[Jennifer R.]

First, there are some white people who use the word 'nigga' with blacks and get away with it. They are usually close friends of the black people they use it with, or part of the subculture where that word is used casually, and therefore, there isn't much complaint. Second, 'nigga' is different from 'nigger.' 'Nigger' is an ethnic slur used to degrade and dehumanize, especially from the mouth of a white person. I don't care if it's 'just the way they were raised' and they believe they don't mean anything by it. Somewhere along the way, they likely learned that it was a contemptuous word used to refer to black people. Its history in this usage goes back hundreds of years. To most black people, it is a buzzword of oppression, an indication that no matter who a black person may be on an individual basis, they are reduced to the connotations of that word in the eyes of the person wielding it. This conception of black people was and is brought home to most of us in some way practically every day. To rail against the use of this word by a white person is to rail against that white person's right to perpetrate that kind of mental terrorism.

Finally, some black people have appropriated the word 'nigger' and slightly modified it to 'nigga,' perhaps in an effort to minimize its hold, or to subliminally acknowledge solidarity in history and culture. Many black people dislike either variation equally, don't use them and don't approve of those who do. I am one of those black.

User Detail :  

Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,