Which race was working systematically to suppress votes by niggers in the 1800s?
Which race was hanging niggers from trees?
Which race was treating them like subhuman shit because those niggers weren't human?
Which race was telling those niggers to sit at the back of the bus?
Which race still has millions of people wearing white hoods because they got an issue with the niggers that exist today?
Which race still has law enforcement shooting those niggers because they don't think of them as equals?
Which race was robbing those niggers of their agency as individuals who deserved equal rights and to be treated like human beings, but is now asking to be involved in the conversation of how a word that was used to describe them as filth is now used?
We don't live in a world where black people are treated as equals. You don't get a say in how they use that term. You get a say in how you use that term. And if you're a decent person, you won't.
The meaningful voice you get in this conversation is to tell people you know who aren't black to not use that term if they do it in your presence, to educate them, because there are centuries of history behind that word, and while black people aren't getting hung from trees or sitting on the back of the bus, there are still very clear systemic and social prejudices that exist today. And that is a meaningful voice should you decide to exercise it, if you want to be part of the conversation in a way that you can be.
And if it makes you uncomfortable that I'm putting that on you, then consider how there are millions of white people who I see that have no problem on putting issues relating to black people (or the new whipping boys in Muslims) on the entirety of those people. And it's not just on the street, but in the media, and plastered across a bunch of newspapers on a regular basis.
Note that you complain that it's difficult for you to explain to your kids and have them understand. If that's difficult for you, then what exactly are you trying to accomplish by having this conversation? You cannot and will not eliminate racism when you're afraid to acknowledge its existence because it makes you uncomfortable.
If something that simple cannot be accomplished by you with people who you have complete control over, and the ability to guide them into being decent adults when the time comes; if you cannot even exert that small amount of influence, then what is this entire post of yours? You want to give your opinion on the usage of this word in society, but can't even be bothered to do that much because it's some momentous task?
Black people have a right to do as they please with that word. And even they will be careful of the context of its use, but ultimately, that's their agency and their right.
You own your own shit.
Two things:
1. White people aren't completely discluded from discussion of the n-word. You are a white person currently included in the discussion, so calm yo ass down. You ain't no victim and you ain't being discriminated against.
2. White people don't have credibility in the n-word discussion, but it's not because of the color of their skin or for any bullshit essentialist reasons. No, white people forfeit their credibility in the discussion because of on-going conflicts of interest. Namely, institutionalized white supremacy and white privilege.
So basically "white people not being allowed to use the n-word is the real racism guys".
Jesus fucking Christ on a mother fucking bike.
This is why I was afraid to comment.. Doesn't matter that I specifically said it's not okay to use it, I am contesting the fact that it's okay for anyone else to use it, including those who have darker skin color than I. Even in context, when I hear the term, or a slang version of that slang term in public, it's people with darker skin than I calling each other it as a term of endearment. In public. Everywhere. Or in anger, everywhere.
And I am expected to try to teach my kids why it's okay for people of darker skin than me to use it in that fashion or even have them use it when they talk to them, but that they can't. And I am supposed to do this without making it into racism.
And I'm clearly not a white Supremicist. I think the term is disgusting and that racism is one of the greatest plagues on earth. But I also don't think a real conversation is had on racism when my race, or yours, or anyone else's, is actually brought up. Because the whole point of eliminating racism starts with us no longer caring what color someone's skin is.
And as such, there really shouldn't be different rules on the n word. I get that maybe people of darker skin have more context historically to use it, but the way its being used in every day conversation, in popular music, is something I am just expected to rationally explain away to my kids. Why because of someone's color of skin, they can use it. When the whole lesson I am trying to teach them is that color doesn't matter. That we are all equal.
I can't do anything about what my "ancestors" did and I can't stop the fact that some people the same color skin as me take things to the extreme with their racism. I hate it. But at the end of the day, until we stop looking at each other based on our skin color, I don't know what to do.
I keep bringing my kids up because eliminating racism starts with the children. Adults are too engraijed in there ways. Look at pewdiepie here. Even if hes actually sorry, it doesn't matter. He's too engrained his ways. It's too late likely for him.
But it's not too late for our kids, and I genuinely am concerned about terms like the n word because I can't find anyway to explain it away other than racism, and that's exactly what I want to avoid. I don't want them thinking someone else can do something they can't, or that they need to tread carefully. I want them growing up thinking that the color is completely irrelevant.
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