Serious question for black people?

Question

I have a group of black friends, and they don't like the N-word, and choose not to say it, but recently they have started saying Ninja as a replacement for it. This doesn't really make sense to me...how is saying Ninja any better? Can you help shed some light on this? What are your thoughts? Thanks for answering :)

Sorry if my initial question seemed very blunt...

Answer 1

kudos to your friends for not using the n-word. so many blacks use it and don't know how injurious it is. they think it's cool, but it's so ignorant! am not sure how they justify using another n-word(ninja) in place of it, but ask them what the difference is. people use bad words when they don't have the intelligence to express themselves better. wish we could wipe them all out of our language!

Answer 2

I'm white, but can I throw my 2 cents in?

I hate the N word and find it really offensive.

However, how should one best combat the people who use it as an insult?

Let's face it, people use the N-word because people find it so offensive and get upset about it. It's people (admittedly like myself) that unwittingly give the Nword so much power.

It's not going to happen, but the best way to strip racists of the power we give them to outrage us would be to show that we don't care. Use the words that they insult people with and show them that you're not impressed. Hell, turn the whole thing into a joke about how little you're impacted by a word.

Do you ever really hear people using the word "polack" anymore as a real insult to polish people (like myself)? Not really. Why? Because ask any polish person if they know any good polack jokes. They'll tell you 20 and love every one of them. In being able to laugh at the word, it has stripped it of all of its power.

I don't think that people are ready to do that with the N-word, but people are getting close. Once it happens, the racists of the world will be searching for a new derrogatory word. When that happens, it would be important to "get out in front of it" and strip it of its power before it ever gains any.

Answer 3

Because the N word has been a derogatory term used to describe black people for a long time, (even though the word does not apply to any particular race of people) and therefore is hurtful to your friends. Ninja is not offensive, but sounds similar.

Answer 4

I happen to be black and hate the word myself,replacing the word
with a word that conjures up images of sleek deadly warriors seems like an ideal replacement having an image like that to carry on your black heritage seems like a good idea

Answer 5

Ah words - they have denotations and connotations. What your friends are doing is making a euphemism (see link below), such as using "restroom" for "toilet." There's not much logic to euphemisms, but then we're talking here about the emotional response some words can elicit - not about logic.

Answer 6

"N" is used in this century to hurt the black people. It is well known that it hurts them and it is used in the Army a lot to make them more angry, aggressive.
I wonder if indians are the "B" word ?

Answer 7

Maybe Kanye West started the trend, who knows?

Answer 8

Ever listened to any groups of blacks talking to each other or watched any black comedy theatre such as the Apollo ??
They call each other N***** All the time....

Answer 9

cause its just something thats makes them comfortable cause the n word means slave, so if your white it will be a huge isult to them, so if u dont wanna get beaten up just call them ninja

Answer 10

i really dont know...if they dont like the word...they shouldnt replace the word with something else.... thats kinda dumb...they should just not use the word or anything like it entirely...duh.