Am i consider a racist?

Question

I work for the county jail, and yesterday an inmate was giving me problems and called me a dumb *** N word. I replied back, I am not black. With that responds, the inmate called me a racist.

He stated, so you have to be black to be called the N word. Then another jumped in the convseration, and said the defination of the "N" word means a person who is a dummy.

Anyway, make long story short, he ended up talking to my Sgt, who is black about what happened.

I want to know is my responds made me sound like a racist?

If you read Donna's responds on the bottom of of the page. she said the "n" word means a dumb person. Then i can go up to a black person and said you 'n' without having any problems? I think Donna is wrong.

Answer 1

no sweetie im black and your not racist
dont listen to those idiots

Answer 2

I can see in a way how what you said could make you look like a racist. By replying back as you did was showing that you depict black people as N*'s but not white people. I think it was an instant reaction that you probably didn't even think or know about what you were saying; however, it was not a proper response. There's such a thin line when it comes to racism. Black people also say racists things about all kinds of nationalities as well, and so do Whites, Asian, Spanish, etc.. It takes a lot of tolerance on all our parts to try and let those things go, but we should. Some of us use it as an advantage to get out of a bad situation. Don't beat yourself up over this, but I'm sure you've learned just not to say anything more than you have to. Good Luck.

Answer 3

Not really. You're just misinformed. I would have the same mistake. Though I wouldn't have replied, "I am not black," But I sure would have been thinking it. In my understanding the word N**** is usually only refered to black people. But they see it different. In truth you may not be the kind of person that even uses that word, so naturally you shouldn't know or understand the whole meaning. If you don't use the word how would you know the complete meaning or use? It seems like an honest mistake, but people take racism very seriously.
Next time just ignore it. I mean if he calls you a "red elephant" does it really matter why?

Answer 4

The "N" word is such a double standard these days. Black people for some reason feel it's OK to call each other that, even affectionately but for some reason it's still offensive if White people call them that. I have never heard of anyone other than a Black person being called that so I can see where your response came from. The truth is you shouldn't have even qualified his derogatory statement with an answer. Does it make you a racist? No.

Answer 5

I don't think it proves that you're a racist. I think it proves that you thought that the N word could only apply to a black person. I've always heard that a N was a trashy dead beat, and could be applied to anyone. It's just that during the civil rights movement those ignorant of the feelings and struggle of the black community used it as a derogatory term for all blacks. I think the word should be deleted from the English language, because it carries such venom. We have enough troubles, who needs such an explosive word in their arsenal.

Answer 6

Yes very. That is more simply defined as an unintelligent trashy person. Do you qualify? If you do, I believe you owe the inmate an apology. If not..you still owe an apology for your ignorance of the definition of the word. You might even thank him for enlightening you so you won't make the same mistake again.

Note I am not saying you are...but the remark did make it sound that way. Especially to someone who could get you in a lot of trouble with it.

Answer 7

Well, I think you could have come up with a better reply, like NO reply at all. I wouldn't say you are racist, because we all associate the N word with black people. If you called a black guy a cracker he'd say 'Im not white'. I would apologize profusely and tell your Sgt that it was just a bad day and that you weren't meaning anything by it. Good luck!

Answer 8

The word in question has two definitions.

Slang: a black person; any person of dark skin looked down upon

Proper: a lazy, incompetent person.

The definition of racist (and racism) has been vastly blurred.

Racism: the belief that one's own race is better than another.

If you believe that your own race is better than that of blacks or any other race, you are racist. If you call blacks by the "N word" then you are likely, but not necessarily racist. You could also be prejudiced (racism and prejudice are not the same).

Prejudice: a pre-existing belief (stereotype) relating to a group of people

Answer 9

Absolutely not. He was calling you the n word because he thought you were black, the n word only applies to people who are black (and i am the farthest from racist you'll ever come by)... so when you stated you're not black, you were simply stating that that isn't your nationality. You didn't say anything racist.

I find it very interesting thaty ou work for a county jail, that must be awesome sometimes (and not so great in this case) =)

Answer 10

No your response did not make you sound like a racist. What the heck is wrong with everyone? Don't people know that is a terrible word in any context? No one should use it. Not even black people.

Answer 11

I think they were just trying to get a rise out of you and get you into trouble. Most people probably would have associated the word with being black in the first place.