What do you feel about the word Nigga?

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mm04 said:
Only when I'm rapping along with NWA in my car.
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Ha I'd like purposefully bleep out Nigga anytime it came up in a song when I was singing to it with my black friend. I didn't want to piss him off. Over time he called me out on it and said just say the word lol.

Sorry for posting so much in this thread I am on ultra GAF mode tonight waiting for D3 OT. Shits got me crazyy!
 
Even as a black male I never say the word in my daily conversations, though I must say when I do rap or freestyle I have no problems busting it out...I look it in the same fashion a pro-feminist would look at the re-appropriation of the term "bitch".
 
.GqueB. said:
I don't see why anyone would use it general. White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, anyone. Why say it? There are so many other words in the english language the convey what you are trying to say so why not use those? Why go out of your way to use the one that is a little touchy.

Whenever someone uses it around me, I feel like I'm being challenged on some level. As if I'm either supposed to say something or go along with it. I hate that.

My brotha
My man
My friend

Use those instead. There's no reason NOT to.
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Because it's pretty deeply ingrained in pop culture at this point, when the dirty version of every other iTunes top 10 song uses it people are going to pick up on it. It's kind of like asking why anyone would say "fuck!" when you can say "shoot!" or "golly!" instead. It's inevitable that it's going to become a part of people's vernacular.

At this point it's much like any other swear word in that you don't go around shouting it in public, but I don't really see the issue among friends that are comfortable with it.
 
Riggs said:
The OP says how do you feel about the words use. So me, and others give our opinions on the matter. You basically come in and say we have no say because we are not black. Again there is not a black and white section of GAF. If you post something like this everyone should expect opinions from all sorts of races.

Your closing line about black council meeting just wreaks of passive aggressive posting. No one is being racist in here, or telling black people they cannot say this word. We are just giving our opinions. It seems at this point you are just looking for someone to argue with man. I usually like your posts, but your previous misinterpretation that I was telling blacks how to feel is worrisome at the least dude. I said nothing like that at all.
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And we're giving ours.

Being black people and all.

Its like when someone here posts something along the lines of "why do women do X?" and when a woman actually responds to the shit, people turn around and dismiss it like their opinion is actually of lesser value.
 
I generally don't feel comfortable using it, even with the permission of present company. I guess because I know what it's like being a minority myself.
 
DY_nasty said:
And we're giving ours.

Being black people and all.

Its like when someone here posts something along the lines of "why do women do X?" and when a woman actually responds to the shit, people turn around and dismiss it like their opinion is actually of lesser value.
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Again you didn't really address the fact that you told me I was telling black people how to feel.

But to address what you just said, I only can speak for myself. And I do not think any black gaffers opinion in this thread is of lesser value because they are black. That really would not make any sense.

Giving your opinion is one thing, accusing someone that they are basically telling black people how to feel is another.

There is no persecution complex going on here (felt appropriate to mention since I did use the word "accuse" twice), I am just simply restating what you said bout me =/
 
Devolution said:
That there are "black people" and there are "niggers." Since his joke others outside of the community have granted him representational status of the entire group and think they can also make such assertions.
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That distinction is ages old. To attribute it to Chris Rock is just wild.
 
Using these words or avoiding these words doesn't mean very much. It's the context/tone around those words that will let me know if you're racist or not.
 
Riggs said:
Again you didn't really address the fact that you told me I was telling black people how to feel.

But to address what you just said, I only can speak for myself. And I do not think any black gaffers opinion in this thread is of lesser value because they are black. That really would not make any sense.

Giving your opinion is one thing, accusing someone that they are basically telling black people how to feel is another.

There is no persecution complex going on here (felt appropriate to mention since I did use the word "accuse" twice), I am just simply restating what you said bout me =/
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Maybe I interpreted "As for "Whether black people should say it is a conversation within the black community."

Actually no." wrong then.

*shrug*
 
mysticwhip said:
jesus christ I hat that shit. When Chris Rock made a joke about the difference between a nigger and nigga and it became so popular was when I've noticed more people use that argument. It's so fucking stupid.
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I heard that shit like 20 years ago from my stepfather. He heard from "his black friend" that "there are black people and there are straight up niggers". I understand what this "friend"* was saying, but my step used this as a mantra from then on as an excuse to hate black people.

I'm sorry, "n-words", because he was so racist he never found a single "black person". Just millions of American "n*****s. But when I complained about him using the word too freely? "My friend Jimmy said once that there are black people and...".

After Chris Rock's thing, I noticed that more white people latched on to this mode of thought. How funny that some white people never see any niggas out there, just a lot of the n-word.


* he didn't really like Jimmy. He talked to Jimmy in an associate way and that was only when they crossed paths. Jimmy sold crack on the side, he later found out, and the idea of "my friend Jimmy" went out the window and he became even more hateful until he died of black ass tumors in his brain.
 
Mangotron said:
Because it's pretty deeply ingrained in pop culture at this point, when the dirty version of every other iTunes top 10 song uses it people are going to pick up on it. It's kind of like asking why anyone would say "fuck!" when you can say "shoot!" or "golly!" instead. It's inevitable that it's going to become a part of people's vernacular.

At this point it's much like any other swear word in that you don't go around shouting it in public, but I don't really see the issue among friends that are comfortable with it.
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I disagree with that. It's deeply ingrained in black culture not pop culture. I'm not even sure where you are getting that from. I very rarely hear it said outside of the black community and when I do hear it, it often sounds very forced and awkward. It's a word that you do have to go out of your way to say. It's nothing like "fuck". Not even close. That can just slip out.

Walking up to someone and saying "what up my nigga" is not something that just happens. "fuck you" is.

But it's not going anywhere in the black community I know. That'd be a hard thing to turn around. Damn near impossible.
 
As a white dude, I'm no more likely to bust out a racial slur than I am to call my wife and her friends a bunch of cunts.

If my wife wants to call one of her girlfriends a cunt, whatever. Don't care, but because I'm not female. As a male, if I bust that shit out? I'm getting my nuts kicked in.

It's a pretty easy distinction to make, I think. Racism can be funny in the right hands and at the right times, but personally black slurs are a bit too much. That wound is still too fresh for my white ass to be using that shit. I've called my friends of Italian heritage "wop" or "dago" a handful of times when it was funny, but "Hey nigga, what's up" to a black man whose grandparents' peers lived in mortal fear of being dragged behind a car or hung from a tree? No fucking thanks. I don't care that the word has been "softened" from the original.

I was reminded of just how short of a time it's been in this country when I had to go to backwoods Indiana on business last week. Guy was openly walking around a movie theater with Nazi shit tattooed all over him. Indiana is famous, as you'll recall from history class, as the state where the feds had to step in and oust the state government because half the members of the General Assembly, plus the governor, belonged to the KKK.

Racism mostly just irks me, and look at a lot of the Obama hate. The fact that some people have no idea the reason they hate him so much is primarily due to his race annoys me, and makes me wonder just how much longer it's going to be.
 
When I started saying nigga in elementary school, my dad clamped down on that real quick, so I never really say it. I even feel weird saying it in conversation. I generally don't like being called anything other than my first name or my nickname (I don't even like being referred to as just my last name).

I grew up in a mostly white area, and it seems like some white people like to try to casual bring it into conversation after reaching a certain point of familiarity with me, kind of like dipping their toe in the water. Shit is annoying.

I'm black btw.
 
Kibbles said:
I was watching cartoon network and some show was on and it was like all they said every 5 seconds.
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Szxci.jpg
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I might hate ironic usage by liberal white people more than usage by others. The "You know I'm not racist, so it's funny/cute!"

No, it isn't.
 
I used it all the time growing up, like"bro" or "dude". Stopped using when I got older. I'm hispanic, btw and it wasn't used as a slur. I've never used ''nigger''. Never ever.
 
I'm white. When I'm referring to a song ("Niggas in Paris") or rapping along with a hip-hop song, I'll say it if it's in the lyrics (usually alone or with friends). Never thought it was a problem, but this thread sort of makes me think I'm in the wrong.

Never would use it any other way though.
 
Well, english isn't my first language, so I don't feel like the N word is very offensive. I don't use it, of course, but I think of it more like a nickname 'Eii my nigga!' rather than the offensive side of it.
 
Nothing really wrong with it. Usually as a black guy when I say it, friends that aren't black usually get pretty awkward and I tell them "Man it's cool". People are so ingrained in history that they're afraid of the consequences. I mean I understand, totally reasonable. But usually if I "let" them say it, that means we have crossed that bridge of respect and as long as you don't say it offensively, it's all good
 
I have not used it and I will not use it. It costs me nothing to clean up my language and there's not a situation I can think of where it's use would be appropriate.

I feel that it's an example of how attempting to reclaim the words doesn't work. I had a friend who went through a phase where he tried using all the derogatory words - chink, nigga, faggot, cracker - in a misguided attempt that it would remove all meaning from them. It didn't work.

I'm not black, so I certainly can't say how they should use it, but I feel that trying to reclaim it just keeps it around in the collective society much longer. Personally, I think these terms are just better off being abandoned and forgotten
 
Only time I've ever used it was singing along with a song that does. Never used it in any other context really.
 
The only reason I wanna say those words is because I'm not supposed to. And I mean that in a positive sense. Wish I could go black for a day and get it all out of my system. Tell every white person I like that they're one cool ass nigga just to see how they'd react.
 
.GqueB. said:
I disagree with that. It's deeply ingrained in black culture not pop culture. I'm not even sure where you are getting that from. I very rarely hear it said outside of the black community and when I do hear it, it often sounds very forced and awkward.
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That's what you're missing though, hip hop isn't "black" pop culture anymore. Look at iTunes right now.

Tony Lucca is a white country singer covering Jay-Z's 99 Problems, he doesn't say nigga but anyone looking for the original track is going to hear it.

#11 is No Lie which prominently features the word, Drake is only half black himself and has a ton of white fans.

#18 Both of Us features Taylor Swift, who couldn't get much whiter if she tried and BOB drops "nigga" in the first few bars of the song.

If prominent white and black artists feel comfortable associating themselves with work that uses it, I don't see why in the appropriate setting it should be a big deal.
 
When I hear older people say it (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles), there tends to be a certain tinge of hate to its use. They don't use it colloquially as slang, they typically say it in a context they might have used it in 50 years ago. They lived in a time when the hatred and ignorance was very prevalent, and it often does make me uncomfortable because of that.

However, I don't like the idea of drawing some unconditional line in the sand about it though. It has a different meaning to people who lived during the times when it was truly used offensively and with ignorant hatred. When I hear 20-somethings say it, it's not anything racial, just like faggot isn't about sexual orientation; they're just words to our generation.

Perhaps I will never understand the way that black people or gay people feel when these words are used, but in time new generations won't know what it was like when those words had true venom behind them. Drawing that line in the sand is just another form of ignorance.
 
Mangotron said:
That's what you're missing though, hip hop isn't "black" pop culture anymore. Look at iTunes right now.

Tony Lucca is a white country singer covering Jay-Z's 99 Problems, he doesn't say nigga but anyone looking for the original track is going to hear it.

#11 is No Lie which prominently features the word, Drake is only half black himself and has a ton of white fans.

#18 Both of Us features Taylor Swift, who couldn't get much whiter if she tried and BOB drops "nigga" in the first few bars of the song.

If prominent white and black artists feel comfortable associating themselves with work that uses it, I don't see why in the appropriate setting it should be a big deal.
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I think I misunderstood you at first. You said it's ingrained in pop culture which I guess is true but this isn't an excuse to use it willy nilly. The fact that it's used in songs is not a free pass to use it in general. That doesn't even make any sense.
 
theignoramus said:
feel free to say it.
But if your ass gets embarrassed, accosted, tuned the fuck up or knocked the fuck out for talking reckless around some brothers that aint trying to hear that shit from a)white people or b) anyone at all, I wont feel an iota of sympathy for you.

accept the consequences of what you say.

I only ever say the word when Im quoting rap lyrics or movies. And no, I dont accept that a brother calling me "nigga" and a white guy doing it are one and the same.
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This is pretty much how I roll regarding that word.
People asking about it: you know who gets to say that word without irony or consequence. If you have to ask or wonder if it's okay for you to say it, it probably doesn't fit you racially or culturally to do so.

Why can't you just live knowing you have to live without being able to use that word without irony or consequence?
 
frankie_baby said:
I'm white I wouldn't use it, though if black people are allowed to use it then white people should be to, anything else is hypocritical and discriminatory
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white people can and do say nigga, but they want to say it without the angry stares and potential beatdowns from black folks and I say FUCK THAT. Deal with it.
 
I use it from time to time in jest. However, I feel like if you're one of those people that use it constantly you're completely disconnected from the world. Although there is a use for it in art, just like any other word/image/song.
 
marathonfool said:
Non-black folks don't get to decide the appropriate usage of the word. It's a historically derogatory and oppressive term from non-blacks. Of course there's a double standard.
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oh my fuck, I was in tears when DR. PHIL hosted a discussion on his show with white people debating black folks on whether or not we should use the "N word"
 
onemic said:
Thread is self explanatory. What do you feel about it? To those who aren't black do you feel as it is a word that shouldn't be restricted as the NY Times guy said a few days ago? Do you feel that you should be able to say it if others can say it? Do you use it yourself? Do you not use it? To those that are black, do you feel as if it is a word that pushes the ignorant mindset of others upon you?(ala chamillionaire) Do you use it yourself? Do you not use it? Do you have a problem when others who aren't black use it around you or do you have those that you are cool with that can use it whenever? Do you feel as if there is a difference in the use of nigga and nigger?
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I start thinking it to myself when I've been watching too much Wire but I never say it out loud, I would sound ridiculous. I don't really have an opinion as to it's general usage though.
 
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