I dont think its right do you?

Question

I feel that it wrong that black people use the word N****r as a term of indearment, and yet if another person who isnt black calls them a N****r, then its considered racist. I think that an insult is an insult, Black people should not reclaim the word as a word of empowerment. I know that other ethnic minorities do the same, and I still think that its wrong. Do you think it ok or bad let me know please....and most of all be honest without being offensive

Answer 1

I agree with you fully. A black friend once said it would be okay for me to call him that as a "friendly gesture."
I told him that there's no way I could make myself use such a vulgar term, that he was too much a friend, and too valuable a human to me.

--That Cheeky Lad

Answer 2

In South Africa the term "kaffir" is insulting to black people and is considered extremely racist if you call someone that. Yet, the president of South Africa used this very word about 10 times the other day in an on-line newsletter (for those of you who don't know - he is black / non white / african - am trying to be as politically correct as possible here so no one gets pi**ed off) What is the point of using an offensive word like that? Wasn't a term of endearment or empowerment. Maybe people who use these offensive words have a chip their on shoulder or issues with people who aren't the same race.

Answer 3

I have often wondered about the rules surrounding this word. In itself it is only made offensive by the intended meaning. I have heard some of my gradmothers generation using it instead of the word black, purely to describe the colour of that person. No insult was intended so none should be taken. i think black people have a right to take this word back so that it is no longer seen (heard?) as an insult but just a description: it originates from the Latin for Black after all. However since it was appropriated by some whites to use as an insulting term or in a derogatory way, black people stopped using it and then most white people too. I think it is a great word, rich in history and one that I would like any one to feel comfortable to use but it needs time to re-emerge and young black people are playing with it now, kicking it around to see how it feels. Hopefully one day it will just mean black again and you will feel free to use it.

Answer 4

i think you are right, but then again it all has to do with how some folk communicate, (play with each other) in that sense in the black community, there are some folk which still need to use it as you said out of endearment, and they, within their playfulness mess with each other and handle it well. It's been said the word is being banned every where, other minorities say all kinds of things like that within their group, however, I have found they take it quite offensively. I imagine it's gotta be the same way within the black community. I think it should stop all together. It's tactless and distasteful.

Answer 5

This isn't solely an etnic thing. When people are among friends, especially if these friends share a certain thing which does not have to be race, then they joke about things that they don't like to hear from strangers and/or people who don't share their 'thing'. Two people who're both fat can joke about their weight if they are comfortable with each other, but if an outsider even *mentions* their weight they'll often be offended... I sometimes joke with catowner friends about our kitty, when one comes in soaked we'll say something silly like 'ah, just put it in the microwave for a few minutes, it'll dry', and it'll be funny, but if someone we didn't know said that we'd think it very cruel.

The reason for all this is, when it's coming from someone who is either a close friend or obviously 'in the same boat', then you *know* it's a joke, while coming from a stranger or someone who isn't part of the group (whatever that group may be), then it's not so sure it's a joke at all!

Answer 6

I agree with you. I hate the word. I'm from New Zealand, the Polynesian youth here love to copy the American wannabe a gangsta scene, and use the 'N' word casually. They are so influenced with what they see on TV. But have no understanding of what the word really means, and of it's origins. Just the other day I heard my five year old nephew say to his older brother "whats up my ni**er. My cousins go around calling each other 'my ni**er' because they find it amusing. But if a white person called them one, look out. You are right, unfortunately the word is being empowered by our own.

Answer 7

Whoa whoa whoa...

I am confused. I thought the intracacies of the word entailed that if one ended the word with an "a" then one would not face retribution from attractive and succesful African Americans so long as the speaker wasn't of the caucasion persuasion.

That is to say, I thought the word was only offensive to attractive and successful African Americans when one spoke it with a hard "r" on the end, rather than the endearing "a".

Answer 8

No i don,t think it,s right, there are too many people walking round with a chip on there shoulders, its ok for us to call scottish people scot, or if they are from wales then its ok to say welsh, but if we call someone from pakistan a paki then its an insult. I believe its the ethnic minorities who are making this world racist, not us, because they take offence at everything.

Answer 9

I have never understood how using that word could reclaim empowerment, the word is offensive. Doesn't make a difference who uses it.

Answer 10

I agree with you totally - why should you reclaim a word that racists invented as an insult?

I think it is a digusting word and the same for the p**i word aswell.

Answer 11

I really agree with you. I don't like hearing the word AT ALL. I think that when people use it among friends or in hip hop songs even as a term of endearment, they are giving it more power. I also think they are giving people of other backgrounds permission to use it in both a positive and negative light.