Gregory's "Nigger" Compelling
Jacqui Streey, editor-in-chief

One word, defined by the American Heritage Collegiate Dictionary as: 1a. Used as a disparaging term for a Black person. b. Used as a disparaging term for a member of any dark-skinned people. 2. Used as a disparaging term for a member of any socially, economically, or politically deprived group of people.

This offensive slang word is also symbolic—as symbolic as the American flag or the Bald Eagle.

A word that has been in existence for more than A millennia is now and has always been a symbol. It is capable of evoking more emotion than any other word I know.

In the book, “Nigger” by Dick Gregory with Robert Lipsyte, Gregory takes us on a journey of what IT is like to be a ‘nigger.’ Growing up in the south and raised in a fatherless home by a mother who was on relief (the old form of Welfare), Gregory becomes a track star. He experienced every type of bigotry known to man. His mother worked for white people, and he hustled on the street just to make a penny so that he might have something to eat. He had never experienced the joy of a birthday party until he turned 31. Rather, when he was a child he would create events in his head about what his birthday party would be like.

This book recounts all the hardships that an African American had to endure merely to stay alive during the Civil Rights era. His descriptions of physical abuse by southern white men, of the hunger in his stomach, and all the adversity he overcame were painted so vividly that you can see it in your mind. You can feel every tear that he cried, every boot to the mouth, every whack of the cops’ night stick.

This is a beautiful story that takes you through the ugliness of a period when racial prejudice was at its peak. It recounts the life’s journey of one black man who found his way through comic relief. Gregory is a black man who finally realized the importance of all the demonstrations and protests by Civil Rights groups; a black man who had been defeated by the white man for so long that he finally rose up to the challenge and helped lead African Americans to freedom.

He was there for the march on Washington with Martin Luther King, he was there for the funerals of the four children bombed in a church in Birmingham, Alabama, and he was there for all the marches and demonstrations that aren’t mentioned in our history texts. He was there taking a beating and sitting in jail because he chose to stand up for what he believed in.

This book is so beautiful. From beginning to end that I cried. This man, like many other blacks of his generation, rose from destitution to living an integrated life in America. He rose to leave behind a prosperous comedy career to march in the same line as Martin Luther King and to finally be named to the Who’s Who in America.

It’s sad to think that only a few decades ago blacks weren’t allowed in public schools. We read about it in our history books and think, “man, that’s horrible,” but it becomes so much more realistic when it’s presented by someone who was there and experienced every kind of hatred known to man. I would say that this book is THE BEST book I’ve ever read. I have never been more touched by one person’s story.

I would encourage everyone to read this book, especially African Americans. The word “nigger” has been a way of tearing down a black person for so long. Even today, a successful black man or woman who has it all can be emotionally destroyed simply by one word, “nigger.” This is a truly compelling story, with personal accounts of racism and segregation presented so beautifully that I don’t think that they could ever be matched. This man is a true American, a true freedom fighter. I hope that everyone who can get their hands on this book will read it and learn from it. I also hope that every African American on this campus will read this book and come out with something more than was present in the beginning. I think that both blacks and whites can gain so much after reading Gregory’s account. For both a new perspective, a personal one, of the destruction and dehumanization that racism and bigotry can lead to, can be achieved.
 

We all can prosper from this book. We can all take away from this chronicle the lessons we don’t get in school—the past that has not been owned up to by the whites. Also, we can all (I hope) get the urge to stand up and fight for things to be different, so that our children don’t have to grow up with hatred in their hearts.

I especially hope that the African Americans out there read this book, particularly the chapter that deals with your ancestors dying so that you could have the right to vote, and feel bound to register and then hit the polls. I hope that everyone who reads this book, black or white, can walk away with tears in their eyes so that we may all realize that although things may be a lot better in the big world of racism, the problem still persists. If we can all conclude that the big monster is still lurking in the dark, we can attack it—together, so that all of those Civil Rights activists didn’t die in vain.
 

There are not even enough stars to rate this book—I just hope that everyone who reads this review will pick it up, read it and pass it along.