The "N" word
- Thread starter Professor James
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I see it as a word, I mean I don't use and have no need to. I live in an area where there are a far amount of black people, and a few other races. Thing is the word ****** is a disrespectful word, but yet black people use it a lot for a reason I never understood. I asked my friends and they dont know why they use it.
****** is a slur. That is, a form of a word intended to be used in the pejorative, based off of Negro (which means black). A Negro Man just means a black man.
Honestly, it is about as interesting to discuss it's merits in conversation as the word Asshole. Should we discuss whether or not Asshole is an appropriate term to call someone? Maybe Fuckwad? It isn't a neutral word that people have perverted with some negative context. It is a word that was designed to be insulting.
How can you possibly reclaim that?
Honestly, it is about as interesting to discuss it's merits in conversation as the word Asshole. Should we discuss whether or not Asshole is an appropriate term to call someone? Maybe Fuckwad? It isn't a neutral word that people have perverted with some negative context. It is a word that was designed to be insulting.
How can you possibly reclaim that?
Context lends to meaning however. When I call one of my friends a ***** because he took the last of the Cocoa Puffs, it has one meaning, one severity. When I call my girlfriend a ***** for sleeping with Hugh Jackman again, it means something entirely different.tanis1lionheart said:
The roots (lulz) of the bias for the term is in the way we use language itself, not just the history of the word.
*shrugs*
People (especially the black community) tend to over react to the word in today's day and age (usually because of the headlines which always make the front pages). I truly wish that aspect of society would grasp the fact that if no one takes offense to the word, it looses it power to offend. One of the main reasons people still use it is because of the level of offense it causes. Then again, attitudes, ethics, and numerous perspectives within the black community (speaking solely from an American standpoint) need an overhaul. Parents need to stop teaching their children that the word takes away their value as a human being, that it should only be offensive towards those in the slavery/pre-segregation days, and that it's a word that shouldn't effect them as human beings.
When the above happens, we might finally be segregated from the misjudgement that word has caused this world.
People (especially the black community) tend to over react to the word in today's day and age (usually because of the headlines which always make the front pages). I truly wish that aspect of society would grasp the fact that if no one takes offense to the word, it looses it power to offend. One of the main reasons people still use it is because of the level of offense it causes. Then again, attitudes, ethics, and numerous perspectives within the black community (speaking solely from an American standpoint) need an overhaul. Parents need to stop teaching their children that the word takes away their value as a human being, that it should only be offensive towards those in the slavery/pre-segregation days, and that it's a word that shouldn't effect them as human beings.
When the above happens, we might finally be segregated from the misjudgement that word has caused this world.
It's oen of the mostinherently ugly sounding words in teh english language, regardless of what it means. I once tried to use the word but it came out incredibly awkward. I wish no one would use it. Not because it's offensive to sentimentalities from slavery, but it's just an ugly word to my ears. Bleh.
BUt it's justa word and intent needs to be taken into account on an individual basis, there is no right of someone to regulate the usage of a word to a certain demographic or simply finding great offense fr the us of it, regardless of context.
BUt it's justa word and intent needs to be taken into account on an individual basis, there is no right of someone to regulate the usage of a word to a certain demographic or simply finding great offense fr the us of it, regardless of context.
I dig that however if me and my cracker friends what to call each other 'the n word' why can't we?Zechnophobe said:
Sure, we'll look like douche bags, but you think 'chicano' with his baggy pants and 'jesus is my homeboy' shirt ain't just as bad, or worse.
As long as I, or another white/brown/yellow/ect person, ain't using the word as a KKK I don't see the big deal.
Hell, even if the person IS using 'that one word' as a racial slur - GET OVER IT!
You give a bully power when you let them know something is bugging them.
If black folks would attend KKK marches with 'I HEAR YOU LIKE FRIED CHICKEN, SO DO WE!' and other signs...how much of impact do you think the KKK would have?
Remove power by removing the source of power.
It's Harry Potter 101.
*Dear mods - I realize this is a touchy subject, and I mean no offense to anyone, but this is a subject I feel strongly about. I'm merely voicing my opinion in the simplest, most honest way I can. - HailtotheKing
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I, personally, don't consider it a racial insult. If it's used in the typically considered insulting sense, I take it to mean, for lack of a better way of putting it, trashy people. The kind of women that go to the store in thin, aged pajama pants 3 sizes too small, no shoes and dirty wifebeaters. The kind of people who let their kids run rampant through a store causing havoc without ever correcting them. The kind of men that talk a big game to make themselves seem big and badass, but would sooner do away with the booze and weed and run for Congress than back up any of their threats. That's what a ****** is to me, and maybe this comes from growing up in a very small town in the deep South, but I've know just as many white, Asian and Latino 'niggers' as I have black ones.
A term that I take more offense to is 'African American'. Yeah, yeah, political correctness and all that. Tell me this though: how can you claim to be an African American if you were born in America and have never been outside of the country? "But HailtotheKing, their ancestors are from Africa!" Newsflash: Science determined that anatomically modern humans originated in Africa! By that logic, I'm exactly as African American as any person of color. My uncle is a 300 pound white guy who could pass as Jay Leno's twin brother. He happens to be a citizen of both Africa and America, but no politically correct people would ever consider him an African American. What's that called, ignoring facts in favor of just what you can see based on someones skin color? That, friends, is racism. (there are other points I could make, but Maddox has already said them better than I could - [link]http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=your_stupid_ideas[/link])
Don't get me wrong, I think that anyone, regardless of skin color, who goes up to a black person and spouts up "****** this, and ****** that" in an insulting way, trying to make trouble is a stupid, misinformed, hate-filled **** who deserves to get their teeth kicked in.
I think racial prejudice is stupid in and of itself. Yahtzee said it best, you should need a better reason to dislike someone than the level of melanin in their skin.
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I, personally, don't consider it a racial insult. If it's used in the typically considered insulting sense, I take it to mean, for lack of a better way of putting it, trashy people. The kind of women that go to the store in thin, aged pajama pants 3 sizes too small, no shoes and dirty wifebeaters. The kind of people who let their kids run rampant through a store causing havoc without ever correcting them. The kind of men that talk a big game to make themselves seem big and badass, but would sooner do away with the booze and weed and run for Congress than back up any of their threats. That's what a ****** is to me, and maybe this comes from growing up in a very small town in the deep South, but I've know just as many white, Asian and Latino 'niggers' as I have black ones.
A term that I take more offense to is 'African American'. Yeah, yeah, political correctness and all that. Tell me this though: how can you claim to be an African American if you were born in America and have never been outside of the country? "But HailtotheKing, their ancestors are from Africa!" Newsflash: Science determined that anatomically modern humans originated in Africa! By that logic, I'm exactly as African American as any person of color. My uncle is a 300 pound white guy who could pass as Jay Leno's twin brother. He happens to be a citizen of both Africa and America, but no politically correct people would ever consider him an African American. What's that called, ignoring facts in favor of just what you can see based on someones skin color? That, friends, is racism. (there are other points I could make, but Maddox has already said them better than I could - [link]http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=your_stupid_ideas[/link])
Don't get me wrong, I think that anyone, regardless of skin color, who goes up to a black person and spouts up "****** this, and ****** that" in an insulting way, trying to make trouble is a stupid, misinformed, hate-filled **** who deserves to get their teeth kicked in.
I think racial prejudice is stupid in and of itself. Yahtzee said it best, you should need a better reason to dislike someone than the level of melanin in their skin.
OG MY GOD!!! Someone on youtube with an understanding of American politics. I don't believe it.Psycho Cat Industries said:
much like the word "redneck", "jibaro" etc. the word "******" (in self-application) tends to be used by people of lower social standing (in my experience anyway, which is bullshit anecdotal "evidence".) when people say "i can say it cause THEY say it" it's assuming the poorest elements of a "race"/ethnicity represent the people as a whole.Uszi said:
and i'm not aware of a study like that; i'd assume it'd be hard to cover hip-hop at large since there are so many different movements that can come from radically different environments and influences...not to mention the zionist-record-execs-makin'-money aspect that influences some of the more prominent rap scenes.
in regard to the "african-american" comment:HailtotheKing said:
african-american is an oversimplified term that has a basis in something not totally silly, as black americans of most sorts are part of african diaspora (whether it be due to slavery, colonialism, upward mobility/immigration etc.) however, referring to black us citizens as "north american residents whose ancestors were for the most part victims of african diaspora, typically enslaved as prisoners of war by neighboring secondary empires then sold as but a small part of the larger trans-atlantic slave trade (only half a million slaves were sent to the usa from africa, after all)" is more of a mouthful than calling blacks "african-americans." in common usage, "african-american" a criminally narrow view of who's "african" based on diaspora rather than any understanding of african history and peoples. it's still better a term than "negro" but that's not saying much.
In all fairness I only use 'derogatory' words when they are used against me and that only happens between me and a Vietnamese guy I've been friends with forever. He calls me a cracker and I call him a *****. That's fair enough, eh?
Also, I sometimes use derogatory words for showing my affection to the person I'm talking to. I think using them to insult people is pretty much plain stupid. So it depends on the situation if I care about them or not.
Also, I sometimes use derogatory words for showing my affection to the person I'm talking to. I think using them to insult people is pretty much plain stupid. So it depends on the situation if I care about them or not.