• Eheran@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    How does saying “the N word” mean someone is “not white”?

    But yes, nice if real.

    • darthsid@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      The N word is used by 3 demographics - black people, racist people and 12 year olds playing COD

      • Mango@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        How dare you put black people in the same category with racists and my wife’s boyfriend!?

        • darthsid@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          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.

          • Localhorst86@feddit.org
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            3 months ago

            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

            • darthsid@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              Haha I could’ve structured that better - in this case I’ve said “not use that word to describe black people”, should work no? Or maybe I’m missing something??

              • Soup@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                It’s “mathematically” correct but the extra “not” gets easily lost and is in a weird place. Plus it’s not specifically respectful to avoid the use of the word but rather it’s just common decency. In your sentence it puts more weight on the act of not saying it, as if using it is fairly normal and not using it takes some amount of effort.

                It is usually better to use phrases like “it is considered disrespectful” over ones like “it is not considered respectful” even though they technically mean the same thing. The first is postively a bad thing and the second is negatively a particularly good thing, if that makes sense. Nuance is tricky business.

              • Localhorst86@feddit.org
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                3 months ago

                oh, i see. You’re right, I guess I misread.

                I think “it is considered extremely disrespectful for anyone who is not black to use that word […]” would have been clearer, or at least make it harder to miss the “not”.

        • rtxn@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          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.

          • Rhaedas@fedia.io
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            3 months ago

            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.

            • egrets@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              “Reclaim” is still the term we use for that, even though just “claim” or “seize” might be more fitting. See also

              homophobic slur

              removed

              which some LGBT+ people use in an almost tongue-in-cheek way to refer to themselves and each other, as a way to invert and defang the hostility with which it is used by bigots.

              • Seleni@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                Huh, your slur got removed. Didn’t realize World did that, thought it was just ml or something.

                • egrets@lemmy.world
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                  3 months ago

                  Yeah, that was news to me, I wasn’t sure if it was just my client. I’m not complaining - but I’ve been half-expecting an automatic ban!

        • lobut
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          3 months ago

          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.

          • fsxylo@sh.itjust.works
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            3 months ago

            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.

            • USSMojave@startrek.website
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              3 months ago

              As a white person in a committed relationship with a black person, no. It’s always a trap! Never say it! (Jk I know everyone is different, but I will never)

            • Shapillon@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              As is any reclaimed slur when you’re not part of said social minority. (e.g. removed, dyke…)

              Ninja edit: Lmao I’m getting censored by either the lemmy instance or my 3rd party app (Jerboa). For reference it was f*****

        • TrousersMcPants@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          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!

          • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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            3 months ago

            Coming from a non anglo culture let me tell you, that debate about the use of the n-word doesn’t go the same way everywhere because the historic background is vastly different…

          • Vaquedoso@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            The only country where it had these historical negative connotations is the USA, so he might be from literally any other country on earth

            • TrousersMcPants@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              There are countries that are probably more aware of the connotations through their connection to the US, I figured.

    • FireTower@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago
      1. You aren’t allowed to / really shouldn’t be say it if you aren’t Black.

      2. Presumably under this notion someone anonymous who says it should be abiding that cultural norm.

      3. Meaning that if an anonymous person is saying it and you expect them to abide that norm it’d be reasonable to assume they’re Black.

      • Mango@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        I’m really still in the camp that there are no bad words. Only bad intent. That said, I’ve got no use for the word. It’s practically a worthless word.

        • candybrie@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Slurs about a community are often not to be said by anyone but a person in that community trying to reclaim the slur. Maybe it should be “no one is allowed to say slurs,” but there seems to be healing involved in taking back those words.

        • SolOrion@sh.itjust.works
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          3 months ago

          It’s a slur so… saying it is what makes people think you’re racist lol.

          I generally assume if someone is using the n-word anonymously that they’re either black or a racist.

          It’s not like people have arbitrarily decided that only asians can say the word refrigerator- there’s history behind the word.

        • zzx@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          It has a lot to do with the word being used pretty recently historically in a horrible context.

          Also keep in mind that in the US, there are genuinely still plenty of actually racist people. In fact, there are still people using the slur as a slur. I don’t think it’s very odd culturally if you consider this.

    • xantoxis@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      It’s less that “white people never say the N word” and more that you absolutely should not be following someone if you believe they’re as racist as that.

    • MNByChoice@midwest.social
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      3 months ago

      Begs the question.

      In the USA, are there more black people using the N-word, or racists using the N-word?

      • thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        hmmm, as a percentage of the population and when considering frequency? probably black people. in plain numbers, probably the racists.

        • DokPsy@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          When discussing frequency of an action, it’s usually helpful to focus on per capita. This is one of those rare times where both raw numbers and per capita tell interesting stories.

  • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
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    3 months ago

    Yikes… So they followed someone they thought was racist? I get the feeling they, too, might be racist.

  • RBG@discuss.tchncs.de
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    3 months ago

    Doesn’t actively research their mutuals’ races and being so shocked someone isn’t white that you have to make a post about it… does not go quite together for me.

    If that’s too complicated for a sentence, dude’s a racist.