Let's say you are with a group of friends, half the people are black, but the other half are different races, should you refrain from using the n-word in those social situations?
As a black person, should you refrain from saying the "n-word" when around non-black people?
- Thread starter Good Kid mAAd Poster
- Start date
I stopped saying "nigga" about ten years ago. Just reflected on the fact I was regularly calling my black friends a term that was derived from a slur steeped in the horrific oppression of black people. While I know it was meant to be appropriate and turned into a term of endearment, its use is still wrong, imo. With that said, yes, I believe that those black people who still choose to use the word should keep its use restricted to our circles. Use of it outside that environment only normalizes its inclusion in the vocabulary of non-blacks.
No, that's stupid. They're my niggas too.
I'll take back the card in a second if one of them says it.
No.
Why do you feel that way? Maybe you have a good reason but as a white person I never got offended by black people I know using it. I never felt it was distasteful either.
Why do you feel that way? Maybe you have a good reason but as a white person I never got offended by black people I know using it. I never felt it was distasteful either.
Nah I've always said it freely in that context
Exactly
I don't say it often as it is, but when I do, I'll say it around whomever I feel like saying it around.
I'm white, in the UK and have no friends who are people of colour.
Personally, I'd say the power should come down to individuals and what you choose to do. However, having grown up in a place that was overwhelmingly white, a think that if I had grown up hearing the n-word used casually in my youth, it would've possibly desensitised me to it and I worry that younger white people may not fully grasp the context of why we shouldn't ever use it ourselves.
Of course, it's not fair to ask people of colour to police themselves because some white people don't have the ability to understand why using racial slurs are bad. I don't know. It's tricky.
Personally, I'd say the power should come down to individuals and what you choose to do. However, having grown up in a place that was overwhelmingly white, a think that if I had grown up hearing the n-word used casually in my youth, it would've possibly desensitised me to it and I worry that younger white people may not fully grasp the context of why we shouldn't ever use it ourselves.
Of course, it's not fair to ask people of colour to police themselves because some white people don't have the ability to understand why using racial slurs are bad. I don't know. It's tricky.
This was about 4-5 years ago my friend called me it (I'm white), and my first reaction was "wait what did you say?" lol. It wasn't that he said it cause he said it a lot it's that he said it at me for the first time and although it surprised me it did make me feel like we were getting closer in a weird sense for him to actually call me that.
Yikes! This is one of the reasons why non-Blacks have gotten comfortable with the word.
Dude where do you live? Did you not grow up with black friends?
I don't use nigga or any variation in my day to day speech (tried it a few times in my teens and it never felt right) so nah.
Yikes, it's not my job to make sure my friends don't say it...... because they don't.
I rarely say it in the first place, I mostly say it around family, but I have said it around white friends before.
Not a problem for me because I don't say it around anyone period. Won't stop other black people from saying it but will stop non black people from saying it around me. To each his own but my family doesn't say it much if at all.
Won't lie it's kind of cringe the way some throw it around on here. I can semi understand saying the word but taking the time to type it out. To me it would be similar to inserting all the "ums" and "likes" you say while talking into a post.
Also I'm pretty sure Nigger and "nigga" were the same word that were just pronounced differently back then.
Won't lie it's kind of cringe the way some throw it around on here. I can semi understand saying the word but taking the time to type it out. To me it would be similar to inserting all the "ums" and "likes" you say while talking into a post.
Also I'm pretty sure Nigger and "nigga" were the same word that were just pronounced differently back then.
A black friend of mine used that word all the time when referring to me ( a pretty much white individual ). But if he thought some other darker skinned person overheard him, he would always make sure that they knew he was referring to me. Sooooo, I dunno, it can get confusing I guess. Perhaps we're slowly creeping passed the point where taking that word back has any real value/power? You're still referring to a horrible history.
I'd say its every black person's job to check any non black person using it.
There's probably a generational gap in the opinion on this but I've never used nigga in mixed company and I've been doing my best to drop it entirely from my vocab but after growing up in Brooklyn it's a hard habit to break.
The primary reason I never used it around my non-black friends is that I didn't want them to think it was a word they should be using, even amongst good friends, but it seems like we have a whole generation of non-black kids now who think they're "down".
The primary reason I never used it around my non-black friends is that I didn't want them to think it was a word they should be using, even amongst good friends, but it seems like we have a whole generation of non-black kids now who think they're "down".
I grew up in the South of England. I had some classmates with Asian heritage and there were a handful of Black students at my secondary school, but I never had any Black British classmates in any of my actual lessons.
The town I grew up and went to school in is currently 97.4% White and 0.5% Black.
it isn't a normal part of my speech patterns, but if i was around friends or people I don't owe anything to and there were a legit reason to use it (talking about someone else using it, singing a song that uses it) there's no reason to shy away from using it.
I refuse to be afraid of saying it if there's literally no consequence other than that i make a few white people slightly uncomfortable. especially if they like to listen to music that uses it all the time. at the same time i won't use that to be in their face about it, i just wont shy away.
EDIT: online i would basically never use it unless it was on some form of social media where people know me well and know that I am black. On a forum like this it could be easy to doubt where a user is coming from or if they're even who they say they are. I try not to invite or warrant such scrutiny.
I refuse to be afraid of saying it if there's literally no consequence other than that i make a few white people slightly uncomfortable. especially if they like to listen to music that uses it all the time. at the same time i won't use that to be in their face about it, i just wont shy away.
EDIT: online i would basically never use it unless it was on some form of social media where people know me well and know that I am black. On a forum like this it could be easy to doubt where a user is coming from or if they're even who they say they are. I try not to invite or warrant such scrutiny.
The last time we took our (white) three year old son to the park, a group of kids (aged probably 10-13 maybe?) on the playground used it frequently. I didn't know how to react, because my son's in that stage where he repeats literally everything he hears and I really don't need to be in a situation having to explain where he picked that up, but it also isn't my place as a white guy to ask black kids not to use that word the same way I'd ask kids to stop dropping f bombs.
So we just went home, not sure if I reacted correctly.
So we just went home, not sure if I reacted correctly.
Seems perfectly reasonable.
Just like moderating language around young children should be.
Does a white guy have the right to tell you to stop calling him your n-word?
any non english speaking asian country would have a slang for that.... can confirm
you would be surprise of how much of a racist we can be 😀
The only term I know that is used to refer to white people in general (besides words such as "honkey" or "cracker", heard in a few American movies or shows) is "Ang moh", learned during my time in Singapore years ago... However, racist or not, I'd argue that it definitely doesn't have the connotations as the word being discussed in this thread.
I strictly limit my use of the word with other black people, and primarily with those from the same background as myself (I.e. poor, "ghetto") as I've found higher earning black families don't use the word either.
I think that's a little different, though, because on anonymous Internet forums you're dealing with a Schrodingers nigga situation. Since you don't really know someone's race on here (without mod status, I guess) people are in a spot where nigga would be simultaneously fine and not fine to use at the same time.
If we're talking in general terms for those of European descent, the only ones I can think of off the top of my head are 'cracker', 'gringo' (arguably), 'honky', 'barang' and 'gwailo'. Only the latter really has any capacity to be used as a term of endearment, I guess.
Most slurs directed at white people target more specific ethnicities. There are more slurs than I can count for the Irish, the Italians, the Slavs, Lebanese and (obviously) the Jewish people.
On topic, you have the right to use the word if you like. Personally, I prefer not to hear it casually thrown around in everyday conversation. Where I grew up, it wasn't really in common usage anyway - although there were arguably worse slurs in general usage for dark-skinned (particularly native) people.
No I say it because i feel like it, I seen a white guy say it an got punched pretty hard from another random black guy it was wild.