# Is it possible for a white person to use the n-word and not be a racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 19, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919 "2011-04-19T02:31:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/41 "2011-04-19T15:07:12Z")
My late Great Uncle said the same thing about nigger meaning just a bad person. His favorite “riddle” was “If a figger’s just a figger, then what’s a nigger?” The answer, “A nigger is a horrible person. They ain’t got to be black.” I never understood what was funny about it, but he was a drunk. And, yes, I know what a figger is. But if I spell the word properly, you miss the only point I can see in the joke–that the two words rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/42 "2011-04-19T15:09:17Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > This, I do agree with. I’m also curious if the OP defines herself as a racially sensitive white person. Not to be rude, **rachellelogram** but it’s a little weird that you go out of your way to talk about who is and isn’t sensitive and to say how it’s not just a word…but at the same time say that you’re still going to stick around a guild where people say this. If it really mattered to you, wouldn’t you just leave? She explained that. She said that, with the quality of the people playing, she doesn’t expect to be able to find a guild that would outlaw the term, at least not anytime soon. I bet she was hoping there was a Doper guild she could join and get away from this crap. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/43 "2011-04-19T15:12:12Z")
Yes. A white (or Asian or Hispanic or Amerindian or Australian Aboriginall) can use it under duress or in the context of bad humour (akin with joking about murder or etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/44 "2011-04-19T15:14:49Z")
It doesn’t just drive away black people, it drives away everybody…of color. There’s a reason why your guild is all white. I mean, I am not black but I am not likely to join a guild in which “nigger” or other racial [del]epitephs[/del]… [del] ephitephs[/del] _curses_ are being flung around willy-nilly. And actually, this is one of the major reasons I never play games online - the racist comments, and the teeny-bopper mentality. > [@Sarahfeena](#): > > I think this is being over-analyzed a bit in this thread. I don’t think it matters much if the person is a “real” racist. That word is rude, it’s ugly, it’s not acceptable to use. If I was around someone who was using it, I wouldn’t stick around any longer than that black guy did, because I don’t want to hear it, and I don’t want to hang around with people who think it’s an ok thing to say. ETA: And the above is part of it, too. It doesn’t matter why you are saying it. It still tells me I have no reason to hang around you, not even on an online guild. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/45 "2011-04-19T15:17:35Z")
Think about it this way…what would motivate a person to make racist comment if they’re not a racist? Probably it’s because he thinks it makes him sound cool, or it gives him cred with his friends. Is that something you want to be around? A bunch of people who think that’s cool? ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/46 "2011-04-19T15:17:52Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > The guild master is a racist too. > > I have been thinking about finding a new guild, but it’s frankly not easy to find a successful guild that outlaws this sort of chatter, in my experience. Skilled gamers tend to be young and egoistic. Also, I would feel like a better person if I got any of my guildmates to examine their speech and perhaps consider making a change. If I leave now I’d feel like a quitter when I might have the power to effect a change. > [@mil0](#): > > I’ve grappled with this for a while as a “serious” gamer. > > High-end gaming has a thick profanity-laced atmosphere when things aren’t going well. Keyboards are slammed, headsets thrown, egos crushed, and racial expletives are tossed around like nothing. It’s just the culture. I don’t think I’ve ever met a genuine racist gamer, but nearly all of them will on occasion color their language with “nigger,” “gook,” “faggot” etc. > > As for myself, I’ve been marinated in the culture from an early age and I can throw a vent-rage so outrageous that even Haley Barbour would denounce me. And honestly, I truly don’t believe I have a racist bone in my body. > > There really is no racist intent when these expletives getting thrown around. That’s what’s important to remember. So while to an outsider, it may seem like Ray is a _culturally tone-deaf, insensitive, moronic jackass and immature jerk,_ to Ray I’m sure it’s just frustration leaving the body. I play in a progression guild working on Heroic-mode raid encounters, and we have absolutely zero of this sort of behavior. Sure, we occassionally get a random “fuck” or “god damnit” or whatever, but all but a couple of the guild are adults. In fact, I can say with absolute certainty that anyone who made blatantly racist comments would get gkicked as fast as an officer found out, because they’ve done it in the past. The reason that sort of behavior gets tollerated is because of this idea that it has to exist, but there are plenty of high-end and mature raiding guilds out there, though, admittedly, there’s plenty of immature ones too. I strongly encourage you to look for other guilds because gaming, especially social gaming like WoW, is enormously more enjoyable when you can enjoy the social aspects of it. In fact, its not uncommon that I’ll stick around on Mumble even when I’m not in game chatting with guild members precisely because I enjoy the social environment that our guild has Specifically to the racist question, I do think it’s possible to say nigger and not be racist, but the examples given by the OP, while not necessarily racist in their initial intent, are equally as bad because of the complete lack of social awareness that goes along with it. I think racism necessarily requires a level of discrimination, consciously or not, which is exactly why saying nigger in a context such as this thread or as a greeting isn’t racist. However, even with it not necessarily intended as racist, that a black person would join the guild, get offended by the casual use of nigger, and then be told he’s an over-sensitive pussy pretty much means to me that they do, in fact, have underlying racist attitudes. That all said, I’ve never heard it thrown around in a gaming context, certainly no where near the level of words like fag or retard. So the idea that casual usage of racial slurs is somehow normal and others are being over-sensitive is just bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/47 "2011-04-19T15:20:11Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > Think about it this way…what would motivate a person to make racist comment if they’re not a racist? Probably it’s because he thinks it makes him sound cool, or it gives him cred with his friends. Is that something you want to be around? A bunch of people who think that’s cool? -Sarcasm -Humour -Anger -Ignorance (For instance there was a label to a furniture piece made in China that described the colour as “nigger brown”) ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/48 "2011-04-19T15:24:59Z")
It’s a word that has no place in modern language, other than to show that bigoted people lack a conscious. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/49 "2011-04-19T15:25:34Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > She explained that. She said that, with the quality of the people playing, she doesn’t expect to be able to find a guild that would outlaw the term, at least not anytime soon. I bet she was hoping there was a Doper guild she could join and get away from this crap. But she’s gone out of her way to paint her self as this sensitive, enlightened person. I’m thinking also of her post in the white privilege thread–she listed examples of how our culture privileges white that many other posters thought to be nitpicky. If you’re really that concerned, I’d think that just quitting WoW entirely would be preferable to racism. If quitting isn’t an option, that’s fine, but maybe you shouldn’t go out of your way to talk about being racially sensitive. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/50 "2011-04-19T15:27:39Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > -Sarcasm > -Humour > -Anger > -Ignorance (For instance there was a label to a furniture piece made in China that described the colour as “nigger brown”) I didn’t get across my meaning. Sarcasm, humor, and anger can all be expressed in other ways…why use a _racial_ slur to express them, if you’re not a racist? What’s the motivator to use that specific term? Or other racist words? Probably because they think it sounds edgier and cooler than other insults. That is, if they’re not actual racists. Oh, and as far as ignorance goes…these guys don’t live in China. They’re not ignorant, at least on this subject. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/51 "2011-04-19T15:31:12Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > It doesn’t just drive away black people, it drives away everybody…of color. It would make me utterly uncomfortable. I would leave. I have been in other situations (dinners/visits with my former in-laws) where racial epithets (:D) caused me to leave and not go back. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/52 "2011-04-19T15:37:44Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > IMHO, if Ray is not a racist, then he is a culturally tone-deaf, insensitive, moronic jackass and immature jerk. > > So one of those two options. This is it right here. It doesn’t even matter if he’s a racist. What’s clear is that he’s an _asshole_, which is really the more meaningful characteristic. A racist who kept it to himself would be preferable to game with than an obnoxious little dick like this. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/53 "2011-04-19T15:39:56Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > It doesn’t just drive away black people, it drives away everybody…of color. There’s a reason why your guild is all white. Lets be fair here too, WoW is definitely a predominantly pasty non-melanin past time. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/54 "2011-04-19T15:50:18Z")
\*\*Is it possible for a white person to use the n-word and not be a racist? \*\* To me, this question is like “Is it possible to stand on the street corner at 3 am; wearing daisy-dukes, a transparent halter top, and platform heels in the dead of winter; and flirt provocatively with male passerbys as though soliciting them for money in exchange for sex…and not be a prostitute?” The answer, of course, is yes its possible. Lots of things are possible. But why waste time contemplating unverifiable possibilities like this? Either reject their company or don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/55 "2011-04-19T16:19:09Z")
> [@mil0](#): > > I’ve grappled with this for a while as a “serious” gamer. > > High-end gaming has a thick profanity-laced atmosphere when things aren’t going well. Keyboards are slammed, headsets thrown, egos crushed, and racial expletives are tossed around like nothing. It’s just the culture. I don’t think I’ve ever met a genuine racist gamer, but nearly all of them will on occasion color their language with “nigger,” “gook,” “faggot” etc. > > As for myself, I’ve been marinated in the culture from an early age and I can throw a vent-rage so outrageous that even Haley Barbour would denounce me. And honestly, I truly don’t believe I have a racist bone in my body. > > There really is no racist intent when these expletives getting thrown around. That’s what’s important to remember. So while to an outsider, it may seem like Ray is a _culturally tone-deaf, insensitive, moronic jackass and immature jerk,_ to Ray I’m sure it’s just frustration leaving the body. > > Btw, a female in WoW with no recourse? Sounds like you’re not thinking hard enough ^\_~ Next time someone asks me why, as an RPG lover, I have not jumped on the MMO bandwagon, I’m just going to link to this post. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/56 "2011-04-19T16:42:12Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > The guild master is a racist too. > > I have been thinking about finding a new guild, but it’s frankly not easy to find a successful guild that outlaws this sort of chatter, in my experience. alea iacta est on Earthen Ring ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/57 "2011-04-19T16:54:23Z")
Why I can’t move? I’ve already spent hundreds of bucks transferring servers in the last couple of years so I really don’t want to move again. I’m a huge alt-oholic so I’d either have to leave behind my alts, or start new ones (fucking ugh). The progression guilds on my server frankly ARE limited to immature bro-types, with the exception of one. That one also happens to be the top progressed guild on the server and they are 1) not recruiting publicly and haven’t been for a long, long time, and 2) they get a LOT of people begging to join them based on their progression status alone. There’s no way in hell I could get in, I’m a raider but I’m not server-first material. Anyway, I feel this is all tangential to the issue. You can judge me for staying in the guild if you like. But it’s the lesser of several evils. I’m not quitting the game over this. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/58 "2011-04-19T17:06:32Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Anyway, I feel this is all tangential to the issue. You can judge me for staying in the guild if you like. But it’s the lesser of several evils. I’m not quitting the game over this. Well, then congratulations, you’re hanging out with racists. Is there a Hallmark card for that? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/59 "2011-04-19T17:35:11Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > -Sarcasm > -Humour > -Anger > -Ignorance (For instance there was a label to a furniture piece made in China that described the colour as “nigger brown”) For a sec there, I thought you were spelling out some superhero’s magic phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919/60 "2011-04-19T18:17:59Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > It’s a word that has no place in modern language, other than to show that bigoted people lack a conscious. Sure it has a place - every language needs taboo words. It used to be “motherfucker”, now it’s “nigger”. Yes, it’s offensive - that’s the point. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-white-person-to-use-the-n-word-and-not-be-a-racist/578919.md?page=4)