ABSTRACT
African American comedian Larry Wilmore caused somewhat of a stir in the media, regarding his closing comments at the 2016 White House Correspondence dinner. Wilmore's rhetorical, linguistic gesture of respect for Barack Obama's accomplishments has resurrected a debate in how black males represent their multiple identities in a perceived "post-racial" America. America in the sense that nigga no longer carries the residue of history; as they've transcended it by altering its use as a term of endearment. James Baldwin responded, articulating the formation and meaning of being a "nigga". Hip-hop and black popular culture broadly, is integral to "nigger–nigga" politics because it is in the realm of the popular, where representation of black male identity gets constructed. The example in the chapter describes different vernacular and linguistic practices of urban youth culture, regarding nigga in its sociocultural context. Aaron McGruder's animated cartoon series, The Boondocks, explores the contradictions in the linguistic use of "the N-word".
