In 1940, Langston Hughes wrote: "The word nigger to colored people of high and low degree is like a red rag to a bull. Used rightly or wrongly, ironically or seriously, of necessity for the sake of realism, or impishly for the sake of comedy[,] it doesn't matter. The word nigger, you see, sums up for us who are colored all the bitter years of insult and struggle in America."

Some six decades later, Hughes' words certainly maintain their truth and forcefulness. Yet, there are areas of our present culture that are seemingly comfortable with the use of the infamous N-word. So what has changed? Has the definition of "nigger" morphed into something else? Who, if anyone, has the right to use the word?

Author and Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy swiftly addresses these questions and others in the provocative book, Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word.

Though it's a slim volume, it took this reader four weeks to pour over the heady linguistic treatise. Every page reveals part of an ugly history, including countless references to the many ways in which the single word has caused massive insult and pain to the black community. To say that it is an uncomfortable read would be an understatement, but Kennedy's approach is so well written and balanced that it compels one to dig further into the sea of emotions surrounding the troublesome word.

What is perhaps most surprising and interesting about Kennedy's work is that his tone is hopeful. In part of his summation, Kennedy writes: "There is much to be gained by allowing people of all backgrounds to yank nigger away from the white supremacists, to subvert its ugliest denotation, and to convert the N-word from a negative into a positive appellation." A positive appellation? Such seems an impossibility. But within the text, Kennedy sheds light on such an evolution.

He notes the first major change in the use of "nigger" occurred when Richard Pryor took the stage. He was the first comedian to take hold of "nigger" and use it in such a way that effectively changed its context and therefore, its ownership. Chris Rock later followed suit. His signature skit begins with: "I love black people, but I hate niggers. It's like our own personal civil war. On the one side, there's black people. On the other side, you've got niggers. The niggers have got to go. Every time black people want to have a good time, niggers mess it up. You can't do anything without some ignorant-ass niggers fucking it up." Rock has effectively set up a use for the word that is still derogatory, of course--but it is limited to the confines of the black community. Is this an improvement? Does this mark an evolution for the word "nigger?"

Hiphop and rap are similarly infused with the word and beg the same question. The list of references in lyrics and rap artist's names including "nigger" or "nigga" is miles long. Tupac Shakur said that for him, "nigga" stood for "Never Ignorant, Gets Goals Accomplished." On the use of the word, Ice Cube remarked, "When we call each other 'nigger,' it means no harm. But if a white person uses it, it's something different, it's a racist word." The white rapper Eminem has found a place within hiphop and as such, he utilizes such words as bitch and faggot freely--but he says the N-word is "not even in my vocabulary."

This is a major point of course, one that is not lost on any white person that owns music with "nigga" or "nigger" in the lyrics. Do we sing along? Or do we hum over the word, or mentally bleep it out?

Kennedy doesn't provide individual answers for each of us. He simply acts as an instigator for a larger conversation, which is ultimately the power of the book. Either one's opinion will be affirmed, questioned, or discarded after considering the word's career that is by no means over.