1Discouraging the use of the "N" word.

2WHEREAS, The word "nigger" stems from the Latin word "niger"
3meaning the color black; and

4WHEREAS, The "N" word when used as a noun derogatorily refers
5to a person of color; and

6WHEREAS, The "N" word has traditionally been used as a word
7of hate and victimization toward African Americans; and

8WHEREAS, The "N" word, considered to be the ultimate racial
9slur, has offended and disparaged African Americans and other
10ethnic groups; and

11WHEREAS, The "N" word was used by slavemasters, dating from
121786 in reference to African slaves, to denote chattel and has a
13context of hatred, oppression and violence; and

14WHEREAS, Civil rights pioneer Booker T. Washington advocated
15the use of the word "Negro," instead of the epithetical "N"
16word, to refer to persons of African descent; and

17WHEREAS, The "N" word connotes an individual who is ignorant,

1slow, does not speak proper English and who is the property of
2another, as cemented by the portrayal of African Americans in
319th and early 20th century art and literature; and

4WHEREAS, The "N" word tears down the esteem and destroys the
5spirit of persons at whom it is directed; and

6WHEREAS, Since the beginning of the civil rights era, civil
7rights leaders such as Rosa Parks, the Reverend Dr. Martin
8Luther King, Jr., Julian Bond, Dr. John Davis, Malcolm X, the
9Reverend Jesse Jackson, Justice Thurgood Marshall and Booker T.
10Washington have given their blood, sweat and tears to destroy
11the badges and the incidence of slavery; and

12WHEREAS, The African-American community remains divided on
13the use of the "N" word in modern discourse; and

14WHEREAS, In 2003, the National Association for the
15Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) successfully influenced
16Merriam-Webster lexicographers to change the definition of the
17word to reflect the degradation and disgrace associated with it;
18and

19WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a long and
20proud history of being at the forefront of civil rights, dating
21back to its founding by William Penn; therefore be it

22RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives discourage the
23use of the "N" word and join in declaring a symbolic moratorium
24on the use of the "N" word and all its variants in this
25Commonwealth.