Who Can Say the "N-Word?"

Comments · 16

• YO

  @Yoli-e9x · 11 days ago

  My mom grew up in Tennessee so I heard it used a lot by family members but I personally never used it. My father never used it and he was raised in Philly.<br>It’s another thing that distracts black people from focusing on the real issues keeping black Americans in poverty and dealing with the fact that we are not being properly educated.

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• MA

  @malaikasmith3949 · 11 days ago

  We did not grow up using it. I am working on my nephews who have picked it up.

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• KC

  @KCStuffedAnimal · 9 days ago

  We not only need to talk about people feeling entitled to call Black people the N-word, we also need to talk about entitlement to using the B-word referring to Black women. And reform needs to begin at home! Too many Black men have forgotten how to address Sisters with respect.

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• RH

  @RheaWilliams-w4q · 7 days ago

  Thanks for doing this discussion because this is an ongoing issue for black peoples in America but it effects global blacks too. I agree with and understand all of you guys’ point of views.

• AL

  @AlluminaOnyxia · 10 days ago

  I see the controversy around the n-word as being part of a discrepancy in understanding. Where we are acting like Black race is an identity marker. It doesnt make sense. These contradictions keep coming up because race is not an identity for Black people. It&apos;s a grouping without a stable internal foundation. Thats why they had to come up with the one-drop rule to enforce it. That&apos;s why there are so much stereotypes and propaganda involved. <br><br>The n-word is not a powerful word. It never was. The gun is powerful. The mind games are powerful. The willingness to be brutal is a very basic way of taking power. That word never was powerful, it&apos;s an external label. Reusing it for ourselves and saying it&apos;s something different because its coming from us now, is clear signs of traumatic confusion. We are addicted to using it. That doesnt make it right. It&apos;s not a sign of healing. Instead it shows us as being under the heel of the system. Until we understand- and work from a more accurate understanding of what we have in common- rather than believing it is an identity, these unresolved conflicts will persist. We are raced externally and have labeled that race as Black. However, among us are those who internalize the race aspects, those who do not do such, and many who have found ways to wear it (like a hat) when that works for them. When we seek community for example.<br><br> Identity is such an internal and individual concept that it cannot be fitting. Years ago there was an online agenda pushing people to reject Black as a descriptor. They claimed the word is bad and a curse on our people. That we will be freed if we shun and reject this word. But the arguments against that logic fell short. They should not have, but they did. In history there were naturally occuring identities of Blackness. That&apos;s not what we have here. This is an unnatural grouping of exploited people. The parameters of identity do not fit within the race grouping. The n-word conflict is a direct result of the fact that we are not living out our lives through an identity that we each own. But are occupied internally by an assigned classification of social value to the system. Imo. I could be mistaken, but thats how I see it.

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• ER

  @ericwilliams1023 · 11 days ago

  No one should say it..However, a Puerto Rican in the Bronx who hangs Black men in the Bronx projects will not only say it, he will be called a ninja too. <br>Also know your audience. For example my twin brother and i grew up in Jerzy on the 80&apos;s and 90&apos;s and said it every day all day BUT I never said it one time in front of my older brother who was raised in the South and was called &nbsp;NIGGER by white folks before. Same w my Mom who saw the KKK before in the South.<br>Mind you as almost 50 year old man I no longer use it and my kids are not allowed to use it. <br><br>Side note, listen to Untitled album by Nas for some interesting perspectives.

• MO

  @moviechick007 · 10 days ago

  The origin of the word is all we (Black people) need to know. &nbsp;Don&apos;t say it. &nbsp;I tried it once in the 70s casually in a phone conversation with my cousin. &nbsp;I &nbsp;tried to use that word in my response to what she was saying. Let me tell you 50 years later, I am still disgusted with myself, and the reaction of my throat and my soul remains with me. IOW, don&apos;t do it.

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• CA

  @carolyndavis7785 · 10 days ago

  So this conversation is over a decade too late. &nbsp;I live in small town East TX and well over 10 yrs ago Hispanic students were using this word like it belonged to them. Same with blacks. Neither are about to change.

• MA

  @marshatacaradine9459 · 11 days ago

  We don&apos;t use it in our home and we don&apos;t encourage our children to use it.

• RE

  @ReginaClarkeScharf · 11 days ago (edited)

  The red hat is a complete distraction…can’t even finish watching this…such a contradiction to the dialogue. 😬

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