On Saying the N-Word

The most important question in politics is whether you will say the N-word

(Disclaimer: I am a black man)

In 2022, the single most important distinction between a true dissident and a fake one is whether they are willing to say the N-word.

Saying the N-word, more than any other act, signals psychological freedom from The Regime.

As an act of rebellion, saying the N-word is special for a few reasons. First, it is legible. Second, its significance is a matter of pure faith. Third, it is the most sacred taboo in the present moral order and thus the most costly one to violate.

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Before going into each of these points in greater detail, I should clarify that "saying the N-word" need not involve calling someone the N-word, let alone doing so pejoratively. The concept of the "use-mention distinction" is useful here.

To use a word is to do more than simply utter the sequence of sounds that compose it. Rather, it is to utilize the word in communicating the idea that the word describes at a first-order level. This is how words ordinarily work. We make certain noises in order to manifest an idea conventionally associated with those noises in our audience’s mind. The idea, rather than the word itself, is the object of discussion. In the context of a racial slur, such as the N-word, use means the expression of the speaker’s racialized contempt for another. It is not simply the noise, but the noise plus intent to identify with the idea that that noise encodes.

To mention a word is to speak the word in order to communicate about the word itself, rather than the external object to which it typically refers. Mentioning a word makes the characteristics of the word the center of discussion.

The sentences “I drove my car to work” and “‘Car’ is a monosyllabic word containing three syllables” illustrate the distinction intuitively.

When we talk about “saying the N-word,” however, even mentions count. In fact, it is The Regime’s unique and persistent refusal to distinguish between uses and mentions of the N-word in particular that illustrates the importance of saying it for anyone who aspires to mental liberation.

Why is that?

Let us examine in turn the features that make saying the N-word so special.

1. Legibility

Few rules are as clearly defined within the prevailing moral order as that governing the N-word. Simply put, only black people (such as myself) are allowed to say it. It is wrong for anyone else to do so.

People can debate the sense of this rule, but its clarity is unquestionable. Unlike, say, the byzantine and constantly-shifting pronoun norms which non-elites and older people in particular frequently find so incomprehensible, the N-word rule is understood by all. A violation of the rule cannot be excused by confusion or ignorance because it is so simple and widely known. To transgress the rule is therefore a presumptively hostile act. Saying the N-word is important for a dissident because, unlike almost anything else, it is an act that only dissidence can explain.

2. Faith

What does it mean to say that the N-word is an issue of faith?

Many issues, though they carry a moral valence, are tinged by factual considerations. How great are the biological differences between men and women? Even if there is a Regime line on this question, it is ultimately an empirical one.

Empirical questions are messy. Data can be disputed. Measurement is imperfect. There is always the possibility of future inputs changing one’s picture of the world. The realm of observation and experiment leaves little room for absolutes.

Disagreement with the politically favored position can, in such circumstances, be cast as mere factual quibbling - by the quibbler, if by no one else. Questioning such positions does not in principle commit one to heresy. It is still compatible with accepting The Regime's values. Not so with the N-word.

One's attitude toward the N-word is exclusively a question of value. It is either categorically bad, or it is not. The answer does not depend on research. It is a commandment. Using the word necessarily implies rejecting the moral order.

This leads us to point 3.

3. Holiness

The N-word is The Regime’s most sacred taboo. Given The Regime's hierarchy of identities, it is unsurprising that this should fixate around black people (such as myself).

Such linguistic taboos are not an alien concept. They have been with humanity from the beginning. The Ancient Jews considered it blasphemy to speak God's true name and instead used euphemisms such as HaShem ("the name") or Adonai ("the lord"). It is common religious behavior. Such taboos frequently focus on an object of peculiar veneration or fear. So far, so good.

That is not the only reason the N-word taboo is sacred, however. Rather, it is sacred because it is absurd.

A statement's capacity to break your will scales in direct proportion to its absurdity. The sillier an idea, the more you degrade yourself by affirming it. You all know the story of The Emperor's New Clothes. Did you know the Chinese have their own version?

That's because it's a universal human truth. Contradictions hold power. This is why every religion has holy mysteries: questions that theologians may ponder, but which the laity must accept. The moral duality of the N-word is one such holy mystery.

Linguistic taboo is irrational, certainly. It feels primitive. That’s why nobody takes the moral impropriety of swearing seriously anymore. They're just sounds, man! But the mere stigmatization of a particular sound is child's play as far as holy mysteries go. A word that's good or evil depending on who says it - now that’s some powerful stuff.

To blast a word constantly on the radio and then destroy people's lives if they sing along is irresistible to the human religious impulse. No other taboo compares.

If a person can break this one, the rest are trivial.

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One might think that the most obvious objections to Regime ideology would be the easiest to state, or the most common. But in fact it's the opposite. The more glaring a contradiction, the more forcefully The Regime affirms it, and the more difficult it becomes for the average person to disagree. The most absurd demands are therefore the most fundamental.

The N-word taboo is not just a fetish, a sacramental object that appeals to our most superstitious impulses. It is nothing less than the central tenet of our civil religion.

The article I screenshotted at the top of this post states as much. Let us take a look at how it describes the phenomenon of a White person mentioning the N-word. (Note: CNN changed the ‘January 6th Moment’ headline not long after the article was published. A new development in civil religion? Many people are asking…)

“A civic norm that has held America together since World War II.”

“A term ‘almost magical in its negative power.’”

“A slur that ‘occupies a place in the soul where logic and reason never go.’”

The language of magical power, of spiritual depths beyond the ken of human reason, of moral collapse in the face of repeated transgression…these are not invoked as illustrations of an American Regime that has been captured by a deranged and zealous cult. Rather, the article portrays them as urgent and objective facts for the reader to notice and take action on.

You can measure people's true beliefs, their true religious commitments, by their behavior. This is what is known as “revealed preference.” If a Christian is willing to politely debate an apostate or an abortionist but won't even engage with someone who is known to say the N-word, that tells you something about what they really think is important.

The frequency of this phenomenon strongly suggests that many supposed believers, Christian or otherwise, in fact prioritize the N-word taboo over their stated values when anything is at stake. In practice, if not in speech, America is a nation of N-word idolaters.

To break from The Regime means to smash its idol. To smash its idol means to say the N-word.

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The N-word is, of course, a word. We should should it as we treat other words.

It is, generally speaking, wrong to call someone the N-word as an insult. It is rude and unbecoming of the speaker, as is the use of any swear word intended to harm. We should all strive to treat each other nicely, and if you hurt someone’s feelings by insulting them, it would be good to apologize.

Also, like the F-word, or the S-word, the N-word is not polite. It is frequently appropriate to speak impolitely for effect, rapport, or convenience. But, we should all also strive to speak politely in situations that warrant it.

We can agree to these points without making the N-word into an idol, overstating its significance, or disregarding the context of its use. That is the attitude toward language of a mature and well-adjusted adult. We are all adults, aren't we?

It is not a good idea for most people to say the N-word in public. I do not recommend that one do so. But a true dissident must be willing to say the word in private. A true dissident must, at the least, be able to walk into the wilderness alone and say the word aloud to himself without being overwhelmed by the superegoic impulse to stay silent.

This is, unironically, the most important political issue of our time. If you can't break the conditioning, you aren't really free.

Will you say it?