I find the evolving use of words, especially offensive terms, interesting. The “n-word” is particularly interesting because it has become so commonly used among some black people that I think it’s going to become no longer offensive to most, including white people. I even think white people will start using it the same way blacks do, with no racial connotation at all. I’ve already seen that happening.
Today I stumbled on a video of a drunken fight among young white people. They taunted each other using that word. Not a black person around - both the speaker and the target of the word were white. I’ve also seen white people use it as a greeting, as in “my n*gga.” It’s total acceptance among some blacks and in hip-hop culture is leaking into white society (like so many other things have done in our history).
I think it will always remain a taboo word for many people, black and white, but a subset will start using it this way.
It will probably lead to a few awkward moments and many fistfights when whites use it among blacks, though. But I bet there are black and white friends who use it with each other already out there, with the understanding that it is okay because they are friends.
I could see “Nigga” being accepted widely used among whites. Don’t think “nigger” will ever make the cut.
When I was a teenager, I had both a black friend and a Mexican friend. When the three of us got together, and started busting each other’s chops as teenaged boys often do, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, was off limits. Pejorative comments were often made towards each other’s race. It was all good fun (to us) at the time.
This is not something I would feel comfortable with as an adult. Even if we were friends and even if it were in jest.
Hmmm. I think many people won’t see the difference. I doubt a white person could go up to a black person today and say “hey, nigga!” and then say “It’s okay, I used the one with an -a instead of -er.”
Exactly.
I would feel comfortable making jokes like that, but probably not using certain words or certain subjects I might have used as a kid.
Of course not today. I inferred from your OP that you were asking if it would ever become accepted. As in far off into the future. To which I say “Sure, it’s possible”
Once upon a time, “Copper” was considered a pejorative. And not something that you would wants to say to a police officer.
Today, “Cops” is a widely accepted. In fact, a lot of folks don’t even know it used to be a pejorative.
Sorry, I meant to say that in the future, I doubt one will be acceptable and the other not. I don’t think of them as different. But hey, now that I think about it, maybe it would happen. Maybe it is how it would happen.
Yeah, that’s a good example. I’m sure there are many others.
That’s been my observation as well growing up in the South. I’ve been called “nigger” and “nigga” FAR more times than I’ve been called a “cracker” or a “honkey.” It’s usually when I was growing up playing sports and the majority of times it was meant as nothing more than the way a white guy would say “dude” or “bro” Even the white folks who played sports with a lot of black players used the words casually. Context is key and that is why I always find it quite odd for the SJW to say that a particular word or symbol is ALWAYS racist, sexist, or hateful. Context is always key.
Past the age of 13 or so I wasn’t very comfortable using the word much because my mom was very big on preaching that people should be treated as individuals and that words such as that were racist slurs and shouldn’t be used. That said, urban culture which I’ve had a lot of exposure to, including living with black families as a youth for nearly two years highlights the differences between theory and reality in how words are used.
When I was growing up for a bit I had a ghetto pass lol.
I think there is a bit of false dichotomy that is perpetuated for the differences between the declensions. Tone of voice and context are far more important than the “a” or the “er.”
On the subject of jokes, I will joke about anything to anyone unless I think or know that a particular topic is sensitive to one of them at which case I’m respectful of their sensitivities. I err on the side of caution though.
This has been the case for at least 20 years. It’s a word; it has a particular usage in particular communities. If you’re from that community, white or black, that’s the language you use.