BLACK PEOPLE help me out!!! others too...?

Question

do you think its okay (if you are black) for some one of a different race to call you a '*****'? or if you are of a different race do you believe that it is okay for you to call a black person that? Even if you mean it in a "nice" way? The reason for me asking is because I hear soooo many people outside our race using the word but I don't think they fully understand how much that word has affected us! yes its a negative word but we took it and made it something SOMEWHAT positive...FOR US! i mean if you think it about black people are the most copied race on this planet. yes, we are. from clothes, to music, our bodies and our slang. I just feel kind of offended when i hear someone outside the race calling themselves that when they really have no idea what that word means and how it has affected us. But then again, we have made the word so popular that we really can't blame them. what do you think? is it okay or not? and PLEASE NO RACIST COMMENTS!!!!!! i just wanted to get other opinions

i don't think its a bad word but only if black people use it. because so many other races have used it in a derrogatory way!

Answer 1

I'll simply post one of my former answers to similar questions:


It's silly and pointless that people argue about this- if for nothing else other than that there are so many issues of much greater importance (in my humble opinion). Of course, I'd be a hypocrite if I claimed to have never debated with anyone about the matter. (Although, I've only done so on line since I've never been confronted with it in any other forum- Black people where I live are generally not offended when white people use the "n word". The extent of my hearing about this issue has only involved the Internet and television.)

I grew up primarily around black people. Most of my friends were/are black. All of my romantic relationships have been with black males. And my husband is black. But, of course, I still had/have ties to white people. In my opinion, to a certain extent, this has put me in the position to see things from both "sides". So I truly do understand many of the points that a lot of black people make when they object to white people using the "n word". I just happen to disagree with them.

From my perspective, one of the problems with regards to using the "n word" is miscommunication. I think there are white people who assume that black people (or rather the black people who use the "n word") want to speak the word as a way of asserting dominance or control. And I think there are black people who assume that white people who speak the "n word" (or ask questions about it) are doing so because they feel some overwhelming need to say it (like how kids argue, "If you can do it, so can I.").

Well, the above does apply to SOME people. And there are probably people who have been told all sorts of things by others. And, as a result, they assume that everyone else is of the same opinions. This is where we're going wrong. We're getting our wires crossed and misunderstanding each other.

As a white person who has spent enough time around white people to know, I can attest to the fact that there are many white people who do say it in the same contexts as the black people who say it. No, they are not coming from the exact same place... But they do say it within the same contexts: making references to a brother, a friend, just another person, and so on... There are a few reasons for this. And while one of them (reasons) is a matter of trying to be "cool" and relate to hip-hop culture, there are others which aren't that simple or ridiculous.

As for me, I can't say that I like the word. But I freely admit to speaking it. And I do say it fairly frequently. My reason for using the "n word" is the same as with a lot of other white people. Having spent most of my life around black people, I have been in the company of many blacks who make regular use of the word. This has been the case for as long as I can remember. My life has been heavily influenced by black culture/sub-cultures. When I say the "n word", my mind is in an entirely different place than what others might assume... It isn't a matter of, "Well, this is cool," "I wanna be down," "I wanna say it since you just said it," and so on... I'm not making a conscious decision to say the "n word". It's merely flowing out of my mouth just as do many other words that myself and others are in the habit of speaking. In this case, I am a product of my environment.

Yes, I'm aware that there are some impudent a*s white people who blurt "n word" or ask about it just for the sake of irritating people and pissing them off. But this doesn't apply to all of them. And why should it be assumed that it does? Firstly, to do so is to make race based generalizations. Isn't that what those of us who champion equal treatment want to avoid? Yes! Secondly, consider people like me- people who have been almost as (or just as) influenced by black culture/sub-cultures as black people- How can anyone demand that such people should live by cultural/societal rules and norms applied (or expected to be applied) to white society? Do you have any idea how much restraint one has to exercise in order to refrain from saying or doing something that has been taught to that person from day one?

Also consider one of the fundamental problems with applying certain rules to entire races of people: The problem being that, whether we like it or not it's quite often very difficult to determine someone's race via visual examination. There are more physical differences within the so-called races than there are between them. Someone might, for example, have all the characteristics commonly associated with white people, but one or both of his/her parents may have all of the features commonly associated with black people. Is it fair to apply "white rules" to this person? I think not. In my opinion, it's both ridiculous and unfair to apply any sort of race based rules to people.

On this site, I've read some people compare blacks using the "n word" to people calling their family members by certain names. Their logic is that, just as we may say things to our family members that we wouldn't want others to say to them, some black people say the "n word" but wouldn't want someone who isn't in the "family" to say it. I can certainly understand this logic, but I have to say that I respectfully disagree with it. I don't think it's reasonable to compare name-calling within families to saying the "n word" since the latter involves having race based expectations.

I've also heard the claim that some black people feel they've "taken back the n word." Again, I understand the logic. And, actually, this particular logic makes perfect sense to me. However, if someone who makes this claim allows the use of the "n word" to offend him/her then that person hasn't truly "taken it back". The reason being is because the very same logic behind "taking back the n word" dictates that the word no longer holds power over the individuals who claim to follow this logic. If the "n word" has power over you then you have failed to "take it back." It's that simple.

There's also the matter of claiming "n word" to be a term of endearment among black people. However, the meaning of a word doesn't change based upon skin complexion. (Ditto to what I said above regarding race based expectations.) This should be common sense and is evidenced by the fact that, as I said, there are white people who use the "n word" in the same contexts as black people who use the "n word". What's more, it is further evidenced by the fact that not all black people who use the "n word" are using it as a term of endearment.

Personally, I think the only way to resolve this issue is to stop making it an issue in the first place. We need to stop making assumptions and realize the following: 1) Not all black people say "n word" to each other or anyone else. 2) Of the black people who do say "n word", not all of them have an "across the board" expectation that no one other than black people say it. (Example: Just because you hear a black person say "n word" does NOT mean that he/she appreciates hearing it from every black person. For all you know, he/she may only view the use of the term as acceptable among family and/or friends.) 3) Not all white people who say "n word" are doing so to disrespect, to offend, to try to be "cool", or to play "if you can do it then so can I."

Other realizations that we need to come to are: 1) When in doubt, we should simply be respectful enough to not say "n word". 2) If we're offended by someone saying it, we should politely let that person know rather than "flying off the handle" like some crazy person. If that individual refuses to respect our wishes then we should, if possible, have nothing more to do with that person. If we cannot avoid the person then we should take appropriate action (such as filing a grievance at work, for example). 3) We're probably never going to collectively agree on this subject. We should just accept this and at least politely agree to disagree.

Answer 2

I call black people blacks because that's what I learned.
When I was a kid we would go through a certain part of town and say it was Ni--erville because all that lived in that part were blacks.
I don't think blacks should call each other the n word and if they do they should know that other people are going to say it too.
There are so many young white men who like to talk like blacks so expect it from them.
I would never call a white person or a black person that.
Whatever your heritage, you should be proud of it, a lot of people died before you and made you what you are today. Don't be mad at people just for their ignorance.

Answer 3

lol you will get racist comments here, but anyway it is very wrong I don't care if its a black person using it! I have been saying this since I was 14 and now everyone seems to understand after Imus...you know the guy with the matted down hair and ugly face?

Answer 4

The N word?

If that's what you're referring to then No

I don't encourage anyone to use it, the same color or not. It's just further discrimination if you ask me. Yes we made it into something like friend or dude but still we shouldn't use it, we should just leave that word in the past.

Answer 5

I will get offended if anybody called anybody that. That word (I think you mean the N word) doesn't mean a black person, it means dirty. That wod is commonly mistaken to mean a black person because that is what the "Masters" called their slaves. It is a very offensive word for any race. White, black, asian, ect.

Answer 6

Use it the word fairly liberally. As such I can not rightly object to another person using it in certain contexts.

Answer 7

I think thats about the stupidest thing I have ever heard, yall want equal right but, yall can use a word and WE cant, whats equal about that? If it offends you, if some one calls you a n*gger then stop being so dam* ignorant and stoping call your family and friends n*ggers!!

Answer 8

umm
no

i dont think its ok

idk why black people find it ok for other black people to call them it considering white people made up the term to put black people down

but w/e

Answer 9

It's bad. Regardless of context, regardless of what you look like.

Answer 10

nope!!!