Webster defines it as: “Negro — usually taken to be offensive, b: a member (as an East Indian, a Filipino, an Egyptian) of a very dark-skinned race — usually taken to be offensive.” It is thought by many to be the most offensive and reprehensible word in the English language.

Randall Kennedy, author of "Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word."

Throughout history, the word “nigger” has been applied to blacks as to stigmatize them as an inferior race or used as a hurtful racial slur.

Yet today many blacks often use the word as a term of camaraderie.

The word “nigger” has long been a source of controversy and discomfort among Americans.

A recent book, “Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word,” by Harvard University law professor Randall Kennedy, an African American, has generated a great debate in the the media, and among scholars, professionals and students.

At Pantheon Books, Kennedy’s publisher, some executives were uncomfortable about publishing a book with “nigger” as the title. Changes were made to the subtitle to clarify that the topic of Kennedy’s book was about the word and not a person.

Kennedy’s book will be in print later this month, but many critics have already voiced their opposition to the book being sold in bookstores. Among those critics is Duke University English professor Houston A. Baker Jr.

“I see no reason whatsoever to do this, except to make money. It is a crude marketing technique,” he said in a New York Times interview.

Other critics voiced strong resistance to Kennedy’s book. During a radio interview on the National Public Radio program “Connections,” one caller who identified himself as Sadiky of Roxbury, NY called for a massive book burning.

“Under no circumstances should the word be used,” he said. “To bring this issue to an ‘intellectual level’ is ludicrous. It is intellectual crap!”

While the title does arouse strong views among some NCCU students, they are not that concerned with the idea of Kennedy’s book being published. A bi-racial student wishing to remain anonymous said: “It doesn’t bother me that he wrote the book Those are his opinions.

“I don’t consider myself a nigger even though I consider myself black. I think the term is used too loosely. I don’t think blacks should use the word if they don’t want whites to call them that.”

Kim McNeil, a 24-year-old graduate student, agreed. “I don’t care that he wrote it,” she said. “I just wonder why at times we use that word so much when we get so upset by whites saying it.”

“The only reason I would have a problem with it [the book] is if a white man had written it,” said Eron Lutterloh, 20, a sophomore psychology major, expressing the sentiment of several NCCU students.

Junior history major William Cameron, a white student at NCCU, agrees that it is a touchy topic. He said that his closest white friends don’t use the word even though some of his black friends have used forms of the word for him.

Cameron, 22, also points out that when he has witnessed blacks using the word toward each other, there were never any derogatory meanings behind it.

“Even when I see black guys fighting with each other and they call each other that, it is said as part of the speech and not as an insult,” he said.

In a radio interview with Terry Gross of the talk show “Fresh Air,” Kennedy spoke of his reasons for writing the book.

“I wanted to write the book because telling the story of ‘nigger,’ talking about the history of the word, the many controversies that have been generated by the word, is a useful vehicle by which to explore some interesting terrain regarding race relations in American life,” he said.

The upcoming publication of Kennedy’s book is drawing a great deal of attention across the cultural spectrum and raises many questions about the word “nigger,” such as how it should be defined.

No one seems to agree on an acceptable meaning of the word at NCCU, but most are agreeing with the central point of Kennedy’s book when they say that the “meaning” of the word ultimately depends on the context in which the word is used.

“Some whites use it in a derogatory way toward blacks,” said Harris Johnson, Executive Director of Project Excellence. “But ‘nigger’ describes an individual rather than a color. It has more to do with behavior than ethnic origin.