The "N-Word"

 Oh boy, here we go. Lets see how this one goes.

My Take:

According to Wikipedia:

Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people, and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur. The word originated as a term used in a neutral context to refer to black people, as a variation of the Spanish/Portuguese noun negro, a descendant of the Latin adjective niger, meaning the color "black".<sup>[1][2][3][4]


Nigga (Also referred online as Nikka) is a term used in African American Vernacular English that began as an eye dialect form of the word nigger (a word originated as a term used in a neutral context to refer to black people, as a variation of theSpanish/Portuguese noun negro, a descendant of the Latin adjective niger, meaning the colour "black").[1][2][3][4][5]


In practice, its use and meaning are heavily dependent on context.[5] Presently, the word nigga is used more liberally among younger members[6] of all races and ethnicities in the United States, although its use by persons not of African descent is still widely viewed as unacceptable and hostile, even when used without intentional prejudice. In addition to African Americans, other ethnic groups[7][8] have adopted the term as part of their vernacular.


So an obvious difference between the two words. As there should be because they have two totally different meanings. In actuality there are three different words you see here:</sup>

• Nigger - derogatory towards people of African decent
• Nigga - derogatory towards people of African decent if you aren't black
• Nigga - from one black person to the other means "dude" or "friend"

So anytime anyone of any race calls a black person a nigger, it is derogatory. If I say to someone black, "whats up my nigga?" that is derogatory. If two black people say to each other, "whats up nigga?" that is completely acceptable.

So i asked a few African Americans why this is acceptable and the majority told me "you don't/wouldn't understand."

I did however get one educated answer, "because the word doesn't have any power over me and by using it with my fellow Africans shows that it no longer expresses ownership."

I appreciated the response because it actually gave me something to think about, and was a much better answer than  "you don't/wouldn't understand."

However, after thinking about it I have to ask the question. He said to me that it no longer shows ownership. But when I look at the phrase "whats up my nigga?" I see "whats up MY nigga?" Isn't that expressing ownership or am I missing something? Lets check wikipedia again.

MY or my commonly refers to the first-person, possessive adjective in the English language, see I (pronoun).

Possessive adjective. Now I am confused again. I am back to square one of not knowing why its not ok for me to say it. 

I also asked some people who aren't of African decent what they thought and one response intrigued me. He told me that he thinks they use it amongst each other and don't allow us to use it as a way of saying "haha look what we can do and you cant." 

So is that true? Do black people feel that because we are past slavery and they have overcome that part of history its now OK to throw it in our faces? I think this one depends on the type of person also. I'm sure some black people think this way, and I'm sure some don't. 

I found a quote from a black college professor online:

"I believe that if an African American decides to freely and openly used the N word in conversation he is proving that he is uneducated and has not moved on from the terrible past of our race."

Ill finish this one off on that quote. 

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