The N word
polycounter lvl 18
the word being
It just crossed my mind, so I wanted to get your thoughts on this whole topic. there seems to be two camps.
1. never use it -- the word has got tons of hate associated with it and shouldn't be used
2. use it everywhere -- the word is just a word, and we need to break it's semantic/emotional association to diffuse it
I belong to camp 2, but I'll not get into that unless an argument gets started or somethin.
lets hear your thoughts.
nigger or nigga
It just crossed my mind, so I wanted to get your thoughts on this whole topic. there seems to be two camps.
1. never use it -- the word has got tons of hate associated with it and shouldn't be used
2. use it everywhere -- the word is just a word, and we need to break it's semantic/emotional association to diffuse it
I belong to camp 2, but I'll not get into that unless an argument gets started or somethin.
lets hear your thoughts.
This discussion has been closed.
Replies
It's cool, I'm taking it back.
Oh your talking about the other n word... why?
Its sad that because of that word that i felt bad saying black in Spanish...
Same logic applies to all "negative" words, I dont understand people who get really offended by words like this
The weird thing about the word is that, if you're black it's no problem. They took the word and ran with it
I absolutely dislike the term "African-American" though, it sounds so politically correct it makes me wanne puke. So, what's left? Black people? How do you feel about that?
"You aint my bitch nigga, buy your own damn fries!"
All joking asside, a word is a word, but I really hate the whole use of the "n" word nonsense. You see other ethnicies black culutured people using it all the time. But do you see the intelligent more well educated ones calling each other that?
no
why? Because its a low class word.
just the same im hispanic but dont see me calling another puerto rican or cuban or something a spic same principles apply.
the only reason i don't use it is because i don't want to get my ass kicked by people who do have strong feelings about it.
besides, its the thought that counts.
you can call a man 'dark' or even 'african' but if you have any contempt in your tone, it automaitically means more than just a reference to his skin colour.
i use the word when rapping alongside tracks, or when just relaxing or joking around with a few close friends.
the reason i dont use it in public is because there are those few who think it should be erased from the english language.
what really grinds my gears is ppl who think it should be removed, but then talk about freedom of speech / expression.
"the N word" isnt always an expression of hate, at least not anymore.
theres a difference between "wassup nigga?"
and "i hate you fucking niggers"
[not meaning to offend anybody by my use of the word. if you want, i'll 'spoiler' it]
especially if spoken with a deep southern accent.
ha, this reminds me of this clip:
[ame]
And why would you want to use the word? If its for the sake of saying something profane, then you get what you deserve when you get your teeth knocked out. And if you only use the word in the safety those who agree with you then your a coward and a hypocrite
(not directed and any person or post...just my thoughts)
I've never used it, but I probably wouldn't omit it either if it's relevant. Same goes with the "C" word, or anything else like that. Context (repeating what someone else said for example). I'd never greet someone with it though, not through worried about being offensive but just because I'm not a dick.
[ame]
Most of my friends who happen to be of darker skin tone prefer the term "black" since they are not from, nor have ever been to Africa.
Brits correct me if I am wrong on this, but aren't black people in England called "British?" :-/
why the fuck you even looking out for that? they consciously are looking for any chance they can get to pull the race card. it gets annoying. guess that's the price we're paying.
So the actual solution is to a) eliminate extremist options, b) satisfy both extremes with a third option, or c) get rid of what's causing the conflict. History shows us that (a) is impossible and (b) clearly doesn't exist in this case, which leaves us with (c) -- Humans eventually breeding to the point where we're all a nice tan and the very concept of "colored people" doesn't exist anymore.
Until then -- and it's going to be a while -- the N word will always be a problem. After that... we'll come up with some new word to use for discriminatory purposes anyways.
My point is: This is just how humans work. We like extremism because it simplifies things. We like conflict because it keeps us busy*. You can do what you want to try and make a difference but you've got 6.7 billion people to completely reprogram on a very base, genetic level and surprise! You can't.
*This actually leads to solution (d): Distract people with a different conflict.
It´s not like we go around calling ourselves whities or describe others like that. At least i never did.
Is it at the WP meetings?
EDIT: Dont we have more important shit to worry about than words?
When I was in Thailand all the kids were calling us Farang, translated, means white devil. I picked the kid up and punched the cunt.
joking, joking, joking
you shouldn't be beating up girls renegade.
That's just racist!!! Get Back to work Beard Boy!!
Anonymous white guys with internet access can be racist pricks.
It is hateful and idiotic to dehumanize an entire race due to skin color alone.
"African-American" should be more accurately defined.
Better, more descriptive, words can be use to label individuals for their abrasive attitude, low intellect, poor driving abilities, irritating audio systems, and eagerness to embrace double standards, without hearing a lecture on American History.
The word nigger is racist, trying to debate that is a joke. Saying it's "just another word" is idiotic, it completely ignores all connotation, if you applied that to every word in the dictionary you'd look like a retard.
for us, as humans, ever having another specific race as a slave to begin with.. it has racist origins. gay has other origins as well, it all comes down to who uses it, how you use it, and who hears it and their feelings on it :P ah well
In the USA when you have to fill out those cards that say what race you are, like when you are going to go to school, get a job, etc
White (if you are from hispanic decent don't check this)
Black (if you are from hispanic decent don't check this)
Puerto Rican (sometimes it appears separate)
Native American
Hispanic
Asian
Being white in the USA pretty much means if your descendants were on the Mayflower, you know from England. It's not just based on the color of your skin. Italians used to get picked on because they were Italian in some places. Also for some you, are not white unless you have blond hair and blue eyes.
Some minorities have decided to treat white people the same way, it just means you don't get treated like "we" do and you are not one of "us". You can make the argument that it's been decades, 50s, 60s, it hasn't been long enough. A lot of minorities that lived through that abuse are still alive today, they had kids, they see their kids go through the same in their eyes, they passed their experience to their kids.
It's not okay to use the N word, period, it's like calling someone a cunt, some might laugh at you or just not care, others will kill you for that. Some might not mind as long as someone from the same race calls them that, and even then some don't tolerate it.
Huh a different race? Arent we all people?
I mean Kid Rock's lyric from Cowboy that goes, "Cuss like a sailor, drink like a mick" gets by uncensored on daytime mainstream radio, while the word "dick" earlier in the same song gets cut. I've heard the word "mick" in primetime on TV too, spoken by non-Irish characters or actors. But Eminem is sometimes criticized for occasionally saying "nigga" in a non-racist way in his songs?
Neither offends me in and of itself, but I think it's kind of absurd to raise a fuss over words that were/are used to degrade some nationalities and not others. I'd be fine with no censorship or externally enforced restriction on anything like that, but if it's going to be restricted non-uniformly, isn't that just racism in itself? It's implying that white people of any background are going to be cool with stuff like that, but anyone who looks more obviously different is going to freak out and get offended at the mention of the words. So instead of conveying the message of "hey, you're different from me, but it doesn't matter so let's put aside our differences", it says, "hey, you're different from me, but I'm going to pretend you're not, because our differences make me uncomfortable".
I don't care though, I just really like typing out responses to things.
Carlos Mencia had a nice little skit, people call him a mexican in California, Cuban in Florida, and a Puerto Rican in New York.
Now that's just offensive.
I AM OFFENDED!
blacks are racists
whites are racists
asians are racists
no matter what you say, we all are racist pricks.
and when i mean racists, i dont mean it only for color.
i mean, for other shit, like fat people, handicaped people, whatever.
ppl tend do discriminate who is diferent.
and i for one, find that, no matter what race you are.. if you are fat, you is gonna get your ass discriminated.
Fats are way more discriminated thann blacks.
´´Fats are way more discriminated thann blacks.´´ huh where do you live.. Portugal? I have never been there... Interesting.
People stop calling different people different races, we are not elves and orcs here... its us humans, the zombies and the alien. Damn i cant find a definition for ´´race´´, i need some sleep. tc
I really hate this problem...
now.. there are other things that people say that can hurt aswell, and have no repercussion in term of legal shit.
for example. if you kill a black guy just because he is black, its a hate crime.
if you kill a gay because he is gay, its a hate crime.
if you kill a fat guy cause he's fat.. its just murder. lol. know what i mean?
shouldnt all be called hate crimes? since you hate something?
i dunno.
It sounds nice to have a prepared adage, but words have embedded meanings and people use them with purpose.
Cruel jokes are one thing, but I've never heard of an income divide or achievement gap for fat people.
watch the olympics. or just about any sporting event. or beauty pageant.