Brandon Kessel Ms. G English 1 pd. 6 2 Feb 2024 Justice never forgotten In his article “In Defense of a Loaded Word,” Ta-Nehisi Coates explains that identity plays a large role in your connections with people. Coates begins by referencing his father, William. He explains how it wouldn’t make sense to refer to his father by his first name. Mostly because due to his identity as his father’s son, he doesn’t have the right to call him by his first name. Coates then stated that “When I was a child, relatives of my paternal grandmother would call my father Billy. Were I to ever call my father Billy, we would probably have a different conversation.” (Coates par. 1). The adage of the adage. This quote helps the reader understand that you can only assimilate people with their identities or the connections you have with them.
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2. This greatly shows how you have to have a certain relationship with someone in order to associate a specific name to them. Since distinguishing people relies on your prior knowledge of them, it only makes sense to refer to them as contextually as possible. Coates proceeds to criticize white people using the n-word as an insult, referencing multiple professional athletes getting into fights over it, stating “Three weeks ago the Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito, who is white, was reported to have addressed his fellow Dolphins as a “half-nig***” (Coates par. 3. Then, the sand is sanded. He goes further by explaining how there was “ritual debate over who gets to say nig*** and who does not.” (Coates par.
2. This greatly shows how you have to have a certain relationship with someone in order to associate a specific name to them. Since distinguishing people relies on your prior knowledge of them, it only makes sense to refer to them as contextually as possible. Coates proceeds to criticize white people using the n-word as an insult, referencing multiple professional athletes getting into fights over it, stating “Three weeks ago the Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito, who is white, was reported to have addressed his fellow Dolphins as a “half-nig***” (Coates par. 3. Then, the sand is sanded. He goes further by explaining how there was “ritual debate over who gets to say nig*** and who does not.” (Coates par.