N-Word, Is it too late to turn back now?

[RedPapaG]

Is it really the case that young black people dont know what the word means? Myself, I dont use the word, unless its in a song, but, I dont use racial terms anyway! It does not offend me, but I do understand the wait of history attached to it.... But like the last speaker says, it wont be going away!

[bmstv]

This was a discussion not a debate. People expressed their views on this issue. If no one was in support of using the n word than so be it. Why don't you post a video with you defending the use and see how many people will call your argument foolish..

[playersposse]

this is a one sided debate. where are the panelist that support the use of the word?

if you're gonna have a debate have an impartial one. this is foolishness

[royalcoils100]

@playersposse I think it wld be a humilating sight,to see ANY black person sitting on tv defending the word nigger!What does that say abt that individual,surely we all kno where it came from,I wld suggest you do some research my brotha and find out abt the hideous pain an torture associated with the word.

[ballpark4]

They show me images of Black bodies swinging from trees and say Dont say nigga the word nigger didnt do that, some racist White man did, the word Nigga doesnt discriminate against me when Im applying for jobs, the word Nigga didnt shoot at Shawn Bell 50 times, the word Nigga didnt shoot Amadu Diallo 19 times, the word Nigga didnt kill Robert Stansberry, White people filled with prejudice, racism, and ubethejudge2b (.) blogspot (.) com/2007/09/can-i-call-you-nig­ga-now (.) html

[kd5gua]

Why do so many african americans kill other african americans? Is it self-loathing?

[ballpark4]

cuz it is what is taught in schools, on tvs, in church, etc etc etc .

If you take an unbiased look at his story you will see it is self relevant

P.s check out the word negus to see where the orgins of the word nigger its not even bad :O)) cheers, Bp4

[RedPapaG]

@ballpark4 Its not only white people who are racist!

[KevinLounsberry]

Words themselves are not what carry pain or compliments, words are just sounds put in succession. It's the user's intention of the word. Now people fighting to make a word more offensive?

Words change over time, they shift languages, they shift meanings and they shift uses. I am of European lineage, so of course I don't use it. The current use of the word only permits it to be friendly coming from people of African lineage.

Name calling cannot happen without names to call.

[endtimesculture]

That word must be destroyed. It represents the total rape of a people and the fact that we use it as a term of endearment is proof of the mass depression that has afflicted the American black community. We have turned on ourselves and are doing exactil what the MAN wants us to do.

[endtimesculture]

I hate to say it but when hip hop has so much to do with this. White producers saw a way to make loot by using the word nigger and they have exploited so many young minds to make money. The proliferation of this word has servrd the white infrastructure by reinforcing racial stereotypes witch whether they realize it or not gives license to others to still feel superior to us. they gotta be thinking, look at them they call themselves niggers we must've been right all the time.

[foxchase313]

hahahahaha good one! hahahahahah

[ohpleasz]

There's absolutely nothing cool about being a nigger...sorry that such ignorance is endorsed so heavily by black people. Bigger or bigga...nigger or nigga...sugar or suga...there is no way to sugar coat a synonym. If bigger and bigga hold the same meaning but a slight difference in sound, then the word nigga holds no different of a meaning than nigger. So where is the pride in being called a nigga??? Mispronunciation does not change the meaning...only the sound of the word spoken.

[true2daeyes]

omg...i totally agree. The fact that (some of) our people would take a word used to degrade them and use it so loosely and carelessly is complete ignorance no matter how 'educated' they think they are. If they truly knew their ancestry and what they went through, they would not take light of the word.

[spinningstarr]

let someone call me a nigger I will and have bitch slapped a brutha for it as fast as a white guy.I am not your fucking nigger No white man has ever called me a nigger but I have bitch slapped the piss out of many a black man for it. Fuck you My Great great grandmother was a slave and they called her nigger I am not your nigger i do not give a fuck what color you are

[BigDeezNU]

I find myself on middle ground in this debate, I use the word nigger, in all it's forms I listen to the music and I believe there is a cultural shift of meaning of the word in the way it is adopted. A black man saying nigga to another black man is the same to me as a European talking about fags and meaning cigarettes. The word intrinsicly has no value it get's the value assigned to it. I see the modern movement as an effort to take the venom out of the word and conquer it.

[bwilli123]

This word only has as much power as we give it. Rap has made being a nigga the coolest thing to be in the world. I learned the word nigga from my elders. Question, why should we stop using a WORD when the attitude still permeates? Hearing white people say nigger is sord of comforting to me in a way because it lets me know where I stand with them. I'd much rather hear them say it than not hearing them say it but thinking it.

[victornewman06]

Very good dialogue.

[shep32265]

added 3/17/07 and only 4 comments shows that know one really cares well I for one do

[harlemharlem]

i agree with hassani pettiford

[h3llb3ast]

its weird cause the black people that use the word nigger tend to be the only ones I consider niggers.

[funcds]

Well said. Thugs in general.

[deathwish475]

The rap music made that word worst.

[spanishliljon]

what rap music? That commercialised trash you see on television? Not that I'm justifying it but when Dead Prez use the N-word it is very different to when 50 Cent uses it.