Ask the Headhunter

by Nick Corcodilos

Ask The Headhunter, by Nick Corcodilos, speaks to your readers with candor and humor. Each week for more than a decade, Nick's job-hunting tips and concise answers to tough questions have earned him a loyal readership.

In addition to the weekly Q&A format, Nick gives readers a voice of their own with his Headhunter's Challenge section of the feature. Nick poses a challenging career scenario and offers your readers a multiple-choice quiz. Readers can then visit your Web site, where they can vote, track results in real time and read more of Nick's expert advice and commentary.

Samples

DARE TO ASK by Phillip Milano

WHO HAS THE RIGHT TO USE THE N-WORD?

QUESTION

I always hear my black friends call each other the N-word, and you hear it in raps, too. Why is it OK when they do it, but if a white (person) even whispers the word, everyone freaks out, whether they're white or black? -- Haze, 23, white male, Mountain View, Calif.

REPLIES

Some blacks call their friends "nigga" as a term of endearment. It is different from the N-word, which has been used by whites to place blacks at a lower level. Blacks are offended by the term. I often greet blacks as "brother" or "sister." During the civil rights movement, blacks saw each other as brothers and sisters working for the same cause. They wanted equal opportunity and to be heard. Today, when you hear blacks greet each other this way, keep in mind it's a carryover from the civil rights movement. -- K.C.T., 28, black female, Jacksonville, Fla.

I'm still trying to understand this. Other blacks may say it's a good word for them. The truth is, nobody should use it. How can we say that we can say something and someone else can't? -- Peter, 23, black male, Ypsilanti, Mich.

I know white guys who refer to themselves as "crackers," rednecks," "white trash," etc. Same guys would be brandishing a broken beer bottle at someone from another race calling them that. This phenomenon is not limited to African-Americans. -- Steve, 37, white male, Houston

In my school it's not uncommon to hear an Italian referring to another Italian as a "guido" or "guidette." When I first heard them speak like that to each other, I was offended, and I'm not even Italian. -- K.J., 17, black female, Bronx, N.Y.

EXPERT SAYS

Some younger African-Americans started using the N-word as a term of endearment during the last several decades, at the same time its use was increasing in rap and hip-hop music, says Ronald L. Jackson II, associate professor of communication theory at Pennsylvania State University and author of "Understanding African American Rhetoric" (Routledge).

Whites in tight-knit groups that include blacks generally cannot use the term to feel connection because it carries too much negative emotion when they use it, he says. So some whites get angry by what they see as a double standard.

"Some whites may have a sense of entitlement of being able to call people what they want, and to be able to enter into any circle," Jackson says. "It can feel uncomfortable to be restricted."

Geneva Smitherman, university distinguished professor of English at Michigan State University and specialist in African-American linguistic studies, agrees the N-word is off-limits to whites.

In her book "Black Talk: Words and Phrases From the Hood to the Amen Corner" (Houghton Mifflin), she writes, "As the white comic Gary Owen said on a 'Def Comedy Jam' show, whites invented the word but can't use it."

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Continue the cross-cultural dialogue at www.yforum.com, or mail questions and replies to Phillip Milano, The Florida Times-Union, P.O. Box 1949, Jacksonville, FL 32231.

COPYRIGHT 2008 PHILLIP MILANO

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