The N word
By stacyv81
@stacyv81 (5903)
United States
March 21, 2007 3:02pm CST
Do you think the N word should be banned from being used on television and radio? I think so. I think that is has been used do loosely that it begins to lose its effect. Only people still take it just as personally. Even though its true meaning is an ignorant person, based on its historical use, it has become a racist statement. I think it shouldnt be used at all by any race for any reason. What do you think?
1 person likes this
5 responses
@Fargale (760)
• Brazil
22 Mar 07
I was apalled the first time I learned of how incredibly laced with taboo this word is in the US. I suppose that's because in our country we don't have as much of a history of racial conflict as the US, and there's in fact a lot more mixing of different races all together, therefore we didn't get to have such vicious racism in the recent past (not that we're entirely free of it, though).
But I do think the word should simply be used normally until it loses its derogatory connotation (or at least most of it). The bigger the taboo that is made of it, the stronger and more vicious the word will become when it does get used.
@Fargale (760)
• Brazil
22 Mar 07
Yep. I think it's completely nonsensical to try to wrestle control of a word and make it have 2 different meanings depending on who uses it. That could even be called a different form of racism.
Here in Brazil, the closest equivalents we have for "n.gga" are used both as a friendly term or as a pejorative, depending on the situation; but more importantly, it doesn't matter WHO is using the word. All that matters is the context. It is perfectly fine for a white guy to call a black friend "n.gger" or variations thereof, without having any offensive meaning.
@sharon613 (2321)
• United States
22 Mar 07
I feel that black folks are using the N word alot toward one another and its just plain sick. Earlier on There happen to be a black man on the bus. This black woman got off the bus and she signaled to the driver to hold up and wait. The man got his singles cross and started calling her names including the N word. It turns out the woman who had gotten off the bus in the first place asked the driver to hold up on account of seeing a couple along with a man walking with a cane trying to run after the bus.
@GACathyMac (32)
• United States
21 Mar 07
Hi Stacy,
Yes, I agree with you. I am a white female and do not like when I hear the N word being used - by anybody. I think it is a horrible word that is used as a racist comment like you said. I think that black people shouldn't even use it towards each other as slang. It is a put-down and I think it should be banned.
GACathyMac
@stacyv81 (5903)
• United States
21 Mar 07
I am also a white female, I think that it being used in the african american community as a common term, just takes away from the significance anf demeaning nature of the word, and it shouldnt be used at all. Saying that they can say it but no one else can is just weird to me. I think it should either be used, or not at all.
@MJJ1011 (107)
• United States
22 Mar 07
I agree that it should be banned completely. I've heard little African American boys using that word with each other, and I think it's so wrong. I'm sure they've learned it from some movie or song that they've heard. I don't understand why such a horrible word is tolerated amongst some groups and not amongst others.
@coolseeds (3919)
• United States
23 Mar 07
They learned it from their peers not a movie. How we speak is a direct reflection of how we were raised. I was raised around black folks and I do not talk like them. My cousins who are half black also do not talk that way. It was probably learned from parents, family and care givers. Because they/ we were never exposed to that at home I feel is why we are not that way.
The parents need to change if they want it to end.
