chronicling the life of Emily Bernard as a black college professor of African American Studies in Vermont. It is a very interesting story about the usage of the n-word in the past and present. She spends most of the essay just discussing the word itself and how many people are willing to even say it in class. The essay also deals with her inner struggle as a black woman and how she wants to be seen in her career.

I’m not really sure where to begin when discussing “Teaching the N-word” partly because I found so many interesting points to mention and partly because I understand what it feels like to be in a class like the one she taught. I attended Temple University for freshman through junior year and my core classes were all based around the theme of race so I took around 7 classes on race and African American culture. I remember my race and poverty class freshman year was very similar to her way of teaching. What I think I learned most about the n-word from that class and where I was living was that words are what you make them. Like her class there was almost a fear that white kids felt when even hearing the word. As if just thinking or hearing it would automatically make them racist. It seems that perhaps slavery and racism towards black people is still too recent for white people to be able to say the word comfortably. It’s almost as if white people in general still feel ashamed for what happened in the past. What I learned about the word in class was that it was something that could cause immediate discomfort to anyone who heard it. What I learned in my neighborhood was the opposite though. Racial slurs were used by black people as compliments and just as ways to refer to other black people. 

Having seen that got me thinking about how the topic of gay slurs was mentioned in the essay. It made me think about how words are what we make them and also about the history of the n word. In society it seems that people always need to oppress somebody. In history we have seen that for many different peoples. Once black people finally received the rights and acceptance that everyone deserves it seems that America had not learned and found a way to oppress a new group: homosexuals. Americans have only put their prejudices on another group. This made me also think about how gay slurs are taken these days. During the times of slavery, the n-word was commonly used and not thought of as a strange thing to say. It was an insult but if someone yelled it down the street at a black man it wasn’t considered rude or strange. It wasn’t until after this time was over that Americans became self concious and uncomfortable with the word. It seems to be the same now for gay slurs. People joke around about them and call each other them but they’re used so often that it seems almost commonplace to hear someone throw those words into a sentence. I wonder if years down the road gay slurs will be thought of the same way the n-word is. I wonder if one day when people are completely accepting of gay people and they receive the same treatment as everyone else if we will also look back on the words used to describe them and cringe with embarrassment. I wonder if they will use those words with each other in future the same way some people use the n-word with each other these days. 

I found this a very interesting essay to compare to the Baldwin one we read. Both essays focus on black narrators and their lives but the time and the way they are viewed is completely different. The days of Jim Crow laws are long gone and Bernard is a College professor who is held in high regards and teaches mostly white students. She now teaches the things that Baldwin lived through to students and is married to a white man. It shows a lot of how much time has changed things. An interesting thing though is that she still in this day and age feels a self consciousness and feels the need to present herself differently so as not to be thought of differently or not taken seriously.

Emily Bernard’s Teaching the N Word is about a professor who’s trying to get her class to become more comfortable with the word nigger and to discuss why it’s so hard to say this word.Emily reaches out to the 11 students in her class to discuss the barrier surrounding the “n word”. At that time the word nigger was still a word that most of the white population was uncomfortable with and felt that they would be offending a black person by saying it compared to the loose way it’s used now. I feel like now the word can refer to just about anyone and not African American people only. I liked what Nate said in one of the entries where he says, ” Don’t you grant a word power by not saying it? Aren’t we in some way amplifying it’s ugliness by avoiding it?”. I think what he said is absolutely true. The more her students stress how hateful the word seems or how uncomfortable they are with it, the more the word nigger seems like a really big deal and a really bad thing. Throughout the many entries Bernard writes we get to see points in her life where she had to deal with race. She recalls the first time someone said the n word to her when she was sixteen. There are also conflicts in which she meets new people and how they approach her race. I find it interesting how Emily goes through these encounters and she brings her personal experiences back to the classroom. We can see that her students respect her and don’t want to do anything that might offend her. Even though she’s really open to discussing the word nigger, we can still see how she’s uncomfortable with answering some questions and where the class will lead her. It’s amazing how one word can create so many boundaries between people. I was surprised when she met her friend Anh’s boyfriend and the first thing he said to her was along the lines of I’ve never slept with a black woman before. Who says something like that in public. I think his statement just goes to show how back then many white people still thought of black people as like a whole different type of people completely different from white people. Do you think that the word is still in a way shunned from being used today or is it a word that everyone has just naturally accepted and no one will at all get offended by it?