Do you think that it's ok for anyone to use the "N"-word?

Question

I don't think it's a good word to use, whether you are white or black I think it is degrading to black people...do you agree?

Answer 1

It reflects a very ugly past history of America and the world. Nobody should be using that word. While a black person can "get away" with using it, that is just opening old wounds that need to be healed. By using the word it keeps alive something that should be long gone.

Answer 2

no and i have a explanation.the n word comes from a latin word meaning black . the word black rarly is considered a taboo but the n word is at some point along the line people decided it was offensive even if they didn't find black offensive. so one could argue people would have to stop calling african american people black as well . i personnaly don't like the word black either because it is a color identification and an inncorrect one at that. i pretty sure you can't acculy have black skin without having burn't skin. the same way you can't have black hair only a really dark shade of brown . I think that the world probly shouldn't be used because of what it has become. though what do i know i'm not african american

Answer 3

I think the word is degrading. I also find it incredible that blacks find it OK to use but not anyone else. They find some kind of b/s excuse why its OK for them to use it. They have used that word directed to one of their own the same way they claim a white person uses that word. When I hear a black use that word it sound as degrading as when a white person use it.

Answer 4

Let's break it down into three groups:
Blacks
African Americans
******
I like to refer myself as black. Your typical hard working American and pretty open minded. I'm not interested in my African heritage because I just absolutely couldn't give a rat's *** about it and I was born and raised in America which wakes me different from true africans anyway.
Next we have African Americans who really hate to be called black and are always trying stay to " keep it real" by staying true to their African roots and culture.
Now we have the ******! These are the lazy, shiftless, good for nothing s.o.bs that continue to stereotpye and give the two above groups bad names. Yes it is a degrading word, but there are alot of people out there that fit that description. And I will continue to use that word to describe those muthafuckas.

Answer 5

No, it's never okay to use, under any circumstances, by anyone. Along with all other racist slurs, it can never be anything other than degrading to the person it is directed to. Also exposes the speaker as an truly ignorant moron. Most importantly, it keeps racism alive and well by dredging up hate and hurt from the past to add to that of the present, rather than everyone moving on and trying to be better human beings and more decent to each other than our ancestors were.

Answer 6

I totally agree, it's a horrible, despicable word and anyone who uses it is not only degrading African-Americans, but themselves as well. A word born out of slavery that once meant in an older version of The Webster's Dictionary "Farm Equipment"! How can anyone use that word and say it's okay to do so?

Answer 7

Agreed

Answer 8

I totally agree with Whadafuc. I once read a book that defined the differences. A n***** feels below anybody else on earth. He talks a lot, but his words don't mean anything. He will never be American, and he will never be a citizen of any nation. But a black American cares. Everyday he gets up, he hopes that this day will be better. The n***** knows that it won't. A n**** knows everything. There isn't a thing that he doesn't know until someone with brains come along.

Answer 9

This is a case of a 'taboo' word.

If you are White and use it, you can expect to get jumped on by Black people and other White people who think that you deserve to be jumped on.

Is having a taboo word logical?
Probably not.

Is anything to be gained from actually using this word?
Again, probably not.

Using the word is dumb.

But so is thinking that if a White person uses it in any context, he or she is an evil racist.

It is a word that attracts 'dummy debates'

Answer 10

The denotation of a word is much less significant than the intended sentiment behind its use. That is why the same word can be used with entirely different meanings by different groups of people. The N-word itself is just a bastardized version of "black" used by slave-trading countries in the 16th century (French "negre," Spanish "*****," and particularly Dutch "neger"), so really it just means "black," but it was used to categorize a group of people as inferior, as worthy only of slavery. I think use of this word by people outside of groups demeaned by this label perpetuates these deep-rooted ideas of racial domination so detrimental to our best attempts to create a society of equals. When black people use it, the meaning is different, because they are using it ironically, but they are also keeping alive an ugly label with a terrible past. I would really like to read about it only in history books, because despite Shakespeare's famous quiry, there is so much in a word.