The "N" word

[warprincenataku]

Basically the black community has, 'taken back' the N-word. They have taken a derogatory word and changed it into something of respect and comradery amongst them.

I call my white friends crackers all the time. I'm taking it back!

*Why am I suddenly reminded of Clerks 2?*

 

[Ganthrinor]

That is all, thank you.

Dude got OWNED. Morgan Freeman for Emperor Of Earth.

Loius C.K. Also has a good take on it.


Personally, I don't say it because I'm more focused on other attributes of a person. Like say for example, literacy or the ability to speak clearly and enunciate words properly.

 

[Yassen]

Here are my thoughts on the word ******, no I don't believe it's the sort of word you use in polite conversation, same as any swear word. However, I don't see the point in getting offended when spoken amongst close friends in a joking manner. That's just people being uptight.

What does annoy me though is when blacks get offended when a white person uses it but when they say it to each other it's completely fine. But surely you're thinking "But Yassen! The 'n-word' has been used by white folks to insult blacks for decades, it's so offensive to say it!" If that's the case why do they use it? Why insult each other with the very word that was keeping them enslaved for so long? Wouldn't the best option then be to not use it at all or just completely disregard it? Then the word has no power.

Swear words carry as much impact as we give to them. If we want to put aside our rascism then we need to stop profiling one group as black, another as white and just realize we're all people. Different yes, but still human.

As a side note, black history month sounds completely ridiculous. Like the sort of thing a politician cooked up to try and placate the masses by saying "No really, we care about what happened to you!" when really they don't give two shits. Totally, fucking pointless.

 

[katsumoto03]

When black people started saying, "Wassup nigga?" as a greeting, I stopped giving a shit. No words should be off limits to say, but I don't go around calling people niggers.

 

[Sun Flash]

It's just a word. If someone of african decent annoys me to the point of shouting obscenities, I'll call him a ****.

I'm an equal opportunity sourpuss, I guess.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

I had this long message before, but it really just sums up into a few things.

-Everyone has the right to be offended by whatever. As you have the right to be offended that you can use the stupid word, people have the right to be offended that you do. Use it, but be prepared for many, many conflicts.

-If it wasn't that big of a deal, why are there probably literally millions of threads on the web devoted to this?

-Lastly, a lot of people use it without knowing what it means. Back in high school, some of my closest friends tried to use it with me as a joke. I said I'm not one. The group looked confused. One said 'wait, how are yo...' and that's when I cut him off.

A ****** is an ideal. It is what was used to make whites who were uncomfortable about slavery feel fine, as a ****** was not human. It was a less evolved ape that was capable of speech, but best suited for hard work because it did not possess the intelligence for anything else. That ****** was used to brand subhumans.

But the funny thing? They felt bad that I felt this way, but really did not apologize until slavery was went over in school in the following months and the text book said the exact same thing I did months before. somehow, it was more true when it was printed by a nameless company

-Lastly Lolz, most people still do find it offensive when it's used against them [http://washingtonindependent.com/73036/n-word-sign-dogs-would-be-tea-party-leader]

 

[Uszi]

i think louie ck says it best.

Heh. My friends throw the word around in Ventrilo alot, directed at each other and the people in the games we are playing with. None of us are black, and I doubt any of the kids we're playing against are black. It's hard not to fall into that pratfall. I wonder if that's insensitive: to replace every single given insult with the word ******, and then direct it at your own white friends and the (probably) white opponents in DotA games?

On the other hand, I think whenever these discussions get started, and white people are like, "Well black people say it all the time!" I don't think that's an accurate argument. I have a number of black friends/acquaintances and none of them are fond of the word in any context.

I think it's a minority within the majority of black people who find it OK to use the word ******. And it honestly strikes me as something that's going out of fashion nowadays. I'd be interested in seeing an actual linguistics study to see if it's frequency in rap music has decreased at all in the past few years

 

[Quiet Stranger]

i think louie ck says it best.

Damn you!!! I've been ninja'd

But yes, Louis C.K says it best

 

[BlumiereBleck]

Just watch this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xryXpK042pQ

Really,who cares when all people do is come up for another word to say the EXACT SAME THING

This!!!! Also if they can say it i can say it!

 

[theriddlen]

Oh, and i went here thinking it's gonna be about Ninjas.

 

[Tim_Buoy]

DISCLAIMER:
I HAVE BLACK FRIENDS SO ITS OKAY THAT I USE IT.

The above is obviously a joke. I personally don't care about the word. I don't use it to be honest unless in jest, in a manner to make fun of other people's usage of it.

At this point, people need to just get over it. You can't erase words, so we should just adopt it into a different meaning.

Oh by the way, that last portion I said? It will never happen. =)

Oh yeah? Well my president's black, so it's all cool. Beat that.

I think that the show The Boondocks has done the best to describe the meaning of the N word in this clip.

What the....is that Samuel L Jackson and Charlie Murphy?

yeah they play two white guys in the show

 

[The Hero Killer]

I'm black and I honestly dont have a problem with the word itself, its the context that its used in. If its used in a hateful way then it would elicit a negative response, but if someone is using it out of humor or camaraderie I understand and dont mind.

Its the same thing how you can call people stupid in a jokingly way or as an insult. Any word could potentially offend if used in the wrong context.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

****** is a terribly offensive word that should never be used in any circumstance when describing a person of African decent. Especially by white people.
Or its a word that has been so ridiculously blown out of proportion, it's hilarious some of the reactions people give when its used.
Like even this thread? You know why nobody says the word? Because you're all scared of the consequences. Yet i don't understand how saying 'the N-word' is any different than saying '******'. At least, there is no major difference when discussing the word. Actually using it to insult someone would have obvious differing effects, but for the sake of discussing a word why are we censoring it? Its like censoring 'fuck' with 'f*ck'. Its just stupid and only meant to appease your sense of...I dunno, whats the term here...."Wont somebody think of the children!?"

-from a mulatto

I have to agree with you on this whole heartedly

What I find interesting is the Re-arrangement of the word - Ginger. It's become som new fad to label red heads with this word. Blonds have always been blond, Brunettes are brunettes, People with brown hair are people with brown hair, not "Shit heads". And Red Heads have always been red heads. So why the new word for red heads, and so coincidentally, with the very same letters.

Ever since that south park episode aired, it blew up. Hell ,there was a facebook group for "National kick a ginger day" where people were discussing putting on their steel toes to kick people with red hair. It was shut down by the RCMP for hate crimes before red heads were actually getting the shit kicked out of them.

So why is there a stigma on being a red head? Why do we suddenly have no soul, no feelings, and it's okay to shit on us because of hair color? Why does the human race need SOMEONE different to hate on all the time?

 

[Lullabye]

****** is a terribly offensive word that should never be used in any circumstance when describing a person of African decent. Especially by white people.
Or its a word that has been so ridiculously blown out of proportion, it's hilarious some of the reactions people give when its used.
Like even this thread? You know why nobody says the word? Because you're all scared of the consequences. Yet i don't understand how saying 'the N-word' is any different than saying '******'. At least, there is no major difference when discussing the word. Actually using it to insult someone would have obvious differing effects, but for the sake of discussing a word why are we censoring it? Its like censoring 'fuck' with 'f*ck'. Its just stupid and only meant to appease your sense of...I dunno, whats the term here...."Wont somebody think of the children!?"

-from a mulatto

I have to agree with you on this whole heartedly

What I find interesting is the Re-arrangement of the word - Ginger.

I'm sorry but this fits perfectly.....

 

[Lullabye]

****** is a terribly offensive word that should never be used in any circumstance when describing a person of African decent. Especially by white people.
Or its a word that has been so ridiculously blown out of proportion, it's hilarious some of the reactions people give when its used.
Like even this thread? You know why nobody says the word? Because you're all scared of the consequences. Yet i don't understand how saying 'the N-word' is any different than saying '******'. At least, there is no major difference when discussing the word. Actually using it to insult someone would have obvious differing effects, but for the sake of discussing a word why are we censoring it? Its like censoring 'fuck' with 'f*ck'. Its just stupid and only meant to appease your sense of...I dunno, whats the term here...."Wont somebody think of the children!?"

-from a mulatto

I'm not saying it because I don't think the mods agree with you, and I don't want to be on probation. but just for the hell of it, I'm going to edit my post.

thank you for proving my point.

 

[tenaciousotako]

Being mixed, i'm not offended by the word "******", it just piisses me off that black people can say it, but when a white peron says it, shit goes down.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

****** is a terribly offensive word that should never be used in any circumstance when describing a person of African decent. Especially by white people.
Or its a word that has been so ridiculously blown out of proportion, it's hilarious some of the reactions people give when its used.
Like even this thread? You know why nobody says the word? Because you're all scared of the consequences. Yet i don't understand how saying 'the N-word' is any different than saying '******'. At least, there is no major difference when discussing the word. Actually using it to insult someone would have obvious differing effects, but for the sake of discussing a word why are we censoring it? Its like censoring 'fuck' with 'f*ck'. Its just stupid and only meant to appease your sense of...I dunno, whats the term here...."Wont somebody think of the children!?"

-from a mulatto

I have to agree with you on this whole heartedly

What I find interesting is the Re-arrangement of the word - Ginger.

I'm sorry but this fits perfectly.....

Been listening to Tim Minchin for a while. He's awesome

 

[Lullabye]

Been listening to Tim Minchin for a while. He's awesome

I think you mean he's fucking Rock..
[sub]yes I went there....[/sub]

 

[Sandytimeman]

So..what I'm taking from the gist of this thread is...the fact that I care about as much about black history month as I do about regular history is not a bad thing. WHEW!

 

[Coratto]

Or we can just change it to "slaves" that certainly changes things.
If you don't understand this, then maybe you should... Read a book?