# "That nigger's crazy"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [December 1, 2003, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208 "2003-12-01T06:18:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/1 "2003-12-01T06:18:04Z")
I just caught a glimpse of a show about Richard Pryor, in which the word “nigger” is used over and over again.
Have we yet reached a racial equilibrium in this country? Is it safe for a white person to say “nigger”…without the quotation marks? I don’t mind being called honky although I’d never call a black person “nigger” because I still feel like the cards are stacked against blacks.
It’s also noteworthy to me that they bleep the word “fuck” in a Richard Pryor Documentary but not the word “nigger”. If you’re going to be watching a show in Richard Pryor, isn’t it safe to assume that the kids aren’t watching?
And I like how blacks can take a demeaning word used against them for years and years and turn it into a badge to be worn with pride. I see the logic behind it.
Any thoughts?
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/2 "2003-12-01T06:32:14Z")
Eminem gets away with it. Of course, the word has morphed into “nigga” (or is it “niggah”), so maybe that’s one reason it’s OK to use it, at least in certain contexts. I’m still restraining myself from walking thru the nearest Black neighborhood yelling it at the top of my lungs. But that’s just me.
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### Author:  [@Hydrocortisone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hydrocortisone)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/3 "2003-12-01T07:02:26Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Eminem gets away with it. Of course, the word has morphed into “nigga” (or is it “niggah”), so maybe that’s one reason it’s OK to use it, at least in certain contexts.
Are you sure Eminem uses the word nigger or “nigga”? It is my understanding that he has stated he would never use this word. (I think he might have used the word in an old song that was done well before he became a star.)
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### Author:  [@Ben\_Hicks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben_Hicks)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/4 "2003-12-01T07:09:25Z")
Eminem would never rap again if he was caught saying nigger.
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### Author:  [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/5 "2003-12-01T07:32:45Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Ben Hicks \*
> Eminem would never rap again if he was caught saying nigger.
Is [this](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/e/eminemlyrics/whenthemusicstopslyrics.html) one of his later songs? (I wouldn’t know since I don’t listen to rap.)
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### Author:  [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/6 "2003-12-01T07:50:51Z")
Not to defend him, but _The Guardian_ says Eminem [never](http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1091817,00.html) uses the word “nigger.”
**sleeping** : your link does not represent Eminem’s use of the word “nigger” or “nigga.”
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### Author:  [@Fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fang)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/7 "2003-12-01T07:52:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by sleeping \*
> \*\*Is [this](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/e/eminemlyrics/whenthemusicstopslyrics.html) one of his later songs? (I wouldn’t know since I don’t listen to rap.) \*\*
Nope. It’s from _The Eminem Show_, which is his most recent album.
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### Author:  [@Fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fang)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/8 "2003-12-01T07:53:37Z")
Whoops, that should have been “yup” rather than “nope.” I forgot it said “later”, not “earlier.”
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### Author:  [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/9 "2003-12-01T07:54:01Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Rooves \*
> \*\*
> And I like how blacks can take a demeaning word used against them for years and years and turn it into a badge to be worn with pride. I see the logic behind it.
> \*\*
I don’t think the word is really used with a sense of pride nor do I think it has been defanged. Would a word that’s suppose to be worn with pride or defanged cause so much controversy? It’s one of the few words one could utter that makes otherwise rational people think “you deserve to get your ass kicked for saying that” and actually mean it. Maybe it’s a badge of pride because it allows some people to exert power over others. It allows an exclusive group the ability to use a word in front of anyone and come down hard on anyone outside the group that uses the word.
In many ways I think perhaps nigger has taken on a life of it’s own. I understand the ugly history behind the word and I’m not advocating that we all start using it. However I think we’ve become overly sensitive to the point where we’re seriously talking about banning great works of literature like To Kill a Mockingbird or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Marc
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/10 "2003-12-01T07:58:01Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Ben Hicks \*
> \*\*Eminem would never rap again if he was caught saying nigger. \*\*
Not true. Kid Rock seems to be doing ok.
Seems like I remember seeing a documentry about some kids from New York (I don’t know which burough) but they had a whole mixture in their little crowd and all the white kids seemed to use the word quite freely. (with their black friends)
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### Author:  [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/11 "2003-12-01T08:04:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Mr. B \*
> **sleeping** : your link does not represent Eminem’s use of the word “nigger” or “nigga.”
Oh, now I see. “Bizarre” is actually a person and the song is sung by several different rappers, with a rapper other than Eminem saying _nigger_.
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### Author:  [@Crook\_d\_Dope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crook_d_Dope)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/12 "2003-12-01T08:04:54Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by sleeping \*
> \*\*Is [this](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/e/eminemlyrics/whenthemusicstopslyrics.html) one of his later songs? (I wouldn’t know since I don’t listen to rap.) \*\*
That’s his song but the guy who uses the word is black.
The closest eminem himself get’s is in the song criminal:
“I drink malt liquor to fuck you up quicker
than you’d wanna fuck me up for sayin the word \”
which at least tells you he’s thinking the word, I say beat him up anyway 🙂
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### Author:  [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/13 "2003-12-01T08:38:36Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Rooves \*
> \*\*I just caught a glimpse of a show about Richard Pryor, in which the word “nigger” is used over and over again.
>
> \< snip \>
>
> Any thoughts? \*\*
I think you should listen to George Carlin.
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### Author:  [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/14 "2003-12-01T09:17:39Z")
What’s interesting is when Wanda Sykes or Richard Pryor used the word, it wasn’t bleeped. Cloin Quinn (who’s white) tried to say it, and it was bleeped.
I don’t quite get that.
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### Author:  [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/15 "2003-12-01T09:18:46Z")
Whoopes…COLIN Quinn
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### Author:  [@Hydrocortisone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hydrocortisone)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/16 "2003-12-01T09:19:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> I don’t quite get that.
You have never heard of a double standard?
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/17 "2003-12-01T11:41:12Z")
Doesn’t anyone here listen to **Patti Smith**???
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### Author:  [@eli\_the\_fanatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eli_the_fanatic)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/18 "2003-12-01T13:14:11Z")
Has any word in U.S. history been at the center of more debate than “the N word”? Sure, it’s offensive from the mouths of white people, but when you say “it’s” racist regardless of context (books, movies, etc.) it just argues that people should be reactive instead of reflective. Even better than Huck Finn as an example is The Great Gatsby, the book has been called racist because the N word is used once by an obviously racist character (Daisy’s husband, who is into “Nordic Pride”, remember this is pre-Hitler but contemporary with the psuedoscientific fads that gave rise to the reich).
Anyway, I thought Richard Pryor had stopped using that word… he even used to have a story about why he stopped using the word.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/19 "2003-12-01T15:06:55Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by SHAKES \*
> \*\*Not true. Kid Rock seems to be doing ok.
>
> Seems like I remember seeing a documentry about some kids from New York (I don’t know which burough) but they had a whole mixture in their little crowd and all the white kids seemed to use the word quite freely. (with their black friends) \*\*
I guess I was wrong about MnM, but I was sure I had heard about the heat he got when he first uesed the “n” word.
Anyway, this isn’t all that different from gays using the term “queer” to refer to themselves, although Blacks were on the receiving end of more societal abuse than gays.
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### Author:  [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/20 "2003-12-01T15:20:07Z")
I remember Richard Pryor saying he didn’t use “nigger” anymore because it did more harm than good… something like that.
In regards to literature, apparently a lot of people have trouble grasping the idea that a writer can have a character say things that the writer himself doesn’t believe. (Reminds me of a movie critic I heard lambasting the remake of _Cape Fear_; he thought that because the villain in the movie brutalized women, it meant that the creators of the film hated women. Not making this up.)
From the first year of Saturday Night Live, I remember a sketch that might not be aired in a repeat today. Richard Pryor’s character was interviewing for a job; Chevy Chase was conducting the interview. This included a word-association test, which went something like this:
CC: Baseball.
RP: Yankees.
CC: Christmas.
RP: Santa Claus.
CC: Jigaboo.
RP: [Long pause.] Excuse me?
CC: Jigaboo.
RP: [Another pause] Honkey.
CC: Jungle bunny.
RP: Honkey honkey!
CC: Nigger.
RP: **Dead** honkey!
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