The first time I ever heard that word it was like a sound that subconsciously I had known for years, but have rarely heard it said out loud. In Africa Precisely Uganda, Kampala...the pearl of Africa. Trust it’s beautiful but it’s not all that great. I know it is beautiful but there’s so much corruption that it makes me want to throw up. The only time I ever heard that word was either in Ugandan comedy or by some thugs on the street. When I came to America it was a whole different ball game. That word was used to oppress and abuse African-American slaves. To put them down, but over the years black props decide to take it back. To make it their own. It was always “what up my nigga!” “Yo my nigga what’s the word” it just felt right to us. But the issue came when teachers started to become very uncomfortable around us whenever we used that word. I remember a time when one of my friends came into class just a couple of seconds late and he was greeting everyone, something he always did. He would Always greet the black kids different, and we all just knew the greeting. We dubbed each other up. It was our modern day greeting. No one had a problem with it except the teacher, she believed it to be inappropriate, or that it made people uncomfortable, but no one had ever been comfortable with him saying the word he’s black by the way one day we came and did the same thing he always did and it went like this. “Mrs. Roger I’m going to need you to stop saying that word” she said, but why, I’m not offending anyone?” “If you don’t stop using that word I’m going to send you to the office” Mrs. Rogers said. I was anticipating to see what would happen next, but deep down I already knew. Christian got up and left, easy and simple. We as a class thought it to be unfair but, she stuck with her claim that it was making people uncomfortable. I’ve always wondered why the education system is so against people of color using their own vernacular. All of us knew how to speak American, the rest of the world spoke English, but inside that American we had our own way of speaking, that teachers would always correct, or discipline us for. You may be wondering Ttendo, why do you keep including yourself with them? Well you see the funny thing about this world especially America is that...your color is what people make you or see you as. To the white people we are just black folks, they never really ask about our background unless our features pop out more than most. That’s when they’ll care, but other than that we’re all the same. Who would’ve thought clicks would still be around. I didn’t for sure, but the clicks today are so different, they are very closeted. For example at my school you have the preps (aka) the rich white kids who play, hockey, lacrosse or field hockey) they like to dip and dabble In black culture but disappear once the black community has a problem. Then there’s us the minority’s plus allies, we have our own problems in ourselves but when something threatens us we all band together, my concern about all this is that the school never analyze these things. Ever! It’s crazy because our parents have us out here working like dogs to get half what the White men gets. It’s hard because there is already so much pressure being put on you at home but, when you come to school, the torment continues.