# White people: your use of the N word **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 7, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043 "2020-09-07T17:56:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2020, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/241 "2020-09-12T19:00:58Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > > [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > > > If you greet your brother with a “Hello stupid.”, is it the same thing as greeting a total stranger the same way? Of course, it isn’t… But we don’t see the need to spell it stoopid to distinguish it from stupid. > > Or how some Australians use the c-word as an endearment between friends. But sometimes words are respelled when used differently, eg leet vs elite. “Leet” means “_elite_?” Huh. TiL, I guess. I always thought it was short for \*compLEETly stupid"… ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/242 "2020-09-12T22:03:21Z")
Likewise. I’ve said it, in order to discuss it, but I have never once said or thought it in the sense of labeling another person with it. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/243 "2020-09-12T22:04:16Z")
Never used it. My mother despised racism and taught me early in life that such language can be harmful. I heard that word a lot, usually from relatives and other adults and I was appalled every time. I encountered so much racism as a kid that it’s hard for me to believe racism isn’t rampant everywhere. It was a part of my culture that still haunts me. I recently learned that my best friend in junior high received racist death threats when we were in high school (in freaking 1999!) That place was such a cesspool. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/244 "2020-09-12T22:19:50Z")
Yay! @Spice_Weasel is in the house! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2020, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/245 "2020-09-12T22:42:37Z")
IIRC, she had used also it recently, to describe an event she wanted to stage, didn’t she? So it wasn’t just like “back in the 80s”. It was a hell of a lot more than that. _rubs eyes_ SPICE WEASEL??? Woohoo!!! ---
**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:** [September 12, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/246 "2020-09-12T22:49:08Z")
Hi! I see everything is different now, and also the same. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2020, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/247 "2020-09-12T22:51:27Z")
I will take credit for the return of @Spice_Weasel - she couldn’t resist the siren song of my new baby! Welcome back! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/248 "2020-09-13T01:12:13Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > > [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > > > If you greet your brother with a “Hello stupid.”, is it the same thing as greeting a total stranger the same way? Of course, it isn’t… But we don’t see the need to spell it stoopid to distinguish it from stupid. > > Or how some Australians use the c-word as an endearment between friends. But sometimes words are respelled when used differently, eg leet vs elite. I have a very dear friend from high school-- one of maybe three friends from high school I still see regularly. When we see each other, one of says, “I fucking love you,” and the other responds “I fucking love you too, Bitch.” Neither of us remembers why, but at this point, if she just said “I love you,” I’d worry something was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2020, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/249 "2020-09-13T01:13:45Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I have a very dear friend from high school-- one of maybe three friends from high school I still see regularly. When we see each other, one of says, “I fucking love you,” and the other responds “I fucking love you too, Bitch.” Neither of us remembers why, but at this point, if she just said “I love you,” I’d worry something was wrong. I am this way with my sister. We usually say goodbye by giving each other the finger. ---
**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 13, 2020, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/250 "2020-09-13T02:15:29Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Hi! I see everything is different now, and also the same. Things are more like they are now than they have ever been before. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/251 "2020-09-13T02:18:48Z")
And moreso than they’ll be. 😛 As for the O.P. Never. Ever. Not once. Not in any context. I was raised to understand that this word was anathema to those around me, and represented a hate and violence that my family held no truck with. The rapper Ja Rule _called_ me the N-Word once. But that’s a tale for another thread… ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2020, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/252 "2020-09-13T03:02:33Z")
I was just thinking about you today Spice Weasel. Nice to see you 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2020, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/253 "2020-09-13T04:32:08Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I have to admit, I’ve used it several times in the re-telling of the awesomely funny bit in _Kentucky Fried Movie._ The only time I’ve ever used the word is talking to my brother about the comedy skit Tokyo Breakfast on youtube. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2020, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/254 "2020-09-13T15:26:41Z")
Whoa! Welcome back Spice Weasel! ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/255 "2020-09-14T18:18:31Z")
Childhood in 1960’s Georgia, so of course I was exposed to the word. I don’t use it to peoples’ faces but I think it frequently. Especially when confronted with stereotypically " 'Hood " behavior and social norms. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/256 "2020-09-14T19:42:29Z")
Trust me, they know what you want to say to them. You’re likely not hiding much. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/257 "2020-09-14T19:59:44Z")
When I was a kid, I remember one of my older cousins - he was a teenager and I was probably still in single digits - holding forth that not all black people were n—s and some white peoples were n—s, so it was not a racial slur, but about the way people acted. I suspected he was full of crap at the time, but never called him on it. I’ll bet even today there are lots of people who think like that. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/258 "2020-09-14T21:24:25Z")
White, Southwest Side Chicago. Growing up in the 80s, it was a word I heard often enough and occasionally used, in the “catch a nigger by his toe” rhyme, and we also called the “kill the man with the ball” game alternatively as “kill the nigger with the ball.” ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/259 "2020-09-14T21:30:30Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > and we also called the “kill the man with the ball” game alternatively as “kill the nigger with the ball.” In my neighborhood that game was known as “smear the queer,” which of course opens a whole other can of worms. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043/260 "2020-09-14T21:32:58Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > In my neighborhood that game was known as “smear the queer,” which of course opens a whole other can of worms. Yep, I never used the n-word as a part of a childhood rhyme, taunt, or other assorted jape, and didn’t even know of them as a matter of fact, but we definitely played StQ. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-your-use-of-the-n-word/920043.md?page=14)