The n-word?

Question

Why are the blacks offended at all when white people call them the n-word? I just do not get it. They use the word frequently among themselfs. If they can use it I can also. We live in a free society, dont take that right away from me. We call some low end white people white trash, if black people do i just do not care.

Im not a pregedist so dont even go there, i just like to do the same as others.

Ok more. So it would be ok if i am in africa to call them *******? And i have the right to be extreamly offended if they say anything about white trash? No, i do not buy that answer at all. The minorotys have to get real, they have to deal with the same insults as we do. If you have a bunch of minoroties and you can not treat them the same, they will never integrate.

GrapeApe, i have never had slaves, so dont ask for some kind of guilt from me. Even if i had ancestors with slaves (witch i did not, mine are from Sweden) I would not have felt guilty, thats a part of our history, not my history.

BabyT, i might wote your answer as the best one but you have to understand, it's history, not your personal history at all. Look at China, white people from the UK did get the opiumwar started twice, the chinese people have gotten over it and so should you. The past is something we can not change, therefore let it go.

Answer 1

practise what you preach, go across the track and practise using the N-word a couple of times.

Answer 2

This has got to be the most tired, over asked, insipid, unoriginal, just downright ignorant question asked on YA. I see it almost every day. I've come to the conclusion that none of you askers of this particular question are really interested in a real answer. This is just your way of saying that you think it should be OK for white people to call black people ni--ers and get away with it. Well guess what. It's not, it never has been, and it never will be.

IT'S AN INSULT!!! That's what it has always been and what it will always be. Especially when said by white people. We know that when you say it, you mean to insult and degrade us, and WE'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE IT. There was a time when we had to take that crap from you people but that time has passed. You can have all the free speech you want, but if you insult us you should feel free to accept the @ss kicking that you will deserve and have coming.

I'm sure there are words, phrases, insults or whatever that you and your friends or family can hurl at each other all in good fun and not be offended by it. But if some random stranger on the street were to say the same things to you you'd be hurt offended and angry. You'd feel that that person was just trying to hurt and humiliate you and it would probably make you angry. It's the same thing with that word and us. We know that we usually don't mean anything derogatory by it when we use it with each other. And we know that you usually do.

Answer 3

Good question, but I think the answer is obvious. If I called you a stupid Jew or a towelhead or a cracker or a queer or a pink liberal, etc., chances are pretty good I'd eventually manage to offend you. So you tell me why you would be offended, and I think you have your answer as to why the n-word might offend blacks.

I think the truth is, it's in how you intend the use. I don't think that NORMALLY when blacks call each other that, they mean it as a racial insult. Usually (sorry about generalizing), whites do.

Yeah, when whites call whites trash, I think it's more or less the same when blacks use the n-word with each other. Plus, when you are usually the group "in power", it's kind of expected you'll take a larger amount of insults gracefully.

Anyway, sorry if this offends anyone -- peace.

Answer 4

Realistically I think you have a good point. In the end it's just a word. As an aspiring writer, I refuse to let anyone tell me there are words I can't use because they might offend people. Sometimes I intend to offend people for a purpose, and in doing so I might use language that could be called inflammatory to accomplish that purpose.

However, just because I have the right and ability to use certain words doesn't remove the consequences of using those words. If I use the n-word to describe a black person, even in the context of a story, I have to expect that people will be offended by it and may respond in kind. Words like that you do not use lightly - even if you are within your rights to use them.

Answer 5

Gay people can call one another Fags, yet it is inappropriate for Straight people to use that word towards a Gay person. Would you look a heavy set person in the eye and call them Fatso? This rule plays the same with a Caucassian person using the N word towards a Black individual. It's not ethically right. I know what you meant about the 'white trash' phrase...but somehow I don't think the "non" white trash people feel offended. We aren't forced to hear 'white trash' every day, and when we do hear it, we aren't offended, most likely we deserve it.
I feel as if the N word was, at one time, used towards an entire group of Black people, grouping them together as a N, regardless of their IQ or social actions. Calling someone white trash is a title given to an individual, not the entire race.
I hope someday in my lifetime we can think of each other as the same, not white or black or yellow, but as a gift from God. I want to thank you for this question! It made me stop and think about humanity and how I hope I treat others as I would want to be treated.

Answer 6

You know what we should do? We should change the meaning of the word to something that is positive and everyone likes. Like snack food! Then, nobody would be offended, because everyone likes snacks. They could be different flavors, too. You could have sour cream and onion ******, nacho ******, cheddar cheese ******. Then the only time people would say that word in a bad way is if nobody had any. "What, you're out of ******? You can't have a party without ******! All you got is crackers! Nobody wants crackers at a party"! - Comedian Renee Hicks

Answer 7

It boils down to this....respect.

For years this word was used by whites to 'harm, belittle, berate, dehumanize' the black people in America.
It's not too much to ask that they use this word exclusively, is it?
I mean, how much is it walking on your rights as an American?

They have 'earned' the right to use it and to dilute it until they are satisfied with it's meaning in their world. As we speak they use it as an endearing term, like Snoop Dogg " Fo shizzle my nizzle!"
And I'm pretty sure you've heard others.

The fact that you don't care about the slang term 'white trash' is because you were never humiliated by it.

Imagine being 4 years old and you and your parents go to town to buy groceries.....every black person you saw, looked at you with a mean face and some of them yelled " get back to your dirt yard!....WHITE TRASH! " How long would it take for you to begin to HATE that word? I bet it wouldn't be long.
Would you want to hear blacks say it in fun when you are older and things had changed? I don't think so.

Look at it this way... you're showing respect for all of those who were wrongfully disrespected by this word........by simply 'letting them have it exclusively'. It's no biggie.

Answer 8

I am a black person and I hate the "n-word" used at all, it doesn't matter if your white black pink or purple I don't like the word period! But I have noticed that I don't get as mad when another black people say it like I do if a person from another race says it. I think the reason is because I feel like if a black person is saying it I know they are not meaning it in a bad way or trying to say it to me as an insult. I live in an all white town where there is a very few black families and so I know when a white person is saying it to be hateful and when they are just saying it to be cool. I know for some people (like my grandparents who, when they were young, wasn’t aloud to eat in the restaurant like most people but had to go to the back door to get their food) it brings back very hurtful memories. But like I said before I don't like the word at all and my family doesn't use it either.

Answer 9

It's pretty derogatory even when using it amongst your own people. Just like you calling your people white trash is pretty derogatory. Black people who use the n word to insult eachother need to learn that that word triggers others they may not want using it to use it once becoming in comflict with them. They also use it as a greeting, and which I feel is also stupid, because they'll get mad a a white person for greeting them with that word. I just don't use the word, and if it's going to be used, it should be used wisely, because let's face it, black people won't stop saying it, and I think some people pf other cultures cross the line between love and hate with the word, because it's so derogatory for even a black person to use it, that doesn't mean someone else come and make it an even bigger issue, like people who come on here being racist with that word. Any word to degrade someone's ethnicity is pointless and makes that person powerless.




Krazy Libra

Answer 10

Do what you want, say what you want. I believe you have the intellegence to realise when something is right or wrong. So what if they want to call each other that they can what's that got to do with you. If someone called you a name that you didn't like what would you do but if somemone you knew or was simalar to you, you may not mind. Do what you want but don't get upset at the outcome cos you wanted to do what you wanted without considering others feelings. You don't need to discuss this it is pointless you know what is right and wrong so don't be a part of the problem be someone who does not create it.

Answer 11

I feel as if its not the word but the context of the useage of the word. If your using it as sayin "Hey whats up my ni**a?" Then what the F/n problem with it...now if your just goin and sayin "Look at all those ni**a's!!!" Then thats totally different.

heres another point...if white people cant say that word then I feel that blacks shouldnt be able to call them crackers or honkeys.

O and to call blacks and mexicans a "Minority" is soo far from the truth!! There are more African-Americans, to be PC, then there are white or hispanics in this country. There are just as many most likely more hispanics in the us then whites.