Listen free for 30 days

  • The N Word

  • Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn't, and Why
  • Written by: Jabari Asim
  • Narrated by: Mirron Willis
  • Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The N Word cover art

The N Word

Written by: Jabari Asim
Narrated by: Mirron Willis
Try for $0.00

$14.95 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $24.53

Buy Now for $24.53

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

In The N Word, a renowned cultural critic untangles the twisted history and future of racism through its most volatile word.

In 2003, the book Nigger started an intense conversation about the uses and implications of that epithet. The N Word moves beyond that short, provocative book by revealing how the word has both reflected and spread the scourge of bigotry in America.

Asim claims that even when uttered by hipsters and hip-hop icons, the slur helps keep blacks at the bottom of America's socioeconomic ladder. But he also proves there is a place for this word in the mouths and on the pens of those who truly understand its twisted history: from Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle to Mos Def. Only when we know its legacy can we loosen this slur's grip on our national psyche.

©2007 Jabari Asim (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

What the critics say

"Clear, engaging writing." (Publishers Weekly)
"Informed, sensible and impassioned." (Kirkus Reviews)
"He is most eloquent when relating how African Americans have been characterized in our culture; how the word nigger has been employed to oppress, belittle, dismiss, humiliate, and ridicule black people; and how they themselves have increasingly used it to satirize and oppose that oppression." (Library Journal)

What listeners say about The N Word

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.