Email Article

Printable Page

I Should Have Titled My Column "Only N-----s Settle"

By Nneka Meka
Black College Wire

Photo credit: Evan White Nneka Meka

Nneka Meka, editor-in-chief of the Panther at Prairie View A&M University, titled this commentary "For my niggas."

On the 100th anniversary of Emancipation, James Baldwin warned his nephew, "You can only be destroyed by believing that you really are what the white world calls a nigger. . . . It was intended that you should perish in the ghetto, perish by never being allowed to go behind the white man's definitions . . ."

When I reflect on the rich and bittersweet history of my people, I can't help but be puzzled by what we have become. In some instances I could say we are the white man's dream, a legion of niggers.

Don't misunderstand me, we have come a mighty long way. But is being able to sit at the lunch counter with white folks or having the choice to cast a ballot in an election enough? Should we as a people be satisfied? We've become so lackadaisical that we have now begun disrespecting our history and ourselves. Aaron McGruder depicted it best in the "Boondocks" television episode "Return of the King," where after waking up from a coma Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. says in a speech: "As I look out across the crowd now at all these black people who sacrificed nothing for the cause of freedom, I see nothing but a bunch of lazy, shiftless, triflin' niggas!"

We traded in the Revolution for BET's "Uncut" and Paul Wall's "Grillz." We have reduced our women to "Ms. Fat Booty," and because 10.4 percent of the black male population between the ages of 25 and 29 are in prison, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, our men have been reduced to inmates.

If we truly want to make sure that the struggles of Ida B. Wells, King, Malcolm X, Ella Baker, A. Philip Randolph and numerous others were not in vain, we have a lot of work to do. Being blessed with the opportunity to become more than our great grandfathers should be enough of a driving force to make us get out of bed and go to class.

Being blessed with the opportunity to become more than our great-grandfathers should be enough to sway us to uplift our people, whether it be through supporting black-owned business or volunteering in the community. It's time for us to take a page from history and take a stand. It does not necessarily require carrying a picket sign, it's more using education and unity as a weapon for advancement.

What do you think?

Following is an excerpt from a column by Meka after she was criticized for the column, particularly its headline.

I am deeply saddened by the miscomprehension and failure to look beyond the title of my column. Truth be told, I probably should have titled it "Only niggers settle," because that was the point.

Only a nigger settles for being "Miss Fat Booty," or a prison inmate -- they settle for mediocrity and refuse to challenge the system. My sincere intent was to beg of my peers to never allow themselves to be "destroyed by believing that [they] really are what the white world calls a nigger," and never for a minute resort to portraying themselves as a "bunch of lazy, shiftless, triflin' niggas." Achieve beyond your great-grandfather's wildest dreams. I do not apologize for that, because I want the best for everyone.

Just by publishing the column at this campus reflects my respect for my peers' ability to think beyond themselves, and to scrutinize the social and political problems facing our community. The title was for figurative and not literal purposes, and as scholars I would hope you could grasp that.

Furthermore, I am a black woman who embraces the tragedies and triumphs of my race. I love my people enough to request that we take time out to look in the mirror and examine whether we have finished our fight.

"For my niggas" was intended to stir the student body and encourage mobilizing for a cause. Naturally, I assumed my fellow Panthers would choose a worthy cause such as campus safety, increases in fees and housing, financial aid or the inability to truly customize meal plans, but I suppose I am still a bit proud it sparked a "boycott." I was recently encouraged by the fact that "stirring up controversy is often a signal of good journalism."

Nneka Meka, a student at Prairie View A&M University, is editor-in-chief of the Panther.

Articles in the Voices section are the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of Black College Wire.

Posted March 12, 2006