This argument is so tiresome. Why don’t folks get it?! At what point did “nigga” become a term of endearment. Slavery has really had long lasting effects, but none more damaging than psychologically. What is so difficult to understand?! White slave owner demeans black slave by calling them nigger. He does everything inhumanly possible to that nigger to show that he’s a nigger. Anyone heard of Stockholm Syndrome? That’s when a hostage begins to show signs of loyalty to the hostage taker. Let’s call this the Nigger Syndrome.

Some slaves began to picture themselves as niggers and other slaves as well…Massa’ was right…you juss a dum nigga! Fast forward through the years and we have the same thing. Let’s be real. Everything else is so fake in this world, at least we can be real with ourselves. Nigga isn’t a term of endearment. Nigga is when your tongue is too lazy to say Nigger. As in…the word is door…you say doe…floor..flo’…and any other English word that becomes “ebonics”.

Take it out the hands of the oppressor and do what Whoopee…oppress each other? Terms of endearment…nigga please, bitch nigga, that nigga (baby’s father) ain’t shit, nigga break yo self, etc. Anyone ever notice that nigga is primarily used in reference to black males. Females, well y’all just black bitches.

Be honest people, we have become mentally strapped to being inferior and not trusting each other. Don’t believe me…how about light skin vs dark skin…talking white vs talking black…kinky hair vs straight hair. Fact is, the majority of the time you hear nigga…it ain’t good. Folks are so messed up in the head, they don’t know the difference. I grew up saying nigga all the time because that is what my environment taught me to appreciate my history. Folks really think they doing something calling folks nigga out of love. Please, stop using that tired excuse to use the word because you don’t want to stop using the word.

Classic said it all.
*Clap*

Looks like I'll be updating the blog tonight LOL.

i used to use it, always negatively, as in "this n*gga right here" when someone was triflin'… until i took a class in 2006 on the origins of race.

after reading books by thomas dixon and other overt racists of the era and repeatedly seeing the word used against blacks so ruthlessly, i developed a disgust for the word.

it now is something i'd feel uneasy about using, as though i'd be using a slur. so i don't.

@76classic - you said it all. Thanks.

I do not use the word except when quoting someone. Growing up my parents and grandparents did not use the word. Occasionally I would her it from relatives in my extended family and older blk people say it.

The only reason the word has become an issue is because in recent times younger blks of my age and younger started to use the word around yt. Had we keep it amongst us, there would be no need to have this type of discussion.

The fact that an yt would want to say that word to me means that he/she wants to reenact some scenes from Roots or the Jim Crow era.

I do not like for anyone to use that “ N-word, but it's like razors against the skin for a white to use the word when talking about a black person.

Last thing, I am sick of women like Elisabeth Hasselbeck using tears to get out a confrontation or debate. This is a slick move that some women use to come across as weak and vulnerable. It's best used against men(see TV show cheaters) and women like Rossie or Whoopi

and what classic76 said.

Nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga! I say nigga every morning… it keeps my teeth white. Lmao!

What Chic Noir said

Like Chic Noir said I didn't hear it in my close family. And I don't use any form of the word and I HATE hearing the word said by anyone Black, White or in between.

Anyone who says it's a term of endearment is just making an excuse to use it.

see my previous comment on the view thread.

I'm with Whoopi in that black folks own the word. Whether in can be said, when and around whom is for us to decide amongst ourselves.

White people should never say it, think it or give an opinion on the subject.

Seriously, I'm not a fan of the N-word being used by anyone in regular dialogue. It may sound good in poems and some songs, but it sounds just plain stupid/ignorant/uneducated when used in daily conversation. It's also very annoying since most of these fools saying it, love to slap it on to every sentence (you know what I mean my nigga).

That being said, I think it's okay (for blks only) to say it sometimes. Like me, I reserve my use of the word for "special occassions" aka "nigga moments." Basically, I use it when people are acting "stereotypically black."

Like when we got out to eat and everybody is just loud for no reason at all…… "niggas."

Or when a Chrysler 300 drives by with 22-inch rims (in the poorer parts of town)… "niggas"

When I'm watching College Hill… "niggas, niggas, niggas"

Or whenever I see a wanted black criminal/suspect on the TV… "niggas"

I use the term in a humorous way (I usually say it in a Uncle Ruckus accent or a Nigerian accent). My goal is to get people to laugh after I say it. I love saying it in the movie theatres during a movie, like in the movie "Prom Night." Lmao!

That whole "its our word, not yours" crap screams seperate but equal to me.

Using the word (good, bad, or ugly), like grills makes you look country as crack!!! So drop it! Let it go!!! That word is the reason I believe rappers have a vocab of 25 (Lil Wayne Im talkin to you, baby!!!) If you think calling your BFF that word in the name of brotherhood is going to wash away the years of blood, tears, and turmoil. Then you you truly have left the reservation.

I never say it, never have, never will. It wouldn't even sound right coming out of my mouth… I'd probably use the -er suffix and everybody'd look at me sideways and/or drown out the rest of my sentence with laughter. Oh, and what Chic Noir said.

Good discussion here and on the other thread.

I believe the term can also been seen as taking something negatvie and making it positive. I agree that white people shouldn't use it because they never intend it to be positive. At least in their types of socialization it is not positive. I also agree with what An Unispired Muse said that using the term is not "going to wash away the years of blood, tears, and turmoil." I don't know how to explain it well, but as a colonized people it's like not forgeting the past, how hard it was and is…

I cringe when I hear the word, period.

I don't like the word, in any of it's uses or form, and it pains me to see my people using it for each other, but that's an "in house" problem.

Like that uncle you have you drinks too hard. You know he's a bit of a drunkard, and maybe you laugh about it with a cousin, but you'll be damned if someone outside the family calls him out on it.

I feel the same way about that word. Yeah, ideally, Blacks stop using the word EVERYWHERE. Even in Jest. But that's a subject for the Black Community.

Other races, especially Whites, are prohibited to use that word. Period. Don't aspire to, and don't ask us to stop. If we can come together and stop using it, then good for us, but everyone outside the Black Community needs to back away from the issue, because it doesn't concern you.

I'm black, but I'll never be a nigga.

i remember reading in a michael eric dyson essay about how MLK used the word in casual conversation as an expression of solidarity while in the birmingham jail. it seems pretty obvious that it's usage in this context is as a term of endearment because it brings attention to the shared history of oppression, which i think is one of the reasons that modern day racism doesn't want it used. it was fine when it was whites calling blacks 'nigger', but in a racist society that tries to maintain a color blind image, "nigga" becames a reminder that black folks are still conscious of the racism that still exists. as paul mooney says, "white folks invented the term and now say that i can't use it??? ain't that a bitch!"

there's also some blatant classism in many of the arguments made by bourgie black folk against usage of the word. perfect case in point, the first post in this thread by 76classic says that black folks who say "nigga" are just "too lazy" to add the -er, reproducing the classic racist/classist stereotype that poor black folks are just lazy. they go on to say this laziness is indicative of all "ebonics", which is also racist/classist. what they call "ebonics" is not the result of laziness (which is absurd), but is just a different dialect. people in boston are known to pronounce the word "car" as "cah". this does not mean they are lazy or ignorant. it's a shame that this isn't obvious, but i guess thats the result of white supremacy imposing it's particular grammar and syntax as the only acceptable "civilized" way of speaking.

I've only used the word in context of discussion like this one, but it's not a part of my daily vocabulary. I too cringe at hearing the word. Of course it has more punch coming from a non-black, but I think it's sad that our people think that by taking a word that has had so much power for hundreds of years and somehow reclaiming it for ourselves diminishes the power. That's a falacy, and not only that; but to say that nobody else should say the word is unrealistic. Blacks say it to each other when it's not a term of endearment, which defeats the purpose of reclaiming it. There is still freedom of speech, which includes the bad and ugly words. I say if somebody wants to say the word, go ahead, altho I'd seriously question why you would need to use the word whether with an -a or an -er. As a sort of warning: don't be surprised if you do not get a favorable response for using the word ie. physical reaction or getting cussed out. Freedom of speech doesn't protect you from a negative reaction.

For #21, this is not a case for class warfare. Please, I'm from Detroit, Michigan and I know where I come from and will never forget. The problem with some people is when you point out something that strikes a nerve, folks want to label you as being bourgeois or in Jesse Jackson's case "talking down". There is a difference between a dialect and people going out of their way to mangle words. We invent ways to mispronounce stuff. This is real life with real problems and learning how speak isn't a bad thing.

Hell, I'm not saying you have to speak the Queen's English…we all use slang…but you have to put that stuff away when you are going into the professional environment. I listen to the radio and callers phone in and all I hear is "nawsayin"…"nawmean" and they don't make one single point of articulation. That's not a dialect. So, someone who has the power to pick up their feet and instead just drags them across the floor instead…what's that…my mother would say, "Boy, pick up your feet and stop being lazy!" Or if I mumbled words, she would say, "Boy, open your mouth and speak!" Nothing to do with class. You can't take that into a job & job interview. If my Goddaughter is speaking some incorrect English, I correct her. My friend sits down and reads to her and makes her do her homework. He gets on the teacher when she doesn't have enough. Hell, he even makes work for her to do. We are preparing her for the future because life doesn't hand you anything. We need to swallow some pride when someone points something out to them and stop thinking that people have a mentality of I'm better than you. Maybe they are just trying to help a brother or sister out.

And real talk…my wife tutors high school kids…9th & 10th grade and they can't even add positive & negative numbers. I'm not talking quadratic equations, I'm talking -9+3=I don't know. This is high school folks. These are OUR kids…OUR future…and they can recite Lil Wayne word for word, but can't add?!? I participate in children's ministry and will be mentoring college students in church…we all have to do our part and stop being scared of ruffling some feathers.

76classic,

obviously, when entering a racist job market that doesn't hire people who don't act white enough, people strategically change the way they speak, how they dress, wear their hair, etc. we must recognize, however, that this is a result of racism and not something we should normalize, and in our own communities claim the right to converse with each other however we damn well please. part of white supremacism is the ethnic cleansing of other people's cultures, and yeah i obviously compromise my politics when i'm at work so i can make a living, but i'm not going to "swallow my pride" and let this racist logic control my pride, who i am.

regardless of your intentions, your comments are so full of condescension that i'm cringing while reading them. for example, "people going out of their way to mangle words" and "learning how to speak is not a bad thing" reeks of this attitude. it's sad that this is the kind of internalized racism you're imparting to the kids at your youth ministry. before you call some kid lazy cause he says "nawmean", maybe you should check yourself. might actually help you relate to them better, too.

I don't use the N word. Frankly, I've never felt comfortable doing so because I am first and foremost Nigerian. I don't have as much right to say that word as children of Irish immigrants. That said, I still think nobody should use that word.

@76classic, I agree with your response to Fri's comments. It's not just about ebonics. For what it's worth, it's not strictly African Americans who are lazy about their grammar. For example, I can't count the number of times I cringe when I read "Its" instead of "it's", or "your" instead of "you're" in a professional setting. And this is just in writing. So hells yeah people will be lazy about how they speak as well.

Condescending, I think not. Internalized racism. I have no idea what you are talking about. Racism against who? I'm condescending because I tell children to respect their elders, for little boys to treat other little girls with respect, learn how to speak correctly, etc. Why go to school and learn English structure, math, science, etc if we don't use it. I'm not calling out blacks as being lazy in particular, but I'm talking about the subject in hand. Relate to them better…LOL…that's why when I come through the door, they are yelling Mr. Palmer, Mr. Palmer. I relate to children quite well. You know what, it doesn't matter…this is over the internet, so it won't make any difference. You leave your imprint on the world how you see fit and I'll leave mine. Peace.

I don't care what color you are- if someone can't understand the words coming out of your mouth, they shouldn't hire you. Asking someone to enunciate and use proper grammar in a business setting is in no way taking a wrecking ball to their culture.

As for the "n-word", a lot of people seem to want to relegate it to the world of 'black culture no one else will ever understand'. I find no redeeming merits to an argument that claims that we will never understand each other, and must wall off entire sections of racial or cultural experience eternally. Kind of shoots the whole notion of equality straight to hell, doesn't it? For what concept could I reasonably make the claim "It's a white thing- black people will never understand"? None, because it's not reasonable unless I want a division to be there.

FRI you my nigga, love the comments!

O! I guess that makes me ignorant for using the word! I don't think their is a black person alive that does not know the history of that word. So why must they be ignorant?, because they choose to use a word that you don't agree with. I'm offended by you saying I'm ignorant for using a word in wateva context I want to than by you calling me the N-word. If you personally don't like the word, then don't use it. But why put others down who do, just cause you don't like it personally, doesn't make you better than me. Yeah I'm talking to you 76classic, because I agree with FRI you really sound condensing with your comments.

For those who feel like the statement "Its a black thing you wouldn't understand." We are talking about culture not segregation. Black people, generally speaking of course, culturally do things that set us apart from other races. Especially the way we express ourselves, thru language, dance, music, and other arts. By those expressions, there are some things that black people do that other races will never understand. But there are many things that other races and cultures do that I don't undersand, but I don't call them names and ask why they want to be different from me. I seek understanding about their culture, I might not agree with everything but I acknowledge that it is apart of their culture and move on. But I'm open-minded like that. Every should be TREATED Equally…..so do I have to behave like you think I should to be treated the same as you? I think not.

I agree with GEERUSSELL…short and sweet and my sentiments exactly.

C'mon- a word that causes this much trouble when a white person says it, and we're not allowed to have an opinion about it? So we're just supposed to have untouchable "black people words" and "white people words"? For the record, I never use the n-word, or any other racial slur. But what words are black people never, ever allowed to use or think about?

Not to be a trouble maker but what is the or define
The Queen’s English???

@RWS-blk people are never to call whit.e f.olK ppor whit.e Tras/h. Nothing gets a fight started faster except the n-word.

The Queen's English…sorry…that was just an inside joke to myself…when my friend gets amped up over language, he always says, "Nobody speaking the Queen's English anyway!"

76classic, for your information, mu usage of the term "internalized racism" in this case refers to how white supremacism tricks folks of color into believing the lie that white culture is innately better and more normal than any other culture that has ever existed. it's basically another word for self-hatred, which would include hating on other black folks for not "talking correctly". hmm…how did you ever come to this belief that there could be a correct way to speak to begin with? it may seem like common sense to you that the specific rules you were taught is all that constitutes the right way to talk. but who made up the grammar and language you use today? didn't it come from the same culture that stole millions of people frm africa and forbid them to speak their own language or retain their own cultures with punishment of death? now, black folks who dont speak the way white people want them to get punished by justifying their subsequent discrimination in jobs, housing, the criminal justice system, etc. very little has changed, though now there's overseers enforcing these cultural standards that might look more like bill cosby and yourself.

There is no self hatred here. No one said anything about how white folks speak so much better. We were all taught English in school. Now whether you agree or disagree with the whys and hows of English is on you. We were also taught math & science in the same system. Does that mean we go out into the world and dispute 2+2=4 because that's what "white culture" taught us. No. In any country where professional business is conducted, you are expected to act professionally. I don't care what country you are from.

How you choose to talk in your house is your business. The problem arises when you take that slang into a business interview. Now, you can argue your point until the cows come, but in an economy where jobs are tight, you have to come correct. Sure, blacks get discriminated against, but does that mean you DON'T at least give yourself a fighting chance. Your resume is tight, your attire is on point, you speak in a professional manner, you research the job you are applying for, send thank you cards, etc., now if you want to go home and speak all the slang you want…fine. But there is a time and place for everything. I understand you got beef with the system, but you don't change it by casting it aside like it doesn't exist. You learn the system, play the system, and then change it how you see fit.

That's why we have black doctors, lawyers, sports figures, and soon to be President…they played by the rules of the system and now are changing it. Why you think they didn't want slaves reading? Because knowledge is power…and that's for any color. I don't believe any race is inherently better than another. I just know we have to learn to play the system better than they do because we have some disadvantages, but first you have to learn the rules before you change them.

You can get more specific than saying that "white" culture has tricked us into believing that it is "better and more normal" than anyone else's. If you want money or authority, you have to appeal to those who have it in the world you were born into, no matter who those people are or what forces created that world. Want a home, a nice car and a vacation? Sure, most of us do. In order to afford them, you need a job. To get that job you need skills. Those skills include being able to communicate with the people who can give you that job, and with whom you will work every day. If you think it only works this way when whites are in charge, call me back in 200 years when we're all speaking Chinese.

@76classic- You are not the first to say that. That's why I am looking for a defintion.

@RWS- How about in 20 years.

Poor speaking is not part of "black culture," whatever that means nowadays, much in the same way that poverty is not part of "black Culture." Pronouncing English words in the way they were meant to be pronounced doesn't make you part of a different race. And to FRI, internalized racism has nothing to do with choosing to make yourself articulate vs. incomprehensible at this point. There are white folks that don't know how to speak properly and cant pronounce things right. Is wanting them to speak articulately trying to change the "white culture?" If you wanna talk about true black language, then learn the language of your ancestors, but that's impossible, since you dont know where they came from except for some vague idea of Africa that you have, let alone the language, or dialect of said language that they spoke. Even so, you don't live in Africa, and to get a job with a salary that you can live on in America, you need to make yourself comprehensible to everyone, not just a few. Who do you know in a high paying profession (other than entertainer) that is not articulate? Next to no one. black or white. If you're white and can't speak, you still wont get hired. And if you consider "races" as equal, then you should also consider all languages equal. And if all languages have equal value, then it doesn't matter which ones survive and which ones die out, because none of them have greater or lesser value than the other. No one is lamenting the loss of the African languages or Old English or Middle English or any of the other lost languages because people have learned to live without them depending on the demands of the society that they live in. I don't give a fuck what color you are, but if you cant realize that you shouldnt use certain words no matter who you are (the N word being one of them) thats a problem.

@ChicNoir: I gave us 200 years, because if that's how long it would take me to learn Chinese. Character-based languages are insane…