why isn't the n-word totally socially banned for same-race people too?

Question

i can understand why white people don't call black people the n-word, but then i hear black people calling other black people the n-word. i am not racist by ANY means, please don't misunderstand that! but if that word is so bad, why is the word still being used?

Answer 1

I am half black and half white. Very good question I'm glad someone asked it. And you have not been guilted by the media. The media says Oh be careful what u say white people are so racist bla bla bla
When it is actually usually the black people that are so sensitive about it.

I mean it is so stupid it likes saying

"Don't call me a poopy head!!!!!
"Only I can call myself a poopyhead"

Answer 2

I dont think the word was ever *not* derogatory to black people. It was just an *socially accepted* way of referring to black people. Its hard for me to accept the "term of endearment" explanation -- I was always taught that the word was used to describe the negative black stereotype (shiftless, lazy, bug eyed, etc etc.) I grew up in a well educated, southern, militant household in which I learned to love my blackness. I now live in NYC where I hear both Latinos and Blacks using the word liberally. I think the mistake that many people make is that they refer to black people as a homogeneous group with similar experiences. The truth is that this is false. The black person raised in the South encounters a very different culture than those raised in the North. Frankly in NYC, many blacks are first and second generation Caribbean or African immigrants so the word does not hold the same sort of history that it holds for black american descendants of Jim Crow and slavery. When you tell someone that identifies with black cuture as it exists today but doesn't have the history as to why they should not use the word, it does sound like a free speech infringement.

Answer 3

The word ***** originates from the Latin word Niger, meaning black. In English, ***** or neger became negar and finally the n-word, most likely under influence of French nègre. In the United States, the n-word was not originally considered derogatory, but merely denotative of black, as it was in much of the world. In nineteenth-century American literature, there are many uses of the n-word with no intended negative connotation. The perception of the term the n-word as derogatory is no doubt related to the fact that the ***** race itself was widely regarded as inferior, lazy, simian-like in appearance, stupid, and criminally inclined by many whites of the time. There is an observable pattern of terms denoting black people which have come to be regarded as derogatory, just as exist for all ethnic groups. Some well known ones are: The n-word, darky, coon, Spooks, and colored, all of which were at various times acceptable, but are now considered offensive in North America. At times, black peoples have appropriated the slur, subverting it to a self-referential term that is often suggestive of familiarity, endearment, or kinship. In the United States, the word was freely used by both whites and blacks, until the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s. A striking example is in televised coverage of a march in Birmingham, Alabama, when protesters, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, were met with attacks from dogs and fire hoses. A white woman from another Alabama county was interviewed. Visibly upset, she said, "It's not right. We don't treat the n-words like that here."

To commentor below:
No the word originally was definitely not derogatory. It got that way because of the racism of those who used it. In the same way the swastika once a symbol of good luck, had its meaning perverted by the evil people who used it. The plain and simple truth is that no word is inherently evil, it's entirely dependent on how it's used and what it's intended to imply. If black people want to take ownership over the word to liberate and empower themselves, then I'm all for it. It would probably offend me, but where exactly is it in the bill of rights that says I have a right not to be offended. Isn't it a bit selfish of me to prevent people from speaking just because I might disagree with them or find what they say distasteful. I'll answer that for you, YES!

Answer 4

Our Constitution says that we have freedom of speech. The "F" word is not a very nice word and it is used every second, of every minute of every hour, of every day, etc. I don't like the "N" word at all. Whether it be from the mouth of someone black or white. It is appauling, but in America, we have freedom of speech, and that is a good thing.

Answer 5

Its a way that African-Americans can empower themselves over the word. You can still say it if you're white, because you know if you're a racist person or not. Don't let others define who you are, and if someone gets butt hurt about it, tough. Most African-Americans don't use the word, or agree with it's use.