Quote:
Originally Posted by Red October1984
There is something that really is strange. Have you ever wondered why it's okay for a black guy to call another one the N word but the moment a white guy says it you better call the NAACP?
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Why is it okay to use derogatory terms for your own race but when somebody else uses it it's offensive. You see this in rap music and movies all the time.
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Just one of the unanswered questions floating around in my head.
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It's quite simple really. Have you ever called a friend a rude, insulting name? Jim and I do it on skype all the time. If a stranger, or even a casual aquaintance, used that kind of language to me there would be words if not blows exchanged.
The 'N' word is a corruption of a racial descriptive, which in itself is nothing more, but the word was used for a couple of centuries to keep black people "in their place". It was meant to be insulting and derogatory, and was never used any other way. For me to say that word to a black person is the same as using any other rude or insulting term. For a black man to use it on a friend is the same as some of the names my friends and I have called each other. Insulting in a friendly way, which is accepted among friends.
It also depends on the cultural context. Busta Rhymes or Snoop Dogg probably think it's cool when their friends use that language. Neil deGrasse Tyson and Annette Gordon-Reed probably would not.
Not really a question at all in my mind.