The "N" word
- Thread starter Professor James
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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]
-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]
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?campofapproval said:
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
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.
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.
I have to agree with you on this whole heartedlyLullabye said:
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?
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.
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!
well...
you know, down in my country the, eh, the "N" word kind of downgraded, I mean, we really do use it a lot as a nickname, and only when used with anger it really becomes offensive
but then again, different cultures =P
you know, down in my country the, eh, the "N" word kind of downgraded, I mean, we really do use it a lot as a nickname, and only when used with anger it really becomes offensive
but then again, different cultures =P
It's a power thing to be honest. I'm not politically correct, so I'm going to be blunt about it.Professor James said:
Black culture in the USA is incredibly messed up and has become it's own worst enemy. With real racism dead in the mainstream, the civil liberties battle won, and a black president (which means he needed support from the majority to even have a shot) there is no serious questioning of these facts. The problem is with all of these things done with, it's time for black America to get down to the actual hard work, taking advantage of those oppertunities that were fought for, assimilating into society, and becoming just like everyone else now that nobody is holding them back. The problem of course being that to a lot of black folks they don't feel this is what they were promised. They don't just want to go and work in school like everyone else, and have the same soul crushing 9-5 jobs that everyone has. They expected "equal oppertunity" to amount to success, a life of leisure, a big fancy car, and control over one's own destiny. The kinds of things most people don't have. This leads to a general attitude that if they can't be on top, and be powerful, they would rather not even try, or be dead. The so called "get rich or die trying" attitude.
Simply put, the so called "N" word has become a power thing, part of the entire point of using it is to draw a line in society, it seperates blacks from whites, and also demonstrates "hey I've got this word that was once used as a sign of oppression, but now I can shoot it off everywhere and you can't or even your own people will get upset with you". People keep asking about the dual standard, and trying to analyze the situation, when really that reaction is exactly what it's all about. The point being that you walk into a workplace, and if two of your black co-workers start using that word, it's almost a challenge to the management of "go ahead, use the word, or try and stop us from doing it" because they know they can make a scene about it.
I'm probably not articulating it well, and I'm sure a lot of people are going to disagree with me, but this is the bottom line when you get down to it.
Honestly, I'll be painfully blunt in saying that I think things like "black history month" are counter productive to the problems we're dealing with, because by their very nature they draw a division where "we need a special month for black people" when the idea is to deal with breaking down a counter culture, and unrealistic expectations, and working towards assimilation. I think every thing we do right now that makes it seem special to be black, or simgles them out for some kind of appreciation has exactly the opposite effect people setting up wants, and does nothing but fuel those expectations.
I'm one of those people who think that as a society we need to start seriously hammering the "proud to be ignorant" aspects of the culture and doing whatever it takes to install realistic goals, and an idea of assimilating into normal society. That incidently means also doing things like ending the one way usage of the "N" word.
I don't expect my response to be popular (as I said) but this is what I think.
to me it like a grammatical error when a white person says it, it just doesn't sound natural i mean if a white person comes up to me a uses ****** in a friendly manner i'm just going to look at them funny. Your free to use it but is it needed? The word has changed into something positive by embracing a hurtful word we nullified the damaged it could cause. White people you don't look cool saying just silly or possible racist if you mean it that way so basically it has no point in your vocabulary
