How does usage of the N-word work?
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Welcome to society. Don't like it? Isolate yourself away from everyone and everything. Best of luck out there champ!
wrote on last edited by [email protected]Social currency & sanctimonious displays to gain it: also a social construct.
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Permissibility also a social construct.
Society, too.It seems like you maybe thought I was saying the exact opposite of what I was trying to say. I'm not sure if that's your error or mine, so let me be clear: "Social construct" doesn't mean "not real", it means "important to consider when dealing with other people".
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What if I'm singing along to a song written and performed by a black artist?
That is famously a bad idea.
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It seems like you maybe thought I was saying the exact opposite of what I was trying to say. I'm not sure if that's your error or mine, so let me be clear: "Social construct" doesn't mean "not real", it means "important to consider when dealing with other people".
wrote on last edited by [email protected]There's no confusion.
I was merely adding that they're all social constructs.
(As real as money.)Partly inspired by socks.
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What if I'm singing along to a song written and performed by a black artist?
Then don’t say it.
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What if I'm singing along to a song written and performed by a black artist?
This might sound dumb, so bear with me.
I grew up in a super poor city, predominantly black. All my friends from there listened to hip hop where it was used a lot, they said it, their families said it, etc..
What I did was sub that word with another when I was singing. It became a habit. I thought that was a better idea than getting into the habit of singing it, where I might slip up and say it around them (since it was commonly used around there).
It’s a lot easier to create a new habit than break an old one, you know?
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For me, the only grey area where it might be acceptable for a white person to use it in any circumstances is if they're reading or quoting a very old work of literature. What if you're reading Huckleberry Finn aloud? You can say, "N-Word Jim," but that seems off. Or you be reading historical accounts. If there's some Jim Crow-era newspaper that just openly says the N word, censoring it may actually take away from the impact of the word.
But even in these cases, there's probably a better way to handle this than to just outright say the N word. I'm just not sure what that way is.
You self censored defeating your own point
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As a white guy in the US South, it’s just… No. Don’t go there. Don’t even think it. You don’t want any part of that can of worms.
However, I remember hearing KRS One discussing the words usage a long time ago.
This video isn’t the discussion I remember, but it’s similar in content:
Yeah it’s different down here. All the history down here, plus some of the older white folks still using that word… ugh.
And KRS One is one of the best MCs of all time imho!
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This might sound dumb, so bear with me.
I grew up in a super poor city, predominantly black. All my friends from there listened to hip hop where it was used a lot, they said it, their families said it, etc..
What I did was sub that word with another when I was singing. It became a habit. I thought that was a better idea than getting into the habit of singing it, where I might slip up and say it around them (since it was commonly used around there).
It’s a lot easier to create a new habit than break an old one, you know?
I use “brother” in my head when I’m listening to music.
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Pardon me if these questionings are offensive in any way. That is not my intention. I am merely curious on the intricacies of the N-word and its uses.
It is commonly known, I think, that white people oughn't say it, something which doesn't extend to Black people. I wonder, though, if white people think of the word, in their head (assuming the person has some sort of inmer monologue). I would imagine thinking the word might increase one's propensity to utter the word aloud. Or perhaps not. Certainly further exposure to content that features said language must increase one's likelihood of using the term, no? Even if one never makes use of it aloud, surely the chances hypotetically increase, no?
Race is a social construct anyways, so what exactly are races? What defines a race? Is it from a 'Murican perspective? Asian is a race, innit? Is Latin American a race? If so, do white Latin Americans, or those with European descent, is that part of such race? How does the usage of the N-word apply to other races, assuming such thing?
Edit: I imagine race doesn't just boil down to skin colour, right? There's more to it than white = light skinned and Black = dark skinned, innit?
Edit 2: Maybe this was better for NoStupidQuestions. I may have mistankenly gone too soon for Ask Lemmy, seeing it is a question.
I'd like to add I am not questioning the N-word itself. I would not say it. I comprehend it is offensive. Seeing as it gets used by Black people, and it's not to be used by white people, I was merely wondering on how this goes exactly. Whether it boils down to Black vs. non-Black, and what exactly defines being Black. (And also the part about thinking the word)
To add, I am not 'Murican, so no need to assume that. English isn't even me first language.
Edit 3: to be very clear, I DO NOT WISH TO USE THE N-WORD. And I am not looking for some sort of loophole. I am merely trying to better understand things. I apologise if this is of any offense to Black people, as it is not my intention to harm anyone
Edit 4: mods, if needed be, you can safely delete this post. Not that you needed permission. I'd just like to let known if this is any problem, deletion is fine by me. I don't intent on causing issues
What is it? You make kinda riddle here...
'Next president'?
/s
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Social currency & sanctimonious displays to gain it: also a social construct.
Well, since humans build societies, everything is a social construct.
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Pardon me if these questionings are offensive in any way. That is not my intention. I am merely curious on the intricacies of the N-word and its uses.
It is commonly known, I think, that white people oughn't say it, something which doesn't extend to Black people. I wonder, though, if white people think of the word, in their head (assuming the person has some sort of inmer monologue). I would imagine thinking the word might increase one's propensity to utter the word aloud. Or perhaps not. Certainly further exposure to content that features said language must increase one's likelihood of using the term, no? Even if one never makes use of it aloud, surely the chances hypotetically increase, no?
Race is a social construct anyways, so what exactly are races? What defines a race? Is it from a 'Murican perspective? Asian is a race, innit? Is Latin American a race? If so, do white Latin Americans, or those with European descent, is that part of such race? How does the usage of the N-word apply to other races, assuming such thing?
Edit: I imagine race doesn't just boil down to skin colour, right? There's more to it than white = light skinned and Black = dark skinned, innit?
Edit 2: Maybe this was better for NoStupidQuestions. I may have mistankenly gone too soon for Ask Lemmy, seeing it is a question.
I'd like to add I am not questioning the N-word itself. I would not say it. I comprehend it is offensive. Seeing as it gets used by Black people, and it's not to be used by white people, I was merely wondering on how this goes exactly. Whether it boils down to Black vs. non-Black, and what exactly defines being Black. (And also the part about thinking the word)
To add, I am not 'Murican, so no need to assume that. English isn't even me first language.
Edit 3: to be very clear, I DO NOT WISH TO USE THE N-WORD. And I am not looking for some sort of loophole. I am merely trying to better understand things. I apologise if this is of any offense to Black people, as it is not my intention to harm anyone
Edit 4: mods, if needed be, you can safely delete this post. Not that you needed permission. I'd just like to let known if this is any problem, deletion is fine by me. I don't intent on causing issues
Either the word is offensive, or it isn't. POC don't get a pass from me - if I hear that word in a song, I hit skip or change the station. It is offensive no matter who says it.
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You self censored defeating your own point
Samuel Clemens would be proud. Read this comment in Mark Twain's voice, and it is absolute perfection. Bravo.
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I use “brother” in my head when I’m listening to music.
I use "kitty". It amuses me when Straight Outta Compton becomes about kitties with attitude
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Well, since humans build societies, everything is a social construct.
Anything independent of human convention (like the rest of nature) isn't.
Neither is anything a priori (like logic). -
What is it? You make kinda riddle here...
'Next president'?
/s
If you say the N-Word, you might be elected the next US President!
~Too~ ~Soon?~
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Yeah it’s different down here. All the history down here, plus some of the older white folks still using that word… ugh.
And KRS One is one of the best MCs of all time imho!
And I know, because KRS One.
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To try and answer what you're asking genuinely, since I don't see indication that this is bad-faith:
The reason African-Americans and some black people get a "pass" to use it isn't because it isn't offensive. Its because they're expected to have a better understanding of their own oppression than someone who hasn't lived with it, and because it can generally be assumed to not have racist connotations. The word has such heavy history that if someone who isn't black uses it, it is usually (and reasonably) assumed to be racism. Even among those who are black, theres a lot of nuance, with many feeling uncomfortable with saying it, either because the word is so loaded that it can be offensive reguardless, or because they don't feel like they're connected enough to the history to have the "right" to say it (I.E. someone who grew up in a black-majority country might feel this way.)
Just to add to this: It was a term used by white people for slaves, it is directly linked to slavery. This is what makes it so offensive, particularly in the context of the US, if your ancestors weren't slaves, or even from Africa.
A rough explicit version would be to call someone 'slave' to their face. The US context adds insult to injury because descendants of former masters and slaves are living together, so not only is it a personal insult, but a cultural one. Like saying 'you should still be slaves'. White people know this, nobody can't claim ignorance, this makes it even MORE offensive, because the speaker doesn't have the benefit of the doubt.
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Race being a social construct does not make slurs any more permissible to use.
That isn't really what I was questioning there. I was just wondering what makes race. One might associate, for instance, skin colour to race. But skin colour is more of a… idk, a range? It's not just two different things, black and white. There are darker skin tones, and lighter ones. It's a scale, really. So if we were to take skin colour as defining race, one would have to draw a line somewhere, where one becomes dark enough to be deemed Black (assuming you're taking skin colour as the indicator for race, that is). And that doesn't even account for other races one might see. If one, for instance, were to imagine Asian as a race (idk if it is. Is it?), Asians are (generally) white, no? As far as skin colour. Like, what is it that defines a race?
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As a white guy in the US South, it’s just… No. Don’t go there. Don’t even think it. You don’t want any part of that can of worms.
However, I remember hearing KRS One discussing the words usage a long time ago.
This video isn’t the discussion I remember, but it’s similar in content:
Not sure who KRS One is, but that was rather insightful. Never thought of it like that
