What is itwith kids these days and the "N" word?

[TheMightyFavog]

What is it with white guys about my age using the word "nigga" in a hip hop context? Even though I make Conan O'Brian look like Lawrence Fishburne, It pisses me off to no end. That word is one of the few that I can't bear to hear.

[Kikosexy2]

1. They've..

been ghettoized--blame Eminem.

[redqueen]

4. Uh, yeah... 'cause we all know he was the first.

/sarcasm

[Kikosexy2]

7. Okay,...

then it was Vanilla Ice--ice, ice baby!

[mark414]

12. uhh what?

so ghetto = black?

what are you saying?

[LoZoccolo]

2. White kids in early 80s New York City were using it.

I know this from watching Style Wars.

[ghostsofgiants]

6. I've never seen Style Wars

But I know it predates Eminem because of Kids.

[demnan]

3. It's in all their music

[redqueen]

5. It's supposedly about taking an offensive word and redefining it.

But I suspect that's a load, because if you put the 'er' sound on the end, people still get just as pissed.

Whatever...

[drumwolf]

8. More and more kids are hearing the "N"-word in that context

There are a lot of kids who don't hear "nigger" the racial slur as much as they hear "nigga" the hip-hop synonym for "homie."

[TheMightyFavog]

9. Yeah, I guess it doesn't mean the same thing as it does to somone who's ol

I just wish they'd stop using that word.

[mwb970]

10. Get used to it

My observation is that the language of the young is very different from what I experienced in the 60s. Applying a 60s prism to the modern world results in Shock and Awe. But yeah, it's hard to get past some of it.

[Stop_the_War]

11. I'm 16 and I never use that word...

It's racist.

[blondeatlast]

13. I know it's becoming more common, but I still find it inexcusable.

I was pretty tiny during the Civil Rights movement, but I remember it from the telly.

That word gets my back up like no other, and I'm a lily-white blonde.

It doesn't bother me nearly as much when blacks use it amongst themselves, though it makes me uncomfortable, but when white kids use it (I work sometimes in the Teen Room at my library) I just really want to lay into them.

[gtp1976]

14. Here's the way I look at it.

I'm white. I have never nor will never use the word or any of its alterations. However, it has never "offended" me, personally, simply because it has never nor would it ever be directed towards me. I'm white. If someone called me a "nigger" I'd probably give them a look of WTF?!?!?

If it is no longer offensive to those that it used to offend, african americans, then I don't suppose I have a problem with it. People give every word its meaning be it positive, negative, neutral or indifferent. If people decide it is no longer a bad word, then in my opinion, it is no longer a bad word.

It's kind of like the word faggot. Right now, for heretosexuals, it is not acceptible to refer to gays this way. I have heard gays use it about other gays and it not be offensive. If ever there is a time that the negative connotation of the word is wiped away by the homosexual community (and only the homosexual community can decide this) then I suppose it, too, would be an okay term to use.

I wouldn't use either of them, but that's just me.