The N word is used by 3 demographics - black people, racist people and 12 year olds playing COD
You know how it is said words have power? The N word was used derogatively to refer to black people. I imagine black people grew real tired of that shit real quick. But over time, they fought back by depriving the derogatory nature of the N word by using it to refer to each other harmlessly. They owned the N word. Now, it is considered extremely respectful for anyone who is not black to not use that word to refer to black people without permission. Why? Because in being respectful to not using that word, you are acknowledging the plight of a generation of black people. That’s real classy.
Now, it is considered extremely respectful for anyone who is not black to not use that word to refer to black people without permission
looks like you’re missing a negation here. It’s the opposite of “extremely respectful” ;)
EDIT: disregard
Not really to your comment, but adjacent to it.
Here’s something that most people need to know: not all black people feel the same way about that word.
Some called me an “N-word” in a positive way and were okay with me using it around them (I wasn’t). Some only want other black people to use it. Some don’t want anybody saying it.
A lot of white men with a lot of black friends very often make one crucial error:
That N-pass is only good for your friends.
From Wiktionary (I’m not posting a link, look it up yourself):
There have been efforts by those of African descent to reclaim the word (especially in the form n___a), but these efforts are controversial and some people do not believe it is able to be reclaimed due to its fraught history and continued derogatory usage. Regardless, usage by non-blacks is still almost invariably considered highly racist and offensive.
That doesn’t seem to be a reclaiming of a word (since it wasn’t previously used in a good way), but a reuse of a historically insulting term. I can respect the effort, but I still cringe when hearing it used as an amiable word. I don’t know if that makes me racist because I have trouble moving past it being a slur and distasteful. Maybe it’s still too new and it’s going to take a few generations to become more normalized.
Can I ask where in the world you live? Not to be rude but just that I’m curious because this is one of those things that “everyone knows” in the US at least. Can’t listen to a lot of rap music without hearing it a lot!
The only country where it had these historical negative connotations is the USA, so he might be from literally any other country on earth