Newspaper Page Text
2A
FEBRUARY 28, 2002
Nation/World
Death of Savimbi
could spur U.S.
peacemaking effort
By BARRY SCHWEID
AP Diplomatic Writer
WASHINGTON
The death of longtime
Angolan rebel leader Jonas
Savimbi could open a door for
aggressive U.S. peacemaking
efforts in Africa.
President George W. Bush is
meetingon Tuesdaywith three
African presidents, including
Eduardo dos Santos of Angola,
only days after Savimbi was
killed in a gunbattle with the
Angolan army.
In Luanda, the war-weary
capital, the government quickly
displayed thebody of theleader
of the UNITA rebels and ap
pealed to his followers to end
the civil war that began in the
mid-19705.
The country, despite its rich
resourcesof oilard minerals, is
devastated and dependent
largely on foreign aid. About a
half-million peoplearebelieved
to have died in the fighting.
A UNITA representative
showed some interest in the
government’s appeal for peace,
buthesaidthegovernment must
first adopt a unilateral cease
fire.
Secretary of State Colin
Powell discussed peace pros
pects Monday with the presi
dent of Mozambique, Joaquim
Alberto Chissano, who along
with dos Santos and President
Festus Gontebanye of
Botswana is due at the White
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House.
Powell also praised Chissano
for the reforms he has under
taken and for a spurt in eco
nomic growth, although
Mozambique remains a poor
country.
American aidto Mozambique
this year is dirs 40.9 million
and is expected to rise to dirs
45.5 million next year.
Among the objectives is to
consider how the three African
leaders in concert with the
United States can help achieve
peace in Angola and elsewhere
intheregion, Richard Boucher,
the State Department spokes
man, said.
Asked whether the death of
Savimbi improved chances for
peace Boucher said “we;ll have
to see.” But he stressed that
both the government and the
insurgents “need to put down
their arms, need to reach an
agreement.”
Like most of its predecessors,
the Bush administration has
pledged to pay more attention
to Africa. Last Spring, Powell
madea wide swingthrough the
continent.
Savimbiled UNITA, a Portu
gueseacronym for the National
Union for the Total Indepen
dence of Angola, since he
founded it 36 years ago. Since
Angola’s independence from
Portugalin 1975, he hasbattled
to take power.
During the Cold War, he was
a proxy for the United States
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A UNITA supporter lights candles in front of a poster of
the formerleader of Angola’s UNlTArebels Jonas Savimbi,
in Lisbon, Portugal, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2002. Angola’s
army reported it had killed Savimbi last Friday. AP Photo/
Gael
against the then-Marxist gov
ernment in Luanda. He also
had the support in those years
of white-ruled South Africa, and
of political conservativesin the
United States.
Boucher called Savimbi “yet
another casualty in a war that
should have ended long ago.”
Shop Augusta. Focus Classifieds
TheU.S. official called on the
government and the rebels to
joinwiththeinternational com
munity to bring peace to the
Angolan people.
“The United States remains
committed to achieving peace
and equitable development in
Angola,” Boucher said.
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Controversial curse word
gets a hearing in Harvard
law professor’s new book
By PAUL SHEPARD
AP National Writer
WASHINGTON
In the lexicon of American
epithets, thesix-letter word that
starts with “n” has no equal in
its ability to start a heated dis
cussion or even get one’sdental
work rearranged.
But it seemsthewordisbeing
used more than ever, although
not necessarily in the way it
has been used historically. It is
commonplace among some
blacks, especially in the hip
hopuniverse; youmight hearit
on television or in music.
Now the N-word is the sub
ject of serious study, including
a new book by a Harvard Law
School professor that may reig
nite “larger debates over race
eclipsedby Sept. 11,” according
to Publisher’s Weekly.
“It is the gold standard of
slurs,” said Randall Kennedy,
authorof Nigger— The Strange
Career of a Troublesome Word.
He noted that “no other slur is
used in an altered form to de
fame other groups.” As ex
amples, he said, adding “sand”
before the N-word creates a
slur for Arabs; adding “of Eu
rope” afterward slursthe Irish.
Inhisresearch, Kennedyfound
agroup of poor whites in Detroit
who referred to themselves and
each other by the N-word.
“They said they saw each
otheraspoor,and thewordjust
meant negativethingstothem”
— attributes like laziness and
poverty, he said. “They said it
had nothing to do with skin
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color.”
Kennedy, whoisblack, found
thatinblack America, responses
tothe word tend to break down
along generational lines.
“Older African-Americans,
generally speaking, are more
reluctant to use or discuss the
word,” hesaid. Theyremember
associations with white su
premacists, who used the word
as they used the law, to keep
black people down.
“The youth ... are more will
ing to attempt to transform it
and useitindifferent waysthat
aren’toffensive,” Kennedysaid.
So the term can be used as a
hammer or asahug, depending
on exactly who is saying it and
the inflection of the speaker. It
can serve as a bridge between
two black people, especially if
the word “my” is put in front
and a soft sounding “aah” end
ing is substituted.
Regardless, blacksdon’t want
to hear the word from the
mouths of whites.
The word, derived from the
Spanish word “negro,” which
meansblack, wasn’t even consid
eredaderisivetermin the 1600 s,
Kennedy said. But by the early
1800 s most blacks, at least, con
sidered it a slur. In 1940, author
Langston Hughescompareditto
“aredragto abull.”
Contributing to blacks’ sensi
tivity tothe word maybe the fact
that, despitegenerationsonAmeri
can soil, black people often feel
and in some ways remain apart
fromthenation’sfabric, said pro
fessor Ibrahim Sundiata, of
Howard University. \