Actually, I voted to excise “niggah” from the Black Community platform at the last convention, so don’t blame me.
Paul almost had a point there, I think. The word has taken on non-racist meanings, and if you don’t mean anything racist by it I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying it. Do I think it sounds dumb? Well, yeah, it sounds like you’re trying too hard to be cool. Might you get into trouble for saying it around the wrong people? Absolutely. So while I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying it, you probably shouldn’t (in public) just the same.
Problem is, no they didn’t. No one asked, nor did they get permission from, all blacks to use the term.
I wouldn’t call women “bitches,” I wouldn’t call blacks “niggahs,” and I wouldn’t call homosexuals “queers” or “fags.” Not in public, no matter how funny it might seem at the time, or how much the terms have been supposedly popularized or mass-marketed.
Just because you hear something crude on TV and it gets some yucks doesn’t make it acceptable for normal public usage.
I’m watching Dave Chappelle right now and he’s slingin’ it left and right. He makes it sound cool, and along with its pervasive use in hip hop, the word “niggah” is getting a lot of spin, not all of it negative. Quite the contrary, in fact. Is it any wonder white kids want to say it? Been borrowing cool from black culture for how long?
I had an incident last year where and African American student used the word “niggah” casually-- I think he was actually talking about a white character in a book and referred to him as “that niggah” He didn’t mean anything offensive by it, it just rolled off his tongue. I had to ask him not to use that word, and he was astonished and asked why. I asked him how he’d feel if someone called him “niggah,” and he said, as long as they didn’t mean anything by it, he wouldn’t care. I had to explain it to him that this was a fine line to walk for me, and I couldn’t condone anyone using that word b/c it could easily get out of hand. He understood that and let it go.
What this illustrated to me is that the word “niggah” is in this transitional state in the language. It used to be horribly offensive and still can easily be used that way, but like the word “bitch,” it is being co-opted and is starting to move away from its highly charged meaning into the realm of common slang. I still don’t think it’s ready for prime time, if you know what I mean, and I personally wouldn’t bust it out in mixed company (or any company, though YMMV), but you can’t close the barn door when the horse is already out.
And he’s gotten some negative criticism for it, too. Interviewers refer to Richard Pryor’s decision to stop using the word, but Dave says that times have changed.
I’m white, and I think it’s a horrible slang term. To me it’s more of a profanity. I know it’s all the rage for young black people to “own” it and call each other that. But as an old fuddy duddy, who grew up when it was considered not just derogatory, but a rather filthy word, it really makes my skin crawl to hear it.
Except that it’s not. That’s just some ridiculous post-modern rationalization for a centuries-old bad habit.
I have no doubt about that, which is why I said not all of it was negative.
And Chappelle’s right. We all here on the SDMB might reflexively hate the sound of that word, but it’s pervasive in popular youth culture right now. Hip hop is the music of the young, and it’s definitely not exclusive to the black community-- it seems that everyone listens to it now (including me; I’m not all that young, but as a teacher I want to know what the kids are listening to). It’s what’s freshest artistically right now in many ways, and consequently, the word “niggah” is in heavy rotation and is coming to mean something else.
Perhaps the reason for this change of meaning is the fact that the kids who are coming up right now weren’t around for the civil rights movement, Jim Crow, and open racism everywhere. Not that racism is gone, far from it, but things have changed and these kids have a different perspective on race relations than most of us do. The change in the word “niggah” is emblematic of this shift in perspective. Doesn’t mean I’m going to start using it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it eventually took on another, less offensive meaning entirely, and a guy like the OP were able to use it casually with his friends with impunity.
But to answer the OP, no, it is not okay (IMHO).
The use of ‘niggah’ in hip-hop/pop culture is nothing new. Straight Outta Compton features it heavily, and it turns fifteen this year.
Straight Outta Compton being, of course, by NWA, hence my earlier question. (NWA is ‘Niggaz With Attitudes’)
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Correct spelling is nigga, not niggah.
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The word has loaded connotations that someone white basically can’t get away with. Just as women call each other ‘bitches’ and ‘sluts’ without added perjorative – if a man does it, it’s more profane.
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Rather than argue whether the use is okay or not, I’d question the practicality and safety of using it. If the most successful white rapper in history can’t use the term withut censure, what chance do you got, skippy?
If you really want a pet name for your friends, just call them “honey”.
Not because nigga is particularily offensive but chances are you’ll sound just as ridiculous using it as you would the above mentioned “honey”. Kind of like Kenny (Seth Green) and his crew in that “Can’t Hardly Wait” movie. Complete with moon boots and goggles. That’s an interesting visual. 
Well said.
Hey if it’s between you and your buddy wheather you’re in public or private who the fuck cares if they get offended. Nobody is asking them to easedrop in on your conversation. (Just as long as you’re not being loud and obnoxious about it.)
Now obviously to walk up to a total strager and start calling him nigga’; well that’s another story all together.
Alot of uptight pretentious folks in this thread…
Good point. Could you imagine two black people calling each other honky?
I checked the OP’s location, assuming it’d be some whitewashed ghost town in the middle of nowhere, only to find out that he lives a scant few miles away. :o
:shivers:
I don’t know about pretentious, but I was surprised by a lot of the responses here. A lot of judgmental posting for sure.
No, reclaiming terms actually seems to be a pretty popular concept these days.
I know what some people call it, what do you think I was referring to? I’m aware of the misguided and viral misrepresenation of the blacks using “nigger” phenomenon. It’s stupid that other “groups” are trying to consciously do the same, when it doesn’t even make sense. What does “reclaiming terms” even mean? It just screams overly-academic BS.
I don’t thing you can eavesdrop in public. Not unless you actually, like, lean in or something. There’s no assumption of privacy when out and about IMO.
Reminds me of the time I was leaning against a building when this woman walked up, opened up her phone, and snottily asked if I was going to move away and allow her some privacy.
The world’s changing too fast for me, I guess.
Peace,
mangeorge
Exactully!