# Is it ok for a white guy to call another white guy "niggah"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249 "2004-09-05T19:45:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/21 "2004-09-05T21:05:41Z")
It is never acceptible for a white guy to use any variation on that term. Black guys shouldn’t use it either. ---
**Author:** ![JamieC588](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/90db22/32.png) [@JamieC588](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JamieC588)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/22 "2004-09-05T21:11:33Z")
I never said it was acceptable, people, go back and read the damn post. But they do say it. A lot. It isn’t right. I cant say nigger or niggah, but crackah gets used a lot around here even in public. _What I’m saying is they get pissed off when someone uses a derogatory word against them but then they use one against whites._ How the f\*\*k is that right? :rolleyes: It might be a “silly” argument, but you have to admit, there is a point to it. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/23 "2004-09-05T21:17:45Z")
Where – aside from the occassional social security aged brother who’s still mentally living in 1979 – do you se black people call white people crackers? **Jaime,** why not go ahead and spend the bucks and get a SDMB membership? Between this thread and the GQ forum on intelligence, humans and animals you seem to be making yourself quite at home around here. ---
**Author:** ![smartini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@smartini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartini)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/24 "2004-09-05T21:20:20Z")
No. It’s not ok. Further, my bet is that you know it is not ok. What are you asking for here? Absolution? Inflammatory words which serve nothing but to denigrate a group of people, regardless of who they are, have no place in your vocabulary. Use the better words you already know or learn some new words. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/25 "2004-09-05T21:42:59Z")
> [@JamieC588](#): > > I never said it was acceptable, people, go back and read the damn post. You said it was “okay.” I said it wasn’t okay. > [@](#): > > But they do say it. A lot. It isn’t right. I cant say nigger or niggah, but crackah gets used a lot around here even in public. _What I’m saying is they get pissed off when someone uses a derogatory word against them but then they use one against whites._ How the f\*\*k is that right? :rolleyes: It isn’t right. > [@](#): > > It might be a “silly” argument, but you have to admit, there is a point to it. What exactly is your point? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/26 "2004-09-05T21:45:46Z")
Just call your homie “nucca”. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/27 "2004-09-05T22:21:34Z")
While you’re at it, maybe you should call your girlfriend a “beotch,” too. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/28 "2004-09-05T22:40:54Z")
> [@JamieC588](#): > > But they do say it. A lot. It isn’t right. I cant say nigger or niggah, but crackah gets used a lot around here even in public. _What I’m saying is they get pissed off when someone uses a derogatory word against them but then they use one against whites._ So get pissed off at them for saying “cracker” - problem solved then, right? ---
**Author:** ![J.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f04885/32.png) [@J.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J.Me)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/29 "2004-09-05T22:52:32Z")
“Nigger” “Nigga” “Honkey” “Cracker” etc. I imagine I’ll get a beating for this, but…they really are just words. Use them if you want to. Just know that anyone standing within earshot, no matter who he or she is, may be offended by them. And, with options come consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/30 "2004-09-05T23:17:45Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > It is never acceptible for a white guy to use any variation on that term. > > Black guys shouldn’t use it either. Do you mean that literally? It is **never** acceptable? Suppose I were reading Huckleberry Finn out loud to an audience. Should I Baudlerize it? Or I was an actor playing the role of a Ku Klux Klansman? I am very suspicious of any such prohibitions that include “never.” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/31 "2004-09-05T23:24:34Z")
> [@trandallt](#): > > Do you mean that literally? It is **never** acceptable? Suppose I were reading Huckleberry Finn out loud to an audience. Should I Baudlerize it? Or I was an actor playing the role of a Ku Klux Klansman? I am very suspicious of any such prohibitions that include “never.” you know exactly what I mean: It is never acceptable for a white guy to use any variation of that word directed to or about any person, other than academic usage, quotations, etc nitpicky ceteral. Twit. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/32 "2004-09-05T23:30:12Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > you know exactly what I mean: It is never acceptable for a white guy to use any variation of that word directed to or about any person, other than academic usage, quotations, etc nitpicky ceteral. > > Twit. Well actually I didn’t, but I am very sorry to have offended you. I hardly think that name-calling was justified, however. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/33 "2004-09-05T23:42:33Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > you know exactly what I mean: It is never acceptable for a white guy to use any variation of that word directed to or about any person, other than academic usage, quotations, etc nitpicky ceteral. > > Twit. Now that I’ve thought about it I have a quibble with this as well. It is acceptable for me and anyone else (for example a black person) to communicate in any way that we see fit. If we both agree to the use of the word I fail to see where you or anyone else has any standing to prohibit such usage. ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/34 "2004-09-05T23:51:13Z")
I admit to saying it to my brother on the phone, but only in a very well worked on indian accent (like apu on the simpsons). I’d never consider using it in public because it might be offensive and I’d at least run the risk of looking stupid. That being said, they’re all just words. If I hear one guy refer to another guy as a pollock I doubt I’d get very offended. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/35 "2004-09-06T00:03:46Z")
Me and my friends are heavily addicted to The Chapelle Show. We’ve watched the Lil John and Rick James skits no less than 7,000 times. Sometimes, where we’re ending a phone call we’ll say “Bye nigger!” just like Lil John does in the skit. Sometimes, we’ll even go through the whole skit (“Sometimes, I sit on my hand and wait til it’s get numb and masturbate. I call it the stranger. Do you ever give yourself a stranger?”) If you think that makes us racist or ignorant, fine. No, not fine, actually, go fuck yourself. Stupid? Maybe. Funny? Probably only to us. Racist? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/36 "2004-09-06T00:11:03Z")
> [@Rooves](#): > > (like apu on the simpsons). You do realise that Apu sounds like a Frenchman trying to sound like a Welsh man, doing a very bad impression of a Bangladeshi curry-house waitor? Just IMO, naturalyy… ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/37 "2004-09-06T00:12:34Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > What about the word ‘niggah’ in general? What if you’re white, walking down the street, and your little old grandmother asks you what NWA stands for? “Northwest Airlines, Grandma.” [www.nwa.com](http://www.nwa.com) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/38 "2004-09-06T00:16:48Z")
> [@Rooves](#): > > I admit to saying it to my brother on the phone, but only in a very well worked on indian accent (like apu on the simpsons). > > I’d never consider using it in public because it might be offensive and I’d at least run the risk of looking stupid. > > That being said, they’re all just words. If I hear one guy refer to another guy as a pollock I doubt I’d get very offended. Would I be offended by any of these insensitive racial comments? No, probably not. Do I assume the user is some kind of idiot (I overuse that word) who has trouble expressing him/herself in any other way? Yeah, I do. Unlike expletives (shit, fuck, damn, and the others), racial slurs add nothing positive to language. And they’re so easy to avoid. If I’m reading Huck Finn or anything alse and come to such a word, I’ll go ahead and read it, then pause then and there to express my opinion on such language. If the author, or anyone else, doesn’t like it, tough shit. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/39 "2004-09-06T00:23:37Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Would I be offended by any of these insensitive racial comments? No, probably not. Do I assume the user is some kind of idiot (I overuse that word) who has trouble expressing him/herself in any other way? Yeah, I do. > Unlike expletives ( **shit** , fuck, damn, and the others), racial slurs add nothing positive to language. And they’re so easy to avoid. > If I’m reading Huck Finn or anything alse and come to such a word, I’ll go ahead and read it, then pause then and there to express my opinion on such language. If the author, or anyone else, doesn’t like it, tough **shit**. ( Bolding mine0 Well I’ve already been a nitpicky twit in this thread so I guess it’s O.K. to get whoshed as well. This is a whoosh, right? ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249/40 "2004-09-06T01:42:37Z")
The black community as a whole chose to make “niggah” part of its lexicon, and black youth use it in reference to each other all the time. Now that hip-hop and gangsta rap culture has been marketed to and absorbed by white youth, the time for getting offended at hearing white boys call each other “niggah” in public as a term of endearment is over. If they don’t like it, they shouldn’t use the damn word all the time themselves. There IS a difference between “nigger” and “niggah.” I hate to argue semantics but people, if you have any doubts say the two words out loud yourself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-for-a-white-guy-to-call-another-white-guy-niggah/263249.md?page=3)