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[Liamario]

"Let me give you another one: Suppose you and your significant other call each honey. Now suppose I call your SO honey. Would that be appropriate with y'all? I doubt. Suppose your SO calls someone who isn't you and is a stranger to you honey. Would you be cool with that? Considering what that word means in your relationship I highly doubt that you would just shrug off your SO using it with someone else if you're in a monogamous relationship with the person."

Interesting point, but not quite the same- Honey isn't restricted to certain races and in this context, it's just a word of affection. Any insult I would get from someone else using it in relation to my SO would not be the same insult as someone might get for being called 'nigger'. The very essence of the word nigger is an insult to black people, so when some black people use it on each other, they can't really claim that it's an insult to use it anymore.

 

[Mumei]

No, it's not. I don't agree that homosexuals can call each other fags or what have you and then complain when other non-homosexual people use them.

Yes, we can.

Interesting point, but not quite the same- Honey isn't restricted to certain races and in this context, it's just a word of affection. Any insult I would get from someone else using it in relation to my SO would not be the same insult as someone might get for being called 'nigger'. The very essence of the word nigger is an insult to black people, so when some black people use it on each other, they can't really claim that it's an insult to use it anymore.

... But they can and do.

 

[Liamario]

You're just arguing for the sake of arguing. No one is physically stopping you or any other white male from saying nigga, but you need to be smart about when you say it, just like every other damn word in the world. I don't understand why this is so hard for you to grasp.

I do understand and I don't nor have I ever used it. I just take exception to people claiming ownership of it. I'm not saying it's not offensive.

 

[Infinite]

Interesting point, but not quite the same- Honey isn't restricted to certain races and in this context, it's just a word of affection. Any insult I would get from someone else using it in relation to my SO would not be the same insult as someone might get for being called 'nigger'. The very essence of the word nigger is an insult to black people, so when some black people use it on each other, they can't really claim that it's an insult to use it anymore.

So by that logic you should be A-Ok with other people using words of affection with your SO.

 

[jmood88]

I do understand and I don't nor have I ever used it. I just take exception to people claiming ownership of it. I'm not saying it's not offensive.

How are you going to take exception to something that doesn't apply to you in any way?

 

[Liamario]

Yes, we can.

You CAN, but you'd be using double standards. If you want people to behave a certain way around you or towards you, you should show them the same respect.

 

[Infinite]

You CAN, but you'd be using double standards. If you want people to behave a certain way around you or towards you, you should show them the same respect.

I beg your pardon? Not sure what you mean here. Words I use among my friends has zero to do with you.

 

[MIMIC]

Interesting point, but not quite the same- Honey isn't restricted to certain races and in this context, it's just a word of affection. Any insult I would get from someone else using it in relation to my SO would not be the same insult as someone might get for being called 'nigger'. The very essence of the word nigger is an insult to black people, so when some black people use it on each other, they can't really claim that it's an insult to use it anymore.

Why does no one know how to interpret analogies on the Internet anymore?

*sigh*

You don't get to call her honey. The SO does. Why is this? Answer this question, and you're getting at the heart of the concept that this analogy is attempting to illustrate (because I genuinely do not think I'm crazy, lol)

Or take my President example: YOU address Barak Obama as "Mr. President". His mom addresses him as Barak. His wife addresses him as Barak. His best friend from the third grade addresses him as Barak.

Why the difference?

 

[Liamario]

So by that logic you should be A-Ok with other people using words of affection with your SO.

Of course it would depend on who. But that's not my argument. It's the hypocrisy of it, which I've already explained.

How are you going to take exception to something that doesn't apply to you in any way?

I take exception to the double standard.

 

[Red Mage]

Being able to say nigga free of consequence is special treatment? It seems like you're upset. It's seems like you think it's unfair that us blacks can say nigga free of consequence and you can't.

In all honesty, the term is demeaning and the continued use of it, and tolerance thereof, keeps the word alive much more than if it was dropped altogether.

Remember that languages are living things. If a word is not used, it is not fed, and dies (i.e. is forgotten). By "taking words back" like this, it simply keeps them alive. That word should join acrasial, homerkin, and senticous on the dead word list.

 

[hayguyz]

I remember once long ago, Jay Tweezy had a caller on his show and he started off with "yo yo i wanna give a shout out to ma nigga.." and he was abruptly cut off and berated by Tweezy about using that word

 

[jmood88]

In all honesty, the term is demeaning and the continued use of it, and tolerance thereof, keeps the word alive much more than if it was dropped altogether.

Remember that languages are living things. If a word is not used, it is not fed, and dies (i.e. is forgotten). By "taking words back" like this, it simply keeps them alive. That word should join acrasial, homerkin, and senticous on the dead word list.

If it stopped being used, a new word would take its place, as has been shown time after time. Racism and racial animus won't go away because black people stopped saying nigga.

 

[Liamario]

I beg your pardon? Not sure what you mean here. Words I use among my friends has zero to do with you.

We all want to be treated equal, regardless of race, creed or religion. For a minority group to want to be treated a certain way(the same as anyone else), they should themselves apply the same standards to their own group as well as everyone else. If they don't like someone using a word, they shouldn't use it themselves.

 

[Zen_Arcade]

And....I didn't accuse you of this.

You are totally reframing the argument (which you did to jmood88 at one point, but I don't think he caught it). Like when you changed the argument from "calling" a woman a bitch to "quoting" someone calling someone a bitch.

You are all over the place.

I don't think I am. My whole point wasn't about who thinks it's OK and who doesn't. Because I was never arguing that it was OK in the first place. I was told that it didn't matter that the word nigga was ingrained in popular culture and it's effect on how people react to it because the word bitch is too, and you can't go around using the word bitch. Which is incorrect. There are plenty of times when you can go around using the word bitch, like when quoting the movies and music jmood brought up, or just general slang phrases people use. The entire exchange was to show that using the word bitch isn't really anything like using the word nigga in this day and age, because it's evolved in meaning so much in certain situations that most women won't even get offended at the word in the right context.

 

[Liamario]

If it stopped being used, a new word would take its place, as has been shown time after time. Racism and racial animus won't go away because black people stopped saying nigga.

You're probably right. I genuinely believe that if everyone used these words willy nilly, they lose all their weight and power and people just forget about it. Unfortunately, we don't live in that world and as such, I don't use those words.

 

[Dark Octave]

Interesting point, but not quite the same- Honey isn't restricted to certain races and in this context, it's just a word of affection. Any insult I would get from someone else using it in relation to my SO would not be the same insult as someone might get for being called 'nigger'. The very essence of the word nigger is an insult to black people, so when some black people use it on each other, they can't really claim that it's an insult to use it anymore.

If a black person called another black person a nigger, there would be a reaction no different than if a white person called a black person a nigger.

Black people don't call each other nigger.

 

[MIMIC]

We all want to be treated equal, regardless of race, creed or religion. For a minority group to want to be treated a certain way(the same as anyone else), they should themselves apply the same standards to their own group as well as everyone else. If they don't like someone using a word, they shouldn't use it themselves.

So that's what's holding us back?

 

[Mumei]

You CAN, but you'd be using double standards. If you want people to behave a certain way around you or towards you, you should show them the same respect.

I am showing straight people the same respect. I do not refer to them as "fag" or "faggot," after all, and I expect that they do me the same courtesy. My usage, however rare, is outside of that context, as a way of expressing endearment or a sort of self-deprecation.

Yes, there's a double-standard, but that's the point of this entire conversation. There are double-standards everywhere, because that is how English functions. Do you call your parents by their first names? Do you call your best friend's wife "sweetheart"? Do you refer to your Grandmother as "Mom"? This idea that you have that all language should be open to everyone at all times is not a reflection of how language is actually used. Black people can use "nigga" in a way that is not socially acceptable for white people to use, because the same word has different meanings when said by different people to different people.

 

[Enzom21]

In all honesty, the term is demeaning and the continued use of it, and tolerance thereof, keeps the word alive much more than if it was dropped altogether.

Remember that languages are living things. If a word is not used, it is not fed, and dies (i.e. is forgotten). By "taking words back" like this, it simply keeps them alive. That word should join acrasial, homerkin, and senticous on the dead word list.

Black people using nigga is not keeping the use of nigger alive. If black people collectively stopped using nigga, do you honestly believe racists would stop using nigger?

We all want to be treated equal, regardless of race, creed or religion. For a minority group to want to be treated a certain way(the same as anyone else), they should themselves apply the same standards to their own group as well as everyone else. If they don't like someone using a word, they shouldn't use it themselves.

It's interesting that your idea of equality is white people being able to use racial slurs free of consequence. If not being able to say nigga free of consequence is the biggest adversity you've faced in life... then you have a pretty good life.

 

[Red Mage]

If it stopped being used, a new word would take its place, as has been shown time after time. Racism and racial animus won't go away because black people stopped saying nigga.

That happens with every kind of word. The only way to stop a language from growing/changing is for it to be dead, ala Latin, and even then you end up with pseudo-Latin. Provided there was no attempt to "take back" the new word, however, there wouldn't be any sort of silly arguments as we now have about this particular word.

Don't get me wrong, 'taking back' words CAN happen, but it will never work if only the people targeted by the hateful words can use it amongst themselves. For example, "Christians", "Lutherans", "Anibaptists" and "Mormons" all began as derogatory terms for their particular groups. As long as a word remains in an exclusive/semi-state, where some people are allowed to use it but others are not, it will continue as it is now. The word will never lose it's power to sting, it will be pratically useless as far as empowerment goes, and you'll have people who are genuinely confused as to why they cannot use it as a form of empowerment when they wish to do so.

Black people using nigga is not keeping the use of nigger alive. If black people collectively stopped using nigga, do you honestly believe racists would stop using nigger?

I don't know if it'd die out altogether, but it would likely pass out of common knowledge with time. For example, there was a distinct lack of outcry over Loki calling the Black Widow a "mewling quim" in the Avengers movie. Had they, however, used the modern equivalent, there would have been calls for an R-rating and a boycott. It'd take time, sure, but it'd get there.

 

[GungHo]

If a black person called another black person a nigger, there would be a reaction no different than if a white person called a black person a nigger.

Black people don't call each other nigger.

I'm not arguing here... just adding an anecdote. I've heard it/seen it being said from one black person to another, and it wasn't meant in the "-a" sense at all. It was used to humiliate and incite the person it was being used against, and to your first statement, the subsequent brawl cleared the barracks.

 

[Infinite]

The idea that black people are somehow responsible for their own racial oppression because some of us use the word nigga amongst ourselves is ridiculous and it needs to cease. Racism won't go away if we somehow came to an agreement to not use it and on top of that racists will still use the nigger anyway regardless.

 

[Ponn]

You don't address this authority figure by their first name. His wife, his mother, and his father do. This is the concept you are ignoring.



Same as above: you don't address the President by his first name. His wife, his mother, and his father do (even though he is still THEIR President, too)

And in regards to "referring" to him as Barak: I said call him Barak. I'm sure people refer to him in all types of ways.



Like above: sometimes because you aren't part of a particular group, you are forbidden from using that group's vernacular (and in this case, it's especially forbidden because of the history it carries)

This type of thinking, which to me amounts to trying to sweep it under the rug, is for OUR generation or older generations. I get your point so there is no need to keep repeating it but what I'm saying is the analogies are poor considering this situation. It's a unique situation for the younger generations, like in the op.

Is their a phrase or word that white people use all the time that is heard in all forms of media, all over social networks that a black person has to sit their kid down and tell them even though they hear and see this word all over and their friends will be using it but they can never use it because of the color of their skin? Do people with kids understand, in this day and age how awkward it is to try raise kids like that and avoid situations like the op. Context is the key but the problem is adults or older generations who, rightfully so, view the word as vile and the only context being used for them is skin color. The younger generation who sees and hear this word every day of their life multiple times a day don't view it in that context.

That's the crux of why I feel your analogies are poor, and in a way trying to minimalize the actual situation. For me I'd rather people not use the word at all. It's become a staple of the younger generation so it's just not going to happen though. It's just to ingrained in younger society and media now.

 

[MIMIC]

This type of thinking, which to me amounts to trying to sweep it under the rug, is for OUR generation or older generations. I get your point so there is no need to keep repeating it but what I'm saying is the analogies are poor considering this situation. It's a unique situation for the younger generations, like in the op.

Is their a phrase or word that white people use all the time that is heard in all forms of media, all over social networks that a black person has to sit their kid down and tell them even though they hear and see this word all over and their friends will be using it but they can never use it because of the color of their skin? Do people with kids understand, in this day and age how awkward it is to try raise kids like that and avoid situations like the op. Context is the key but the problem is adults or older generations who, rightfully so, view the word as vile and the only context being used for them is skin color. The younger generation who sees and hear this word every day of their life multiple times a day don't view it in that context.

That's the crux of why I feel your analogies are poor, and in a way trying to minimalist the actual situation. For me I'd rather people not use the word at all. It's become a staple of the younger generation so it's just not going to happen though. It's just to ingrained in younger society and media now.

This is a complete copout. How many white celebrities (young and older) who identify with the younger generation toss around the word "nigga"? ZERO.

This isn't some "generational" thing.

 

[Infinite]

This is a complete copout. How many white celebrities (young and older) who identify with the younger generation toss around the word "nigga"? ZERO.

This isn't some "generational" thing.

It's definitely not too add to you point black Americans has been using the word nigga among themselves for generations. This isn't some new thing that happened with the advent of commercial rap music.

 

[Ponn]

This is a complete copout. How many white celebrities (young and older) who identify with the younger generation toss around the word "nigga"? ZERO.

This isn't some "generational" thing.

What does white celebrities have to do with anything? Of course their not going to use the word or sink their careers.

I'm talking about younger generations emulating what they hear in the music they listen to, movies and tv shows. In turn using it all day themselves. I can barely stand to look at both of my nephews Facebook feeds because it's all over the place.

 

[Enzom21]

I don't know if it'd die out altogether, but it would likely pass out of common knowledge with time. For example, there was a distinct lack of outcry over Loki calling the Black Widow a "mewling quim" in the Avengers movie. Had they, however, used the modern equivalent, there would have been calls for an R-rating and a boycott. It'd take time, sure, but it'd get there.

Wow... so you do actually think black people are keeping alive huh? So then who was keeping it alive before we started using it as a term of endearment?

 

[Spine_Ripper]

This is a complete copout. How many white celebrities (young and older) who identify with the younger generation toss around the word "nigga"? ZERO.

This isn't some "generational" thing.

Ironically, your celebrities claim is also a "copout." Of course they're not going to say it. A shit storm will fall down on them because of our PC culture. Remember Madonna referring to her son as #disnigga, in a clearly non-disrespectful context?

Yeah. It is a generational thing.

 

[TheYanger]

This is a complete copout. How many white celebrities (young and older) who identify with the younger generation toss around the word "nigga"? ZERO.

This isn't some "generational" thing.

Why do the celebrities have to be white? that doesn't diminish the point at all. I'm 31 years old, I would consider myself in a transitional generation in regards to that - hip hop wasn't reaching mainstream popularity like it has now until I was already 10 or 11 or something, so it was definitely jarring to hear shit like 'nigga' thrown out casually, and I definitely relate to the chris rock video first posted in here - it's certainly not a word I use in my everyday vernacular, but it's pretty silly to like censor yourself mid-song too. Kids these days are growing up surrounded by this culture almost from birth. It's like trying to raise a kid never to say 'fuck' if they hear it all the time, it's not going to work, but at least they might grow to understand not to say it in school or whatever. Similarly, these kids PROBABLY know not to run around campus yelling it, but when you're quoting someone (song or not) it feels absolutely ridiculous to censor yourself in that way.

Really, to me it's vastly more racist to say "You're not allowed to use this word even in the MOST appropriate context (directly quoting someone else) because of the color of your skin" than it is for them to have made the sign. For whatever it's worth, I grew up in a pretty damn black neighborhood (my school was about 20% white, 10% asian or other and like 50/50 on the rest black or latino), and to me it's preposterous that it's acceptable for (in my experience) basically anyone that isn't white to use the word casually. I don't have any strong desire to use it, that's not me, but the truth is that the reaction to that word is intensely strong when it's white people saying it, but basically any other minority using it is never an issue. I know that's only tangentally related but if this were say, a predominantly asian neighborhood the reaction would be vastly less severe (although negative still I'm sure).

Wow... so you do actually think black people are keeping alive huh? So then who was keeping it alive before we started using it as a term of endearment?

Yes? The context this thread is about is absolutely kept alive by hip hop culture and the crossing over between that and pop culture. There are lots of derogatory words that cross over (appropriately or not) into the common lexicon because of how they are used. If it were still confined to racist rednecks with the hard R, it wouldn't be nearly as prevalent as it is when I can hear it 100 times an hour listening to my music.

At the end of the day this is a complex social issue, and it's doing it and ourselves a disservice to simply try to address it as totally black and white (I failed to think of another way to phrase that). To me it's ridiculous to refuse to understand where the kids were coming from and label them as villains, just as it would be to praise them. Mostly it's just sad that the state of affairs is the way that it is.

 

[Enzom21]

Ironically, your celebrities claim is also a "copout." Of course they're not going to say it. A shit storm will fall down on them because of our PC culture. Remember Madonna referring to her son as #disnigga, in a clearly non-disrespectful context?

Yeah. It is a generational thing.

A shit storm should fall down on them. PC culture = I can't say what I want free of consequence right? How is it a generational thing? Madonna is not from this generation.

Yes? The context this thread is about is absolutely kept alive by hip hop culture and the crossing over between that and pop culture. There are lots of derogatory words that cross over (appropriately or not) into the common lexicon because of how they are used. If it were still confined to racist rednecks with the hard R, it wouldn't be nearly as prevalent as it is when I can hear it 100 times an hour listening to my music.

How about reading our actual conversation before commenting?

 

[TheYanger]

How about reading our actual conversation before commenting?

I did? It addressed exactly your point.

 

[Enzom21]

I did? It addressed exactly your point.

You clearly didn't. He claimed that black people using nigga is what is keeping the use of nigger by racists alive. You are talking about people who are not black using nigga and black people be responsible for that. He and I were not.

 

[MIMIC]

What does white celebrities have to do with anything? Of course their not going to use the word or sink their careers.

So today's kids are just emulating the black people and completely ignoring the white people? Media is media, unless I'm mistaken. And at no point was there ever any indication in the media that it was OK for a white person to use the word "nigga". And every time this discussion comes up, it's still the same.

So maybe they think they can still get away with it? Or maybe they aren't paying attention? (like the ones who think TV = real life?) I wouldn't exactly call today's younger generation the brightest bunch.

Maybe the group in the OP thought they could get away with it? Or weren't paying attention? Either way, nothing has changed. They can't say it and if they thought they could (or thought they could get away with it), they were obviously in for a rude awakening.

 

[Ponn]

So today's kids are just emulating the black people and completely ignoring the white people? Media is media, unless I'm mistaken. And at no point was there ever any indication in the media that it was OK for a white person to use the word "nigga". And every time this discussion comes up, it's still the same.

So maybe they think they can still get away with it? Or maybe they aren't paying attention? (like the ones who think TV = real life?) I wouldn't exactly call today's younger generation the brightest bunch.

Maybe the group in the OP thought they could get away with it? Or weren't paying attention? Either way, nothing has changed. They can't say it and if they thought they could (or thought they could get away with it), they were obviously in for a rude awakening.

Or maybe, and this is part of my generational point, they aren't seeing things in color as much as we do. Just maybe they are emulating their favorite singer because they are a person like them because they have been raised in a different time. Is that not what we are striving for as a society?

You're right though, they are in for a rude awakening.

 

[jmood88]

Or maybe, and this is part of my generational point, they aren't seeing things in color as much as we do. Just maybe?

Based on all the racist nonsense on the internet and the stories we get seemingly every other week about some college-aged white people doing racist things, I'm gonna say that that isn't true at all. There are still lots of people living today who lived in a time where government-sanctioned segregation was legal. Jim Crow and slavery really weren't that long ago and there is no evidence that racism is a thing of the past.

 

[MIMIC]

Or maybe, and this is part of my generational point, they aren't seeing things in color as much as we do. Just maybe?

Or skipping school during Black History month?

 

[MIMIC]

Based on all the racist nonsense on the internet and the stories we get seemingly every other week about some college-aged white people doing racist things, I'm gonna say that that isn't true at all. There are still lots of people living today who lived in a time where government-sanctioned segregation was legal. Jim Crow and slavery really weren't that long ago and there is no evidence that racism is a thing of the past.

This.

I get called the n-word every other day whenever I'm playing Xbox live. And it isn't some 80-year-old former Klan member. It's some young kid who goes, "LOL nigger lol lol"

To imply that this generation is somehow "color blind" is utterly absurd.

 

[TheYanger]

You clearly didn't. He claimed that black people using nigga is what is keeping the use of nigger by racists alive. You are talking about people who are not black using nigga and black people be responsible for that. He and I were not.

I think it keeps both alive at least in part - It brings it closer to the collective consciousness for everyone. I think if they weren't saying it they would just be saying something else in a derogatory way, but it's a lot easier for someone to make the leap of one more letter than it is to just randomly learn something else. You don't have to be actively taught the slur: It's learned by simply living in this day and age, and that's not because of the racist connotation, that's because of the culture.

In fact, if you are in the least racist family ever, you STILL have to teach your kids what the word means because otherwise this kind of situation arises. I would simply prefer never to teach the word nigger to my children if I have them, but there's no way around it because it's the direct root of nigga. It's impossible to raise someone as colorblind when you have to put this kind of context to words that get thrown around every day.

This.

I get called the n-word every other day whenever I'm playing Xbox live. And it isn't some 80-year-old former Klan member. It's some young kid who goes, "LOL nigger lol lol"

To imply that this generation is somehow "color blind" is utterly absurd.

I think this ties DIRECTLY into what I just said here. Random kids from like, Oregon or Nevada or whatever, would probably not be using the word if it weren't just a simple step from a word that saturates pop culture. Obviously we can't say that for sure, but I think it's at least a reasonable opinion to have.

 

[Infinite]

I think it keeps both alive at least in part - It brings it closer to the collective consciousness for everyone. I think if they weren't saying it they would just be saying something else in a derogatory way, but it's a lot easier for someone to make the leap of one more letter than it is to just randomly learn something else. You don't have to be actively taught the slur: It's learned by simply living in this day and age, and that's not because of the racist connotation, that's because of the culture.

In fact, if you are in the least racist family ever, you STILL have to teach your kids what the word means because otherwise this kind of situation arises. I would simply prefer never to teach the word nigger to my children if I have them, but there's no way around it because it's the direct root of nigga. It's impossible to raise someone as colorblind when you have to put this kind of context to words that get thrown around every day.



I think this ties DIRECTLY into what I just said here. Random kids from like, Oregon or Nevada or whatever, would probably not be using the word if it weren't just a simple step from a word that saturates pop culture. Obviously we can't say that for sure, but I think it's at least a reasonable opinion to have.

You're blaming racism against black people on black people. This is crap.

 

[jmood88]

I think this ties DIRECTLY into what I just said here. Random kids from like, Oregon or Nevada or whatever, would probably not be using the word if it weren't just a simple step from a word that saturates pop culture. Obviously we can't say that for sure, but I think it's at least a reasonable opinion to have.

These kids aren't calling people niggers because they heard a rapper say it in a song, they're saying it because they know it's a derogatory term and they want to insult people.

 

[Ponn]

This.

I get called the n-word every other day whenever I'm playing Xbox live. And it isn't some 80-year-old former Klan member. It's some young kid who goes, "LOL nigger lol lol"

To imply that this generation is somehow "color blind" is utterly absurd.

I'm not saying the whole generation no. I'm starting to get a real cynical vibe from your posts. Xbox live shouldn't be your measuring stick for society. I'm getting the feeling some people think society hasn't changed at all, white kids only listening to Taylor Swift with no black friend or some BS. If that's the case then whatever I'm done, my real life experiences with kids and teens these days are not like that.

 

[Red Mage]

The idea that black people are somehow responsible for their own racial oppression because some of us use the word nigga amongst ourselves is ridiculous and it needs to cease. Racism won't go away if we somehow came to an agreement to not use it and on top of that racists will still use the nigger anyway regardless.

If you're referring to my post, I'm not saying that at all. I don't believe racism will ever go away, sadly, but the truth is that you can never "take a word back" if you only allow those targeted by the word to use it, or a variation thereof. As long as racists know that a word will hurt you, they will use it.

Wow... so you do actually think black people are keeping alive huh? So then who was keeping it alive before we started using it as a term of endearment?

Actually, I said that by using it, and making it exclusive, you're keeping the negative connotations alive. If Lutherans had started calling each other Lutherans but getting mad when Catholics called them that, then Lutheran would continue to exist as a word with negative meaning to this day. If you embrace the word and make it your own, and let others know that their use of it doesn't affect you, then it will lose the negative hold it has. If you drop it altogether, it will, after a century or so, drop out of common knowledge, just like quim.

This isn't what I just randomly came up with, this is what the history of every language on earth has shown us up until this point.

And that's what I'm saying too and that has nothing to do with black people reclaiming the word or not.

But that's my point, they're not reclaiming it. They're trying to make it an exclusive word, which will not work. I'm Cherokee on my mother's side, and we have reclaimed the word "Indian." We do not let that word be used as an insult, we embraced it. It's lost all of its sting.

 

[Infinite]

If you're referring to my post, I'm not saying that at all. I don't believe racism will ever go away, sadly, but the truth is that you can never "take a word back" if you only allow those targeted by the word to use it, or a variation thereof. As long as racists know that a word will hurt you, they will use it.[/B]

And that's what I'm saying too and that has nothing to do with black people reclaiming the word or not.

 

[MIMIC]

I'm not saying the whole generation no. I'm starting to get a real cynical vibe from your posts. Xbox live shouldn't be your measuring stick for society. I'm getting the feeling some people think society hasn't changed at all, white kids only listening to Taylor Swift with no black friend or some BS. If that's the case then whatever I'm done, my real life experiences with kids and teens these days are not like that.

My point was that it's pretty ridiculous to think that white kids don't know "nigga" comes from the word "nigger", a word used to denigrate black people.

"I....I thought it meant buddy! 'Nigger'? I've never even heard of that word."

Sure.

 

[mysocksarepink]

my brothers friend has a black friend therefore I can say nigga

is that how it works?

 

[Enzom21]

I think it keeps both alive at least in part - It brings it closer to the collective consciousness for everyone. I think if they weren't saying it they would just be saying something else in a derogatory way, but it's a lot easier for someone to make the leap of one more letter than it is to just randomly learn something else. You don't have to be actively taught the slur: It's learned by simply living in this day and age, and that's not because of the racist connotation, that's because of the culture.

In fact, if you are in the least racist family ever, you STILL have to teach your kids what the word means because otherwise this kind of situation arises. I would simply prefer never to teach the word nigger to my children if I have them, but there's no way around it because it's the direct root of nigga. It's impossible to raise someone as colorblind when you have to put this kind of context to words that get thrown around every day.



I think this ties DIRECTLY into what I just said here. Random kids from like, Oregon or Nevada or whatever, would probably not be using the word if it weren't just a simple step from a word that saturates pop culture. Obviously we can't say that for sure, but I think it's at least a reasonable opinion to have.

So you didn't read our conversation correct? No black people using nigga does not keep racism alive, that's ridiculous. There is plenty of literate, movies, music, etc. that contain nigger having nothing to do with nigga and there are racists that use it without having heard nigga before.

 

[ShinobiFist]

Just say niggy!

Greatest shit ever.

 

[rtcn63]

my brothers friend has a black friend therefore I can say nigga

is that how it works?

CJ from San Andreas doesn't count brah

 

[Vicetrailia]

Why is it that marginalized groups take derogatory terms labeled against them and use it for positive or endearing expression?

 

[jmizzal]

Thats stupid for anybody to do black or white, posting that word around a school, its just worst for some white kids who would be scared if they ever walked in a black hood to post it.