Kill the "N" Word!

[blackisbeautiful]

Yes, I agree. It does not matter if you think you are using it in a harmless way, that does not take away the true meaning and origin of the word. The N word was actually a word that slave masters called slaves to make them feel less of a human. As if they were lower than the lowest...anyway, of all the uplifting words we could choose to call our brothers and sisters, we took the most degrading word to call each other. That is something to really think about the next time someone says the word.

[serene]

I don't like the word. Plain and simple. No one can ever convince me of anything positive about the word. Thats just the way i feel about it, and its not going to change.

[Tom Shelly]

OK peeps - heres my view on this. Some of you might not like it. But the best thing we can do is claim the n word back from the racists and make it our own. Nas had a good idea, shame he backed down.

[poeticasylum1]

Originally Posted by Tom Shelly

OK peeps - heres my view on this. Some of you might not like it. But the best thing we can do is claim the n word back from the racists and make it our own. Nas had a good idea, shame he backed down.

I feel you on that. Nas had a sit down and basically had to realize that its a money thing. I think he may have tried to spark some dialogue but it may have been more damage control (ie, media, interviews, yada yada yada), and when perhaps when he is promoting his record, nobody would want to talk about the music, just that word. Which if he is a true artist, he would still want people to appreciate his artistic efforts. I think he had no choice, he may have wound up on a independent to release it. I think at the end of day, he realize that the word would have really diminish what he was trying to do or say. He probably would have spent the whole marketing/promoting time trying to backpedal and clarify what he was saying. I think it would just been a big headache in retrospect. I'm not in his shoes so, I dont know if it would be counterproductive otherwise.

[Istlota]

Both words mean the same thing.

The comic Paul Mooney went thru a similar metamorphosis to that of Nas. He used to use it all the time in his monologues, joking that it made his teeth white. But, after his friend Michael Richards had his N-word breakdown, even Mooney decided to give the N word a rest.

As far as the idea of using the N word as a way of trying to resurrect something good from something bad, I don't see the wisdom in that. If I truly do know I am not a n*gg*r, then there is no need to call myself one as some sort of reverse psychology exercise to try and prove that I am not one.

[afrocentric]

Both words mean the same thing

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hmmmm, i never really thought that they was the same. negro (black) is a black person's skin color. i have that word on my birth certificate. so did my parents and my grandparents. "n(i)gger" is something white folks back then called my ancestors when they felt like breaking their spirits down. and white folks still whisper that word today. "n(i)gga" is something i'm accustomed to hearing homeboys calling each other back at home in cali or around here in my neck of the woods and me saying it when i call my boys when they act an ahzz sometimes. the word can be used out of context depending on who and how they are saying it.

[blackisbeautiful]

Originally Posted by Tom Shelly

OK peeps - heres my view on this. Some of you might not like it. But the best thing we can do is claim the n word back from the racists and make it our own. Nas had a good idea, shame he backed down.

I have a question for you, making the word our "own", will that change the meaning of the word? the word is still a very negative word. everytime you call your boy the N word, you are basically calling him an ignorant fool. I am not knocking what you said, i just want you to help me to understand what you mean. there are so many positive words we could choose to call our peoples but we choose that word?

[gosoul2soul]

umm...wats the first word with all the stars?

[blackisbeautiful]

Originally Posted by gosoul2soul

umm...wats the first word with all the stars?

the first word is N*gger. with an -er ending vs. -a.

[warrior]

It a word. White people love to see us discuss it like this so maybe we just lay it to rest and talk about stuff that matter and not some ignorant white vocabulary issue. So what they call us that. i calls them enough names to fill the exxon valdeez and then some so hell with them calling me some word back. Don't matta. Who care? Make them feel all big and elite good for them. Joke on them in november when that word land them next to my brother upstate if yall know what I'm sayne? Leonard not like me. He dont like that word much. Now lets change tha subject and close this thread before more crakka see it and start ta trolling our butts.