The term “tar baby” in the Oxford dictionary is defined as a difficult problem only aggravated by attempts to solve it. Based on the stories by Uncle Remus in the 20th century, a tar baby is a doll made of tar and turpentine used to trap the Br’er Rabbit. The more someone struggles with it the problem becomes worse. In modern day, the term is offensive against African- Americans or a person with dark skin color. Lamborn stated that he did not mean to state his opinion in a racial matter. So can we really say that he is racist? Especially when African Americans freely use terms identified as racial slurs towards each other?

Many racial slurs are still heard today, such as, Nigger, African Booty Scratcher, Sambo, Aunt Jamima, etc. Although these racial slurs are mean and disrespectful, the way African- Americans treat each other almost allows someone (outside the Black race) to think its okay to say and use these harsh words. “Nigga,” which evolved from the term “nigger” is constantly used throughout all races especially by the youth. Boys and girls call their friends this word, thinking it’s just slang and a casual way to greet somebody. If a Caucasian refers to a Black person as nigga, its offensive, but it wouldn’t be by another Black person or minority. The youth either have no idea, or unfortunately don’t care that the term “nigga” is disrespectful to their ancestors. In my opinion, when I hear the African-American youth call each other “Nigga” it makes me feel as if African-Americans have lost sight of the struggle. I believe that the youth don’t honor and respect all that the ancestors have gone through to fight for a name in society. They have become immune to the hatred of their skin color, partly from their own community. I believe that when African- American youth refer to themselves in derogatory terms, or racial slurs, it becomes an open invitation for other ethnic groups to use those same racial slurs towards African-Americans with no hesitation.

Some young ladies use the “B” word just as frequently as they go shopping. When a boy calls a girl the “B” word, it’s a problem, whereas it’s considered okay for a female to use this word towards her female friends, or even refer to herself as a “B”. If a whole bunch of ladies are calling themselves out of their name, why wouldn’t men refer to them the same way? This goes to show that there is truly a need for more leaders in the community that teach youth the values of self worth & respect. You shouldn’t have to get someone’s attention by calling them a nasty word. It seems as if nobody has a problem with using this kind of language towards each other, or even to identify themselves. However, if a Caucasian calls an African-American the “N” word, or if a man calls a woman the “B” word, then there’s uproar.

Justice Gregory is a student in the Born For Greatness Youth Writers class: www.BFG-youth.com