Thursday, June 15, 2006

Nigger

I'm sick of this shit.

There is no difference in definition between "nigger" and "nigga." Don't fool yourself.

People can say what they want to, but I'm sick of Black people referring to themselves and each other that way. Honestly, that shit looks and sounds ignorant as hell. I just read somebody's blog where the word was getting tossed around like it was nothing.

I get the whole "reclaim and redefine the word" thing. It still bothers the hell out of me and sends the wrong message.

Now we've got a bunch of young, white folks out there, who aren't necessarily racist, but feel it's cool to call each other "nigga." Some of'em even call their Black associates the same thing... sometimes with the associates' permission.

I'd rather see the word disappear (which is unlikely) than to see it supposedly redefined and recycled in this way.

3 comments:

Nika Laqui said...

The word doesn't bother me, because its a word, just like the word bitch...

However, if you treat me like a bitch then I will take offense...same with the word nigga...

BTW, thanks for your comment on my blog...

West said...

Thanks for yours, including your response to my post.

Grown folks are gonna do what grown folks do. There's no stopping that.

My personal opinion, though, is that we do more harm than not by using this word to describe each other. My feelings are still somewhat mixed on the subject, but of late, I'm moving well into the "anti-Nigger" camp.

Thanks, again.

West said...

The following was copied & pasted from a conversation I had with someone in another forum:

"HIM: I'm guessing that you don't think it's funny at all?

ME: It can be absolutely hilarious.
But it can be a fine line (with respect to jokes, anyway).

I can laugh at a Black comedian, like Chappelle, doing a skit in which his character says 'nigger,' for humor's sake.
I'm much less likely to laugh at a comedian doing stand-up, who refers to Black folks (including him- or herself) as 'niggers.'

It really can come down to intent and delivery. But, in general, I'm getting tired of it. Besides the ignorant angle, it's also bleeding over into other cultures and generations who don't get the unspoken rules.

Maybe it's time to do away with those 'rules.'

I VERY rarely use it. When I do, it's never out of anger or anything. It's mostly parody humor, but even then, I tend to feel kinda bad about it.

I just read something, that day, that was the straw that broke the camel's back and I had to speak up about it.

HIM: I understand that the word is a harsher term to you than it is to me. When I hear someone say "White Boy" it pisses me off, even if it is in a funny context."


[ME: Hehe. I can certainly understand that, although I admit to being guilty of using that one on very rare occasions.]