"Teacha, you nigga?" Why does ugly, and dare I say, evil, translate so well? Three Emirati male students accosted my Zimbabwean British male colleague with this question. He kindly and patiently explained why the students should not use such a word. He explained its ugly connotations in the US and UK.
This same teacher shared with me that he suffered much racist abuse from British children. The British students would point to a tree and ask if he lived there like other monkeys. Or, they would ask him when is he going back to his country. I think he did not want to believe that his new students were giving him the same treatment. Believing that the students were unaware of the negative essence of their words, he provided them with a social lesson. I witnessed the entire affair; the students knew exactly what they were saying.
So, what have we learned so far? "Nigga" and "Mylie Cyrus" can permeate the most opaque cultural boundaries.
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