Question for black people?

Question

I was out last night & I was sitting next to a black man who is a well respected member of my town & a white guy comes up to him & say "What's up my n"? I was dumbfounded but they happened to be friends so I guess he didn't take offense at it, but after the guy walked away I asked the guy how he was ok with someone calling him that ( I was brought up being told that that word was as bad as the f word) but he said that I shouldn't take that word so seriously. Then my friend showed up & I feel very comfortable with him so I asked him & he said that there's a big difference between the word n***a and the word n***er. He also said that if I called him that he would not insulted. I was kind of surprised but I assured him that he'd never hear that word coming from my lips. Do the majority of black people think that I take that word too seriously or was I raised right?

Allison, that's kind of mean. You seem to be a racist & I really don't want racist opinions

Answer 1

First off, allow me to say, EXCELLENT question that im more than happy to give my take on. I was raised with the notion that the definition of the word n*gg*r is ignorant. If you look this word up in the dictionary, that is indeed what it says. Ignorant. It doesnt say anything about a race of people. N*gg*r does not mean African-American.
With that said, it is my belief that that whites found this word and applied it to black people as a way of degradation and humiliation, in order to make them seem 'better", or superior. N*gg*r was shoved down every black man & womans throat until it just became the norm. It also became a mindset. A stigma.
So now, we're in a different day & time. Civil rights movement has come & gone and we all have the same rights as any other race. BUT..... the word n*gg*r still haunts us. It's used, almost glorfied in every hip hop song, its heard in almost every conversation in the street, in the classrm, at home. Except now its BLACKS using it amongst eachother. We drop the ER and replace it with an A, and we say its alright. Its acceptable. It's a term of friendship. THAT is ignorance. Pure & simple. N*igg*er, N*gga....both are one in the same. Both are slurs. Both are offensive. And the use of either is ignorance in its most natural form.
I set people straight in a heartbeat about referring to me as "your n*gga". I have never been ignorant & i never will be.

Answer 2

No need for you to be confused; you were raised correctly. It is good that you are smart enough to know that just because others choose to embrace a negative word it 1) doesn't make the meaning different and 2) doesn't mean you need to start using it.

Some parts of black culture have decide to embrace the word as say that it is a term of endearment. That is baloney. That word is ambiguous because one mouth it is used to call a friend and from that same mouth it is used to call an enemy. The "er" and the "a" at the end of it have little to do with the meaning. It's only with an "a" at the end of it because it is common is slang to drop the correct endings off of words and replace it with an "a". For instance, going to becomes gonna, brother becomes brotha, sister becomes sista, n-gger becomes n-gga. In each case, the meaning of the word remains the same. With the n-word, it is no different.

Answer 3

You we're raised right. I love you for feeling that way. Can I tell you a little something. When I was growing up in the 1980's using the N word even amongst ourselves ( black people ) was considered fighting words in my neighborhood. I guess because of people like Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, and such caused the young black generation to get to comfortable with that word. Richard Pryor once said in his stand-up that the more black people use that word the less power it has. So I guess that could be one of the reasons why hip-hop generation has used that word with such ease. But my opinion is that who ever use that word. Black, white or any other needs to know that that is a sign of disrespect toward our ancestors and it shouldn't be used as a social word. Because it falls right along with any other word that offends anybody else.

Answer 4

Honestly I'm African American and Mexican and people look at me differently all the time and honestly I hate it!!!!! But the fact that people say the "n" word is just totally disgusting to me! I personally think it's okay for black people to say it them self because for them it's a slang. But being black doesn't make u any less than anyone else when you look at black people today it seems like they are the most recognizable people, there are so many people who have made a huge difference for blacks and now in modern day I think blacks are the most popular people around😉

Answer 5

I hate the N word and how accepted it's become. People died so we wouldn't be called that and now we call each other that in front of White people (and, like your friend, some of us even let White people call us that!).

Occasionally, I will use the N word in all-Black or Black and Latino settings when no Whites are around, but I never use that word around White people (including my White relatives and my best friend, who happens to be a White man).

You were raised right and I compliment you on your discomfort about the N word!

Answer 6

If anyone call me the N word, igga or igger, I am going to have a problem with this person, white or black. I was not raised as this being an acceptable term in my home and I have raised my child to not use that word. It is not acceptable.

Answer 7

The way younger kids these days say it a lot because they didn't go through the hardship of the real meaning they just know about it and think they do. You see kids on the play ground fighting sometimes about it. But they don't really care about the word. They are just trying to look good like if someones calls you a name and you think you have to fight them to look good in front of your friends

Answer 8

My two sons are half black and my oldest is wanting to start saying it. I spank his *** every time I catch him. No way will that word be used in my presence. Black people seem to think they have taken the power out of it by embracing it, but they're wrong. Those black men gave Michael Richards alot of power after they walked out on him because he used it, proving it is still offensive.

Answer 9

As an african amercian man. I don't want anyone calling me n***a
or N***er. This stupidity has been endorsed by the hip hop culture as a term of endearment. I don't buy it. This word was created to degrade and dehumanized black people for centuries.
We should stand to have it abolished from our vocabulary.
When people see me say what up my neighbor but don't call me your N***a.

Answer 10

it all depends on the person, and how well you know them. I personally wouldnt be offended if anyone called me that because it has become so mainstream. I am black and i occasionally use the word but only around people i know. I dont feel comfortable calling someone i dont know the n word.