Is the term "nappy" generally considered a racial slur?

In the 1800s and early 1900s, nappy was used to describe the kind of hair African American's have. It wasn't so much a racial slur as a aesthetic one. It was used to point out that African American features didn't measure up to the European standard of beauty. So, yes, it was a word that made blacks feel unattractive or second rate in that period. Some people think that created a sense of inferiority in American blacks. You'll notice that when the Rutger's players went on Oprah, none of them actually had nappy hair. Neither did Oprah. They all straighten their hair to avoid looking nappy headed. So, yeah, apparently old insults still resonate with people in modern times.

The word nappy is a term that is described for a very coarse type of hair..as per the definition "kinky". When I was growing up, there was s destinction between those who had "nappy" hair and those who had "good" hair. Good hair is that type that is easy to comb, smooth and style. Nappy is hard to comb and usually need some sort of chemical to make it managable. The reason that this is significant was that most of those with "good" hair was mixed with another race...implying that being fully "Black" is bad but being mixed or lighter is better. I believe that the uproar was more of the phrase "nappy headed" and then of course the other word.

It's not a racial slur, but I guess it could be used as one. It all depends on how you say it. I call my daughter's hair nappy when she wakes up in the mornings. I tell her she has a nappy head. Nothing racial about that. I don't know how else you would use the word nappy, so I would watch how you use it.

I always used it to mean, nasty, smelly, or dirty. I guess it's another term I have to discard from my vocabulary now. This along with "articulate". Remember a few months ago? the controversy on that one? Give it a few months and another one will become offensive. I guess the issue with Mr. Imus was the context he used it in, though I'm still not convinced it was a totaly racial slur.