Anxiety said:

Because first you say you are only associating the word with the persons intention or use, then you say we do a disservice if we ignore what words mean....what is it you are conveying?

DexMSR said:

well, it's kind of presumptuous to assume that everyone is going to put the same connotation into every word in the language, and that nobody has ever or will ever have the capability to transcend that alleged collective connotation.

it's also a little unrealistic to assume that words don't evolve with time.

Anxiety said:

Isn't that quite vague? As a words meaning comes from its use or context doesn't it?

DexMSR said:

and context changes over time. certain words take on whole new meaning through time, and certain other words that seemed charged with controversy to one generation will be kind of silly to another, younger generation.

JoeyMFinCoco said:

"Warnings" can save someone's life.

funkpill said:

With you? Of course.

fleshofyourflesh said:

I figured you weren't seriuos about this conversation in the first place.

Stymie said:

Never used the word and never would. It's only a word that us Aussies hear on tv anyway I guess.

Does any white person actually get offended by being called a cracker? There is no history of opppression of whites in the US so why would anyone be offended?

Stymie said:

Uno!!!

bkw said:

it depends on who says it, and on their intention in saying it. if someone says it maliciously and with the intent to offend, then yes, it can be hurtful. just being called "white" or "black" can be hurtful if the intention to hurt is there.

Number23 said:

Very simply said.

I think people fear that word becase it's sooo Politically Incorrect to say it. It's Tabboo. Funny how black people say it more than white people (well I guess depending on where you live) but the meaning has changed too, or rather there are now multiple meanings for it.

It's just a word.

superspaceboy said:

It's not "just a word", especially to black folks who lived through Jim Crow and the civil rights era. People died over this sh!t. It's disrespectful. And it's a damn shame black & latino youth have adopted it as a term of endearment. I listen to these kids on the subway and just shake my head. WTF is going on?

I don't like the word.

I understand why some people may feel empowered by using this and other words whose meanings were originally derogatory and have been turned on their head, but language does shape us and as long as words exist that label people and create divisions, then that's what will continue to happen.

I'm a strong believer in positive thought and actions, and using words like this does not fit with the way I want to live my life because the connotations are so negative.

superspaceboy said:

I'm sorry Spacey, I don't agree with you. If you were walking down the street and someone called you 'faggot', would you be hurt by it? Would other gay people? Both words are hateful and hate-filled to me. I don't refer to my friends as 'niggers' and I don't refer to my gay friends as 'fags'.

u know what.. im gonna chime in here

im not gon' lie.. iv'e used it... i've been called it, iv'e been called spic too. iused to get mad and angry and gotten into many fights over it. but i remember my dad told me. "the more u get mad at it the more power the word has"

so when i get called it.. i just nod my head because i refuse to give a word power.

uPtoWnNY said:

Right, but those kids don't use it with the intention to disrespect each other.

People didn't die over the use of the word nigger. It's the sentiments behind it and the acceptance of it which caused black people to suffer. If "nigger" didn't excist there would have been another word that would have expressed those sentiments.

The word is offensive to people. It shouldnt be used by anyone. Period.

dreamfactory313 said:

I agree wholeheartedly. But, believing in free speech and kinda being against censorship, I don't want anyone stifled from speaking their minds but be ready for me to bust you in the motherfuckin' grill if you say it to me face.

DexMSR said:

well said

and may i add that my son came in our home one time and used that word in reference to a 'friend' of his.... i just SNAPPED... not sure what happened to me, but i'll be DAMNED if my son is EVER gonna talk like THAT !!!!! anyway, the end of this lil story is i dont think he will use that word again and my children have told more than one of their 'friends' who have used that word in the house just in 'talking' to one another that they would probably be asked to leave. i think they're right, i cant fix the world, but in MY HOME and with MY BABIES... that word is 110% unacceptable !!!!!

gotta say though, its great that the tv stations have started viewing this word as a 'bad' word there are lots of stations around here that bleep it out of movies and whatnot.

The way I see it is this...It is either acceptable to anyone or to no-one.

I can see how some people could be offended by it.

I understand well that this word is related to
& associated with
a VERY UGLY part of American History
(which still manifests itself today in various, typically more "subtle" ways)..

but me personally- this word has never bothered me.

my perspective is
similar
to Anxiety's - I simply refuse to give that word or any 1 word THAT MUCH "power" over me.

if some ignorant/evil caucasian person gets in my face & calls me that word
or
uses that word in my presence..
I MIGHT shake my head in pity..
but more likely, I simply don't react
because I don't want to give that fool
"the power" of provoking a reaction from me.
I am BIGGER than that word.
that word does NOT own me - I own it.
I own it by saying it - whenever I want, regardless of the company present at that moment.

I have said it- I am capable of saying it- to other "brothas" - with affection or with frustration
in OR out of the presence of caucasians..
I have actually called some caucasians this word &
HELL YES
they were "thrown off" by me doing that..



yeah, this word has never bothered me
& BELIEVE ME - me living in this United States country that was
BUILT
on slavery/'racism'..
I have been called

NIGGER

more than once im my life by a caucasian person..
[it comes with being perceived as a 'nigga' in this country.. as an 'african-american' you cannot live in this country & NOT be called a 'nigger' by someone..]


anyway, this word never bothered me
& then I heard

Mr. Paul Mooney
talk about his perspective on this word - VERY deep.

[for those of you who (unfortunately) have never heard of Paul Mooney, you better ask somebody! for starters, Paul wrote for Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx (& "Sanford & Son"), Eddie Murphy.. Paul wrote "Homey D. Clown" on the Fox tv series "in living color" & more recently has written & appeared in Dave Chappelle's show in "Niggerdamus" & "ask a black dude"..)

I've posted this on the org before,
but in case some (or many) of you missed that..
here's what Mr. Paul Mooney said about the word

NIGGER

on his cd "Race" :

"white people MADE UP the word nigger
but don't want me to say it - ain't that a bitch???

[imitating a white person 'whining']:
'make that nigger.. STOP saying nigger! I'm getting a nigger headache!'

I say 'nigger' a hundred times a day - it makes my teeth white :
nigga nigga nigga nigga nigga
nigga nigga nigga nigga nigga
nigga nigga nigga nigga nigga
nigga nigga nigga nigga nigga
nigga nigga nigga nigga nigga.
I say it, white people think it.. what a small, white world.."

so yeah.. those of y'all
who don't know Paul..
he is REAL DEEP..
& not only on issues of ETHNICITY in the world..


bottom line - I KNOW what that word respresents historically..
but
I don't give that word any power
so it does not bother me to hear it
& it does not bother me to say it.

I'm glad that it has been reclaimed as "nigga", takinga way a lot of the negative thrust of the word. When I was younger that bugged me too, but these days I've come to understand the dignity and power of taking it back.

But on the rare occasions that I've heard somebody use it in a hateful way in person, it's incredibly jarring and sickening. Obviously.

Black people saying "nigga" is just making a lot of racists happy that they have succeeded and getting us to degrade ourselves and justify it by saying that it isn't negative when we say it. The word should be eliminated from everyone's vocabulary. I'm no one's nigger or nigga.

wasn't it James Baldwin (or some other VERY INTELLIGENT person) who said,
in effect,
that "the white man created the word 'nigger' because it was the 'nigger' IN HIMSELF that he could not stand" ???

I don't know how often brothas "degrade" each other when they use that word between them.. but as we know.. in this SAME context ("brotha-to-brotha") using "nigga" also (indeed) can be a "term of endearment"..


I do not "begrudge" anyone who takes offense at that word,
I am simply saying that instead of (choosing) to take offense to that word,
someone might want to.. "rise above" that word & "take control" of it by using it on their own terms..

Maybe we should call each other coons now.

mltijchr said:

Black people also use the word 'nigga' in a negative way against each other, too.

doctamario said:

doctamario said:

absolutely not. the word should be used appropriately, with due respect and within socially acceptable boundaries. again, i say - stigmatizing this word 100% not only continues to empower the hurtfulness of it, but it impedes our ability to express certain social and emotional realities.

and if we force society to "forget" this word ever existed, well, you know the old saying...we'll be condemned to repeat it.