i am not a racist at all but why?

Question

is it that people get so stirred up over saying ******. black and white. but when you listen to rap music the black people singing it use it constantly and in a way that they sound proud of it.

Answer 1

I have no idea. A word is a word. We don't get in trouble if we call a woman c*nt, do we?

Answer 2

There is a difference. When black people use the term, they don't put an 'R' at the end of it ... it ends with an 'a'. It's almost like a whole new word that *THEY* started instead of the racist term that was full of hatred and humiliation so many years ago. I believe part of the reason they started the new term was to alleviate some of the pain caused from the original term. It's also "okay" to use the new word, so long it is coming from someone they know, love, and are certain this person has no hostile feelings of bias and racism toward them. I have a very good friend who is well educated, earns over a million bucks a year selling commercial real estate in New York, and frequently tells me, "Yous a funny n*gga!" .... It's just an expression, and it's his way of telling me, I'm "okay" ... and one of his own. I am not black.

The bottom line is it is all in the intent of the word and it cannot be directed at them from a 'casual observer' or stranger, and it can NEVER end in an 'R' as the original term was coined. That's a NO-NO!

Answer 3

Well, sociologically there is concept in which a negative term for a group such as the n work are co-opted by the people referred to.

This is essentially an act of reallocating power - a co-option of the negativity of the word by the group it is meant to be offensive to.

In this case, something seems to have gone a bit wrong however, the word retains its negative connotations (outside of certain elements of the African American community). Some elements of the African American community have simply co-opted the term and use it with pride. If you're not a member of the community - you can't use it.

Which is ironic - because pretty much anyone who's family origins go back to the 19th, 18th or 17th centuries have a pretty good chance of having a bit of African American DNA.

I suppose this is a comment on the complexity of the issue. The term's origins were not intended as offensive initially, they evolved (as I understand it) as the word ***** (for black) grew into a new vernacular term (the n word).

Somehow the term was twisted into something vile, rather than descriptive. Their are Saxon words that have suffered a similar fate (s**t. f**k), whilst others didn't (cow, dog, cat - all saxon)

Its a comment on how powerful a single word can become through language changing over time.

What you've asked is really a very complex question, with significant sociological implications. And there is no short answer.
You are discussing one of the most powerful words in the American English languages, and its origins and evolution into such a powerful and divisive word is long and complex.

I'd try to give you a better answer - but I think I've typed enough on this.

Thanks for bringing it up - its a topic that needs debate - as demonstrated by us not being allowed to type it in order to avoid offending people - which is really a violation of our free speech rights...

Just my .000001

-dh

Answer 4

1) You are very stupid and I'm not being rude.
2) I hate rap music,and please don't stereotype.I can't find one rapper that doesn't say the N word,so I just don't listen to it.
3) I also hate comedians who say racist things.
4) You automatically said you were not racist because you knew this is a racist question,which makes you a racist.That was a little complicated.
5) You really need to learn how to keep things to yourself.This question is going to scramble everybody up.We all have questions,but somethings are better left unsaid.
6) This is a pointless question that makes you look dumb,and if I was you I would be to embarrassed to ask it.
7) No matter who you are,no matter what color you are nobody has the right to judge or insult anybody by the color of their skin.

Answer 5

White people aren't allowed to say it. That's the thing in society... it might not be "fair," but it's still construed as racist if a white person or any person who is not African American says it. Blacks are allowed to say it to each other for all the discrimination and oppression they've felt. Caucasians have always been the "majority" and have been known as the oppressors.

If you're straight, you don't go around saying the F word to the LGBT community. If you're white, you don't go around saying the N word to African Americans.

Bottom line: there are things you can and cannot say in society. These are just some of them.

Answer 6

Because they are young and ignorant and have never truly experienced the hatred behind it. I am a 50 year old Black female with a 17 year old son who tells me that by them using it they are making it ineffective. I argue that all they are doing is giving young whites permission to use it quite inappropriately, which he experienced in a high school he went to. We are once again raising a nation of racists. Hopefully the whole thing with Michael Richards will once again make people aware of the damage such a word can cause. I am afraid that my son will come to understand my feelings once he goes away to college and goes into the working world and experiences true racism both overt and covert on a regular basis.

Yes, you do get in trouble for calling a woman c***t. I can't stand that word and dragged a man out of a hotel lobby into the street by his throat for calling me that while I was working as a security officer one time. He's lucky he ran off and I didn't catch him. That is another word that is totally useless, unnecessary, and needs to go away.

Answer 7

Rhonda i am white but think of that word like this how pissed would you be if a bunch of guys at your work started complaining about their periods and how they were cramping most women would be pissed and annoyed because men don't really have to deal with those problems first hand. make sense? now turn PMS and cramping into the N word and yourself into a black person most races do not deal with underlying race issues like the black community does so even if it does not always make sense to you or me black society was only FORCEFULLY integrated 50 years ago so they can still be a little bit sensitive

Answer 8

In my opinion everyone has a little bit of racism in them( It's just hard to avoid).
Anyway! Let me just put it this way.
Imagine you and your friends made up a group and you have something that only you guys can call each other like...mm... "milkman" and someone who isn't in your group says, "Hey, milkman!" You of course get angry.

Well it's kind of like that only imagine that you are a race that has been called that ever since you have been taken away from your homeland, but as time goes on the word changes. From Ne9ro to Ni99er to Ni99a! When white people say it, they tend to say Ni99er, but when black people say it, they say Ni99a. And if a white person says it they think it just doesn't sound right. It's like how someone of Latin or Hispanic decent gets mad when someone not of their decent calls them (excuse my spelling, but i have forgotten how to spell out the word) "essa."
It's just how people think! They get so used to the word that put them down that they turn it into something they will make them feel good, but hate it when someone else says it.

P.S. This doesn't go for all people!

Answer 9

World is full of mysteries . Its probably because many years ago , white people would kill and beat black people and used to word N word while they did it. This basically set a moral rule for all none blacks to use this word. I wish everyone would stop using it because in my opinion its still offensive. Just because blacks use it does not mean its ok.



Lauren:
I would let a women have it if she called me a C***.

Answer 10

Please-from now on refrain from opening a question like this with an apology. Just say what you mean without first begging for forgiveness. No need to plead guilty to a crime you didn't commit.