Journal Gloria Naylors The Meanings of a Word

Journal
Name
Institution
Due Date
Journal
According to Gloria Naylor, words themselves are innocuous; it is the consensus that gives them true power. What, in your true judgement, is the meaning of this statement? Do you agree or disagree with it? Drawing from personal experience, give an example to support your position.
The statement as Gloria used it meant to indicate or communicate the obvious fact that words can bear a positive or a negative connotation. However, the connotation words bear is dependent on how the words are spoken as well as the person that speaks.
I am inclined to agree with her because often, I have seen people who say similar statements but the reactions from their audience tend to be different. So, it is quite possible for people to say the same thing but have the same audience react differently.
The use of the n-word is not a common phenomenon where I come from. However, I have heard and seen it in comedy shows by famous comedians like Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle, and Chris Rock. One thing that surprises me though is the fact that their audiences are always laughing and never seem to care when they use the n-word. I have encountered such scenarios and am still baffled by how the African American community continues to entertain the term. I remember some time back, I saw some two African American boys fighting. They were using the n-word on each other among other expletives and their audience was lauding them. However, there is a time when a student (a white male student) decide to use the n-word on his friend. Well, he did use it on a lighter note but it was not taken as so. His friends turned on him and reprimanded him for using the word. A major argument ensued but the white boy was given his fair share of warnings. So, the person saying a word does matter and gives words meaning.
Naylor makes the point that, when used among the family and people she grew up with, the word nigger had an entirely different set of mean...