Ah, the block list is going to go up a lot as I read this thread, I'm guessing.
If you aren't black, and you think you have a reason (or are trying to find one) where it's OK to say the N word in a non-academic context (and maybe even then), or you think you have a valid opinion on whether black folks should use it, or you think that black folks using it somehow justifies your use of it, you're either willfully ignorant of the depths to which that word has been used to dehumanize, and thus is indeed worthy of unique treatment, or you're a bigot, and likely both.
Edit: Not as many folks falling over themselves to find the corner case where it should be OK for them as I expected. gg fediverse, you aren't quite as shitty as r****t yet.
I’m curious, is there another word that have the same taboo status as the n-word? I’ve never heard of another word that can only be uttered if you have the right shade of skin. What a stupid world we live in, seriously.
I’m not speaking from any position of authority here, but I think it has more to do with being in the right culture, not the right skin color like some people imply.
There are urban white kids who grew up in the projects who use the same language as their black peers, and I think generally no one cares. However, when someone outside that culture uses that language, it’s not something they use for normal speech and there’s probably some other motivation behind it. It’s just like in a lot of people’s speech they say “bro” but it doesn’t mean brother. To people outside the culture it means black person, but they use it like others use “bro”. It doesn’t really mean anything.
Reiterating, I have very little experience with this. It’s just my observations. I’ve known black people who it’d be weird for them to use this language and seen white people who it’s just a normal part of their speech.
I don’t think it’s as removed from skin color as you think. If someone saw the white kids saying it and didn’t know they grew up in the projects, would they still not care? Conversely, if a bunch of black kids who grew up in an affluent household said it, would people be offended?
You’d likely know where they grew up by the manner of their speaking. The white kids from the projects are going to sound “urban” and the black affluent people are going to sound stereotypically “white”. I wouldn’t be offended (I’m white) but I would be surprised if the black people I know who do not use that language started using the n-word suddenly. It’s not a part of their normal language, so what caused them to suddenly start using it? Probably nothing good I would assume.
It also depends on the time and place. Those white kids from the projects would probably need to code switch when going to a job interview or something, for example, just like their black peers do. That language is context-dependents on whether it’s acceptable. It’s more than just being black.
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