Nigger is a state of mind.

Damn right I dropped the N-word.

I rarely ever think about race. When I deal with a white person, I don’t ever think of what the difference between how I perceive myself versus how others perceive me… I just have business to take care of, and I’ll present myself in a professional manner… any snide remarks about my race are ignored… that’s just the way things go sometimes.

I never refer to myself as a Flip. For those that don’t know, that’s a supposed derogatory term for someone of Filipino descent, such as myself. My first and only encounter with this, unfortunately, was with another person who happened to have a half-filipino ethnic background. The day I met this person, he asked me if I was a Flip. I responded “no, I’m Filipino,” with as stern a look I could muster, and I didn’t hear about it since. I’ll nip that shit in the bud–I’ll be damed if I let someone start that racial “only between us” name shit.

Which brings me to the title of the post… Nigger is a state of mind. Certain folks will occasionally call each other that when they’re in a social mode I can only describe as “among friends”. Note that I say “certain folks”, because if I wanted to say “some black folks” I would have said “some black folks”. I choose the phrase “certain folks” because apparently it’s not just some black people using this word… on occasion some non-black people will call each other that when they’re socially among friends. “My nigga” or “Nigga please”… when used among friends, it’s not derogatory. I know it’s among friends and sometimes considered in style, but calling others “nigger” is wrong all the same for various reasons. But that’s not what I’m discussing in this post.

I’m trying to get to the core of a problem that some American minority communities have, which is racial identity. Someone tell me how often Martin Luther King Jr. referred to himself as a nigger. Someone tell me when Rosa Parks said “Nigga, please” in casual conversation. I’m willing to stake my pride as a human being that these words were never uttered by these and other true champions of civil rights. I’ve been watching and thinking, and have come to the conclusion that Nigger is a state of mind. When someone identifies themselves as a nigger, it’s not because they’re black, but rather they accept and possibly adhere to a certain culture that advocates blaming circumstances beyond ones control as the cause of some kind of failure. This is probably a difficult concept to grasp, but I have no idea how I came to this conclusion except by riding the train of rational thought on the matter. I’ve concluded that you don’t necessarily have to be black to be a nigger… that sounds crazy and is a bit unnerving but it’s true. I’ve on occasion heard non-blacks of various backgrounds use this phrase to refer to themselves and their friends. I don’t have the whole concept nailed down yet, but the core of my perception of Nigger is that you don’t have to be black to be one, regardless of what some black niggers may tell you or due to the background on the word itself.

My gut feeling on this is that once a person starts using “nigger” or a similar ethnic slur in casual speech (”Flip”, in my case), in their mind they accept the unfortunate perception that as hard as they try in life, they won’t get as far as other successful folks. I’m purposely vague here as I haven’t nailed down what the perception of “other folks” is… I want to say “white folks” but again the image of a successful person is different to everyone, and when I think of successful person I’m thinking of my parents, or a group of people like Bill Gates, Will Smith… yeah. Alot of different folks. A person who uses racial slurs in everyday speech as a method of identifying with someone of the same ethnic background thinks less of their own race, for whatever reason… that much I’ve been able to discern. I’m not a “Flip”. I’m an American of Filipino descent, trying hard to make a living, gain social status–just generally trying to deserve living in a good country. Although I personally feel like I’m doing things later in life than most other folks, I think overall I’m doing alright.

It’s vague, and I’m still trying to form my conclusions revolving around the word “nigger” and the frame of mind someone has when they use what is supposedly a very severe ethnic slur among friends. I value all input one may have on this subject, and even if you call me crazy, threaten to report me to my squadron commander, whatever… it’s your right to say so, and I’ll approve the comment. I’ve been wrong before, but each time I try to take away the lesson from the situation so that I won’t be wrong in the future. But as of right now I stand by my words in this article until given insight otherwise.