I've been thinking, that if blacks all over the world intelligently replied to the person who called them that, and just shrugged it off before walking away, then that word would lose its power.. personally, i hate the word, but the one time i was called that, i responded, "you know, i am not going to give you the pleasure by acknowledging that insult, because the truth is, some part of you is so threatened by me, that you feel the need to make yourself feel better by trying to hurt me.. if you ask me, that makes you the n*****"

Whenever someone has tried to insult me or hurt me, i respond with intelligence not belligerence.. all the while refusing to acknowledge their comment in the first place.. that was why i responded to that person the way i did.. it is a shame that some of my peers do not realize that if you refuse to acknowledge it, then it loses its power... <= and that does more damage to the person, then any other combination of expletives i could ever think of.. that was my main point.. what is even worse is when you have some who say it amongst their own, and it is ok, but the moment someone else says it, then that person is instantly labeled as racist.. it is double-standards like this that nauseate me..

If they don't want other people to use it then don't use it yourself is all i am saying.. yes i am aware that some use a watered-down version of the word to describe or refer to their friends, where n***a = dude, pal or buddy.. because for some reason they believe that using anything else will make them less of a person.. pfft.. but personally, i don't use the n***a term..

If i am saying 'hey' to a friend, (who is a guy) then i'll say hey 'dude..' or 'bro' and if that friend is a girl then i'll say 'girlie' or 'chica' or 'sis' <= although, 'bro' and 'sis' are reserved for my best-friends, who i have known for a long time.. and consider them as an extension of my family... it really doesnt matter to me whether they are white, black, asian or hispanic.. and they reciprocate that term.. i have no problems with that, and neither do they.. but as i stated before, i hate the double-standard surrounding that word.. i think that one of the reasons that some blacks don't like it when other groups use that word to them or around them, is because they use it to seperate themselves from everybody else.. i mean think about it.. if everybody said hey ****a to everyone else then there would be one less thing that blacks can use to seperate themselves from other groups in this country.. and i really think that is stupid.

Personally, i rather they not use the word.. i dont care if you are black, white, pink, or yellow.. just dont use it.. but my theory is that some urbanized blacks use it to seperate themselves from the other groups in this country.. <= i also believe that they use 'slang' or 'ebonics' for the same purpose..i mean, most refer to their own as brother or sister.. as i have stated.. when i say bro or sis, it is not limited to my black friends.. that is the way i have always been..

What really gets me angry is how they'll call each other ni**er and laugh about it, but the moment a white person, or some other non-black says it, then they get angry.. NEWSFLASH!! if you don't want non-blacks to say it, then don't you use it your self.. it is a double standard and that is what pisses me off the most..

Honestly, i think that blacks need to come up with a better term when refering to their friends, and get over whatever hangup they have with saying 'buddy,' 'pal,' or 'dude' <= because for some reason they believe that using anything else than n***a make them less of a person.. at least, that is the attitude that i get from the people around me have when ever they hear me greeting a friend of mine without the use of "n***a.." i also think that when some non-blacks use it, they aren't necessarily being racist.. i think that they are just trying to 'fit in' as i said, blacks have a tendency to refer to their own, as 'brother' or 'sister' and it kinda feels like you are a part of a big family.. i mean who doesn't want to be part of a family? that is just my take on it..

What are your thoughts?

We say it as a compliment sometimes, when u have it with the -er then it will be offensive

-er and-a is the same thing -a for short so both is offensive

exactly.. what i dont get is how an entire group of people who once found the word to be so offensive, that it was in some cases the basis for murder, can turn around and capitalize on it.. that is why i do not listen to rap, and a lot of hip hop from today.. as i said before, i think that black people need to get rid of whatever problem they have with using "pal" , "friend" or "buddy" in reference to that and just leave the n-word alone period.. especially when they are so quick to cry "racist" the very moment someone of another race uses that word..

isn't that in itself racist? :ermm:

well u cant be a rasist to your own race

I am not being racist period. i am stating a fact.

I never called u a rasist

I did not say that you were.. I am just stating that i am not being racist.. I am being logical..

my step dad says "what up N****"

everytime he sees his brothers

strange

I think that blacks use that word to separate themselves from the other groups.. that is why they go ballistic if they see a white, or a hispanic person say it.. I have never seen two jews say "hey wassup kik*"

just like i have never seen 2 asians say "hey wassup chink"

have you?

it wasnt wassup but it was yo

i was in japan when i heard that

U could use a word like African American

Yea you can be racist towards your own race, one might hate there own race bad enough because what they went through that they might decide to think of there skin pigmentation as a disease

African American implies that all black come from Africa. What about the haitians, jamaicans, puerto ricans, domicans and people of middle eastern descent whom also share our skin color? Since all life initially started in Africa, does that mean that every body is African American?

In fact, there are a lot of blacks, who consider the term "African American" offensive and actually prefer the term "Black" :ermm:

You say i am being racist and yet you use a watered down version of the 'n' word, to compliment someone? :huh: wow..

Can you say, Uncle Ruckus? :whistle:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boondocks_(TV)

Yep uncle ruckas. This is why i say Black, and not african american, because you cant assume we all came from africa.

Oh and coolman, before you even think about drawing any conclusion to my post about uncle ruckus, and my posts above.. bdx and i have quite a few different ethnicities mixed in with our family, and even though these mixes make up a substantial percentage or our ethnicity, we say that we are black before anything else.

personally i hate the n-word, it should have been erased from history so that generations of people wouldn't have heard it, the word itself is derogatory and even using it amongst yourself is wrong, it encourages others to use it.

and when rappers/hip hop artists use it, you know their main gimmick is to sell music using it to appeal to the people. case in point- some one i hung out with a bit 5 years ago, he was heavy into the hiphop style, he dressed gangster, he talked it, and he acted it, problem is he uses the n-word with all his friends whether they be white like him or not, (see where i am going with this?)

Uncle ruckus is just a cartoon character

No.. really? :ermm:

I know that, but he represents the exact type of person that bdx made reference to.

okay, so to start off, i go to a prodominately black school so being white i get picked on.i do have black friends though, but i dislike ghetto ppl.they constanly use the "n" word, but i know if i ever said it, i'd get the crap beaten out of me, by many ppl.the "n" word is considered racist when uttered by anyone who isn't black, yet when ppl call white ppl cracker, whitey, etc. it's fine.that's kind of being a hypocrite.well, i hate both rap and hip hop like a few other ppl here.i'm just fed up w/ discrimination as a whole and racist slurs.well, i can't change the ppl around me so, i'll just have to deal.it makes me mad though when white ppl call blacks the "n" word when they don't even know them.i hate :angry: type of ppl

Agreed. Dr. King and Malcolm X would be appalled if they heard some of the shit that comes out of the mouths of today's black youth..

My neighbor had the balls to ask me why i was trying to be "white" just because i don't use slang, i don't listen to rap, i don't aspire to be someone's "baby mama" or a "video hoe" and have a large vocabulary..

Since when does being intelligent, and wanting to be more than what is expected of me, mean that i am trying to be "white?"

pplr stereotypical of how each race is supposed to be.ppl need to realize that white collar and intelligence isn't just for white ppl, duh!gosh, spme ppl can be so dense when it comes to racial exceptance...*sighs* btw, that "baby's mama" thing is funny and true.another reason why i hate rap and hip hop.

You can be racist to your own race... It's just dumb to be racist to your own race... Well it's dumb to be racist at all
Someone could say:
"All Britains are crap at football" And they may be british...

As i have stated in another topic, (i believe it was in rants in raves about stereotypes..) the media plays a key role in stereotyping.. I read about how Isaiah Washington (Dr. Preston Burke on Grey's Anatomy) said that he would never play the role of a thug, or a criminal, or a drug dealer again. I applaud him for this. and if the other famous black people did this more often instead of rapping about gangs, guns, and sex, and playing roles that perpetuate the stereotype about blacks, then that stereotype would die off, and people would have no choice but to get to know the people that they have stereotyped.

the media affects everything today.i don't want a world controlled by the media(GREEN DAY ROX![cuz that sentence was taken from American Idiot, kinda]) but that seems to be the way it is.oh gosh, i need to get to bed *yawns* :zzz: see ya all tommorrow(i might make a few posts b4 i go though) ;D