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My daughter has a question.

My daughter (who is 12) asked me yesterday to pose this question here and I honestly don't know the answer or how to answer.

It has to do with the N-word. I have told her in the past that it is not a word that she should ever utter and why she shouldn't utter it. Due to that she was wondering why black people call each other that. Anyone here have an answer for her?

Note: She WILL be reading this so please keep it civil and respectful.

The way I see it, it shows what hard we do when we attempt to censor things. What has transpired since, is we now try to ban anything that might be insensitive to another.

How many of us, if heated, will choose the most offensive thing to say or do to someone else? I know I am guilty of that at times. How many of us use the N-word simply for this purpose. Not being racist, but just because of the response it gets?
 
The way I see it, it shows what hard we do when we attempt to censor things. What has transpired since, is we now try to ban anything that might be insensitive to another.

How many of us, if heated, will choose the most offensive thing to say or do to someone else? I know I am guilty of that at times. How many of us use the N-word simply for this purpose. Not being racist, but just because of the response it gets?

We have ignored JUNG and the likeminded, because we dont like that they tell us that there is a 100% chance for the failure of the BUS RIDE TO UTOPIA project.
 
The way I see it, it shows what hard we do when we attempt to censor things. What has transpired since, is we now try to ban anything that might be insensitive to another.

How many of us, if heated, will choose the most offensive thing to say or do to someone else? I know I am guilty of that at times. How many of us use the N-word simply for this purpose. Not being racist, but just because of the response it gets?

Wow....just wow
 
My daughter (who is 12) asked me yesterday to pose this question here and I honestly don't know the answer or how to answer.

It has to do with the N-word. I have told her in the past that it is not a word that she should ever utter and why she shouldn't utter it. Due to that she was wondering why black people call each other that. Anyone here have an answer for her?

Note: She WILL be reading this so please keep it civil and respectful.

I would also tell my daughters not to use the word, mainly for safety reasons, so that is good advice. I said the following to my daughters, and hope this helps yours:

Hello there. You’re lucky to have a dad who cares about your knowledge and learning.

In the Western world the N word comes from the Latin word for ‘black’. You can go to Google Translate and type the word ‘black’ on the left side under ‘English’. Pick Latin for the right side and click ‘translate’. You can do the same with Catalan, Esperanto, Romanian, Galician and Spanish.

However, that represents white people’s Western language. They thought blacks were unusual so they used their color to define them. There was nothing unusual about being black to Africans, so they didn’t need to use the word ‘black’ to define themselves. Back in Google’s translator you can type ‘human’ or ‘person’ on the left side, and select ‘Zulu’ on the right. The word for ‘human’ is ‘abantu’. The word for ‘person’ is ‘umuntu’.

Blacks in the West learned that we called them ‘blacks’, and likewise, they called us ‘whites’. During the time of slavery some slave owners were kinder than others. Some were aggressive and cruel. When angry slave owners chided their slaves they might use the N word with a sneer and with malice, as though it was an insult. Blacks would realize that, to some whites, the word itself was an insult. Remember, it was not originally their word to describe themselves. Over time blacks came to hate the word, and eventually began objecting to its use. Eventually it became a major issue. If someone used the word a violent fight could break out, so people stopped using it.

Now, to answer your question...

Old habits die hard; they are hard to break. For that reason some blacks and whites continue to use the N word. The whites that do this usually do it in private so you won’t see it much from them. The blacks that do it are more open as they don’t see a problem with that.

My advice is that both sides stop using the word, to be fair. That is what most black leaders say too. Saying it, while expecting whites to not say it, will only antagonize whites and cause further trouble.

Those are my thoughts. It’s a confusing old world, isn’t it? Good luck with everything. :D
 
No, because there are at least two people in the transaction, the one who claims to be offended does not get to decide everything. Once they figure out that this will work for them it becomes a power play and everyone gets abused. We were really dumb to take that approach, and it has to be over.

Yes, it is really dumb that anyone listens to you whine about how awful it is that people don't tolerate the use of racial slurs.
 
Yes, it is really dumb that anyone listens to you whine about how awful it is that people don't tolerate the use of racial slurs.

Promote suppression of ideas at your own cost.

Modern Morons almost universally are ignorant about what matters and what does not.
 
My daughter (who is 12) asked me yesterday to pose this question here and I honestly don't know the answer or how to answer.

It has to do with the N-word. I have told her in the past that it is not a word that she should ever utter and why she shouldn't utter it. Due to that she was wondering why black people call each other that. Anyone here have an answer for her?

Note: She WILL be reading this so please keep it civil and respectful.

you really dont know that answer to that?
uhm same reason anybody calls anybody derogatory terms but used in a slang way cause they are actually our friend. theres not a common term out there that isnt used that way that i can think of really . .
and just like with them terms a lot of times its to take the word and use it to make it less . . its done with just about every word that fits that description

also coming from a mixed family and at times being around nobody but black people it is VERY rare they say the actual n-word..... no with that said its still best not to say nigga either but im just saying they are not the same
 
My daughter (who is 12) asked me yesterday to pose this question here and I honestly don't know the answer or how to answer.

It has to do with the N-word. I have told her in the past that it is not a word that she should ever utter and why she shouldn't utter it. Due to that she was wondering why black people call each other that. Anyone here have an answer for her?

Note: She WILL be reading this so please keep it civil and respectful.

I think if they would stop using the word and everyone stopped getting so worked up about the use of the word it would lose it's power and go away. It is a word and it's power is given to it by the people who use it and who are offended by it.
 
My daughter (who is 12) asked me yesterday to pose this question here and I honestly don't know the answer or how to answer.

It has to do with the N-word. I have told her in the past that it is not a word that she should ever utter and why she shouldn't utter it. Due to that she was wondering why black people call each other that. Anyone here have an answer for her?

Note: She WILL be reading this so please keep it civil and respectful.

Damn. This thread got toxic fast.

Here's this insight that I found to be very insightful and in-depth:

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2011/straight-talk-about-the-nword

WHY IS THE N-WORD SO POPULAR WITH MANY YOUNG BLACK KIDS TODAY?
If you could keep the word within the context of the intimate environment [among friends], then I can see that you could potentially own the word and control it. But you can’t because the word takes on a life of its own if it’s not in that environment. People like to talk about it in terms of public and private uses. Jesse Jackson was one of those who called for a moratorium on using the word, but then was caught using the word with a live mic during a “private” whispered conversation.

There’s no way to know all of its nuances because it’s such a complicated word, a word with a particular racialized American history. But one way of getting at it is to have some critical and historical discussions about it and not pretend that it doesn’t exist. We also cannot pretend that there is not a double standard—that blacks can say it without much social consequence but whites cannot. There’s a double standard about a lot of stuff. There are certain things that I would never say. In my relationship with my wife, who is not African American, I would never imagine her using that word, no matter how angry she was with me. …


That’s what I’m asking people to do—to self-reflect critically on how we all use language and the extent to which language is a reflection of our innermost thoughts. Most people don’t bother to go to that level of self-reflection and self-critique. Ultimately, that’s what the class is about. It’s about self-education and self-critique, not trying to control others by telling them what to say or how to think, but rather trying to figure out how we think and how the words we use mirror our thinking.
 
It’s kinda like when best friends or siblings call each other “hey, idiot”.

When I'm at my fantasy football draft, we call each other "faggot" all the time. I'd never say it to a gay person.
 
At work, I had to place a moratorium on the word on any work-crew I was supervising. When asked why, I had to tell everyone that it was against Federal Law for me to treat people differently because of their Race, Gender, Age, Genetic Information etc. So rules have to apply to everyone. After the second disciplinary investigation I initiated over use of the word on the crew for creating a hostile work environment, everyone decided that the word was no longer to be used during professional work hours and everyone lived happily ever after. /shrug
 
When I'm at my fantasy football draft, we call each other "faggot" all the time. I'd never say it to a gay person.

Especially if they are Cowboys fans. LOL
 
Just to be clear.

We have someone who cannot explain the historical context of the word, nor explain to a child why black people can say it but white people cannot. To explain these things to her, something everyone in the world has accomplished without difficulty, the person needs the help of an anonymous political debate message board. Being incapable of explaining this to her himself, even after help from others, he would show her the posts directly?

That's what I'm supposed to believe?

No. BS. The thread is a racist troll. I've seen it before. Maybe from the same member.
 
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My daughter (who is 12) asked me yesterday to pose this question here and I honestly don't know the answer or how to answer.

It has to do with the N-word. I have told her in the past that it is not a word that she should ever utter and why she shouldn't utter it. Due to that she was wondering why black people call each other that. Anyone here have an answer for her?

Note: She WILL be reading this so please keep it civil and respectful.

As I understand it, the 'n' word was originally a play on the proper term for the racial designation of very dark skinned people originating in sub-Saharan Africa, i.e. "Negro". It became offensive when used by racist whites to indicate an inferior person. In the South, more refined people modified it to 'nigra'.

The only way the word will lose its power and will no longer be intended as an insult and/or putdown is when everybody can use it openly. But until that time, polite people, black or white, do not use the term.

It is taken to extremes though when somebody is reprimanded for using a word like 'niggardly' which is a perfectly good word but is misinterpreted as a slur by the ignoramus.
 
Promote suppression of ideas at your own cost.

Modern Morons almost universally are ignorant about what matters and what does not.

Yes, modern morons do have a tendency to whine about how vile and despicable ideas responsible for huge numbers of deaths are being "suppressed".
 
It is taken to extremes though when somebody is reprimanded for using a word like 'niggardly' which is a perfectly good word but is misinterpreted as a slur by the ignoramus.

Yes, that's incredibly ignorant and I've seen people dismissed for properly using the word which has no connection to race.
 
I never use that word. I find it offensive...because when I hear it, it holds connotations for me as well, ones that I heard and read of in history class and watching Roots and any non-fiction and fiction about the Old South.

If I hear it, I think of a people subjugated and abused and shame (for humans in general who have always kept slaves).

So I dont care if blacks use it genially for each other, or if white supremacist assholes use it derogatorily, it still evokes such impressions in my mind.

If that's what people want to perpetuate...that's up to them.
 
My daughter (who is 12) asked me yesterday to pose this question here and I honestly don't know the answer or how to answer.

It has to do with the N-word. I have told her in the past that it is not a word that she should ever utter and why she shouldn't utter it. Due to that she was wondering why black people call each other that. Anyone here have an answer for her?

Note: She WILL be reading this so please keep it civil and respectful.

hehe...heya, Kal. I haven't read the whole thread, but dang, bud, you took your chances looking for civility and respect on this one, hopefully we didn't disappoint. ;)

Here's my suggestion on this one. Rather than asking a bunch of random folks, with mixed backgrounds and understandings, I would tell your daughter to perhaps (respectfully) ask a black person. If there isn't someone in her sphere of familiarity that she can ask that to, while still being appropriate, then I would encourage her to go online, and research. There are lots of black authors who have tackled this issue, so she doesn't just have to take it from one person, she can build a consensus, and build her understanding on that.
 
I never use that word. I find it offensive...because when I hear it, it holds connotations for me as well, ones that I heard and read of in history class and watching Roots and any non-fiction and fiction about the Old South.

If I hear it, I think of a people subjugated and abused and shame (for humans in general who have always kept slaves).

So I dont care if blacks use it genially for each other, or if white supremacist assholes use it derogatorily, it still evokes such impressions in my mind.

If that's what people want to perpetuate...that's up to them.

Again the word will lose its power when we decide it has no power. Until then we deal with it appropriately. It bothers me when black people use it because, like you said, it has very negative connotations for me, but it does lose its power to affect black people when they use it with other black people. And it will lose its power when it is no longer deemed an actionable slur when used by anybody. We probably have a ways to go before that is the case though.
 
Again the word will lose its power when we decide it has no power. Until then we deal with it appropriately. It bothers me when black people use it because, like you said, it has very negative connotations for me, but it does lose its power to affect black people when they use it with other black people. And it will lose its power when it is no longer deemed an actionable slur when used by anybody. We probably have a ways to go before that is the case though.

Yes, and so it is deliberately perpetuated.

And thus...the negative connotations will remain along with any positive that are claimed.
 
Sadly young lady, adults are too full of themselves and start banning words, it's like banning books but on a smaller scale.

The word can be used to be offensive or also to describe or be authentic to a time. Picture making a movie about slavery and the owners didn't refer to the slaves as niggers, it just would not be correct to the time, thus depriving the audience of the full feel of the history.

Why blacks refer to one another using the term, well I'll say it's because they are extremely limited and negative minds, they are doing nothing to lift themselves up or out of their situation, they perpetuate what others might quietly think of them, instead of acting like civilized people they actually wish to remain in their poor situation.

There is a movie called Shaw Shank Redemption, you are just about old enough to watch the movie with your parents now, in that movie they speak of becoming 'Institutionalized", many of these blacks are just that, so used to being in their situation, they are afraid of getting out, it's comfortable.

Now watch me get all kinds of hell for being honest, laugh with me, will ya!
 
Why blacks refer to one another using the term, well I'll say it's because they are extremely limited and negative minds, they are doing nothing to lift themselves up or out of their situation, they perpetuate what others might quietly think of them, instead of acting like civilized people they actually wish to remain in their poor situation.

So we're just using flat-out racist arguments at this point?

Is there any way that's not racist?
 
So we're just using flat-out racist arguments at this point?

Is there any way that's not racist?

To be fair, though, look who you're quoting. Your post won't shame him.
 
My daughter (who is 12) asked me yesterday to pose this question here and I honestly don't know the answer or how to answer.

It has to do with the N-word. I have told her in the past that it is not a word that she should ever utter and why she shouldn't utter it. Due to that she was wondering why black people call each other that. Anyone here have an answer for her?

Note: She WILL be reading this so please keep it civil and respectful.

The word has been weaponized and a double standard has been applied to it's use.
 
So we're just using flat-out racist arguments at this point?

Is there any way that's not racist?
No, it only applies to those that use the term. I work with dozens of blacks that would never use the term. It's not racist unless you want it to be.
 
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