Why is the word "nlgger" offensive to black peple ony coming from white people?
543215
I dunnno, but believe that its complete bs.
516343
it sounds like it's only racist if you try really hard to make it be.  But I don't think most people would think it was...unless of course the context of the phrase is in a racial matter.
947300
According to dictionary.com:\nnig‧ger  /ˈnɪgər/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[nig-er] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation \n—Usage note The term nigger is now probably the most offensive word in English. Its degree of offensiveness has increased markedly in recent years, although it has been used in a derogatory manner since at least the Revolutionary War. Definitions 1a, 1b, and 2 represent meanings that are deeply disparaging and are used when the speaker deliberately wishes to cause great offense. Definition 1a, however, is sometimes used among African-Americans in a neutral or familiar way. Definition 3 is not normally considered disparaging—as in “The Irish are the niggers of Europe” from Roddy Doyle's The Commitments—but the other uses are considered contemptuous and hostile.\n–noun 1. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a. a black person.  \nb. a member of any dark-skinned people.  \n \n2. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc.  \n3. a victim of prejudice similar to that suffered by blacks; a person who is economically, politically, or socially disenfranchised.  \n\n\nHonestly, I don't blame you for being confused. I'm a black American and I'm confused too, because there is a double standard for non blacks who use the word. I'm guilty of using the word myself, but when I do use it, it's for the meaning that was originally intended. I wonder if other ethnic groups use such derogatory slang amongst themselves as a term of endearment? If they don't then I can't figure out why us black people (American and otherwise) feel we need to use it as a friendly term.
103028
Some people say that the use of the n-word by some African-Americans is cullturally a way of removing the power from the word. When black people use it they become desensitized to it and it has less power when a white person uses it. I don't quite believe this is true because in high school I saw several white guys get the s*** beat out of them for using it. \nSo maybe it is a way that some African Americans have taken a small piece of power from whites. Black people can use the n-word but it is off-limits for whites. As society has continued to keep African Americans oppressed, this could be the one way they have to assert some power over whites by taking a word they used to promote hate and essentially banning the use of it by whites in mixed company.\nOne other argument could be that because of systematic racisim still present in society, some black people use the word as a form of self deprication, which illustrates the shame some African Americans have about being black. \nThe main problem with your question is you are generalizing an entire group of people. Not all black people use the n-word, and feel its casual use in society is harming. Some just simply see it as a word, while others could fall into one of the groups mentioned above. The real answer is there is no one answer. Different people use it or don't use it for reasons only they themselves know.
71527
My black friend told me it was okay for his white friends to say nig-ga, but not okay to say the other. It was just his view. I think one is a more affectionate term, an attempt to take the sting off the origonal racist slang. Wether intentional, or accidental, it seems to have been effective. The more it's used and the more creative dirrivitives that arise, the less we are reminded of our divided past. Keeping the term taboo only allows it to keep it's stinging power. I don't prefer the black culture at all, but I couldn't imagine america without it. Keep it loose and friendly, we can get along famously forever.
597948
well it is bad and derogatory. i think if u replace the w with an "N" u will figure out what it means for a white person.
1020606
Many people are instantly offended when this question is asked, even in the most respectful way from a curious mind.  So now instead of getting information on your question people are attacking you for asking the question.  This is why this question and the word in fact remains a taboo, because most people will not talk about it openly with another race and automatically take offense to the inquiry.  \n\nI don't know why any race would refer to themselves with an offensive word or term.  But in the same sense a word only has the power to offend you when you allow it.  And in reference to this word it carries so much meaning historically, and not in a good sense, that Americans as a culture should make the decision to omit the word from our vocabularies.
1000007
a nigger is an ignornat person... and Klu Klux Klan members as well as Nazi memebers have been ignornant niggers since the day the were born.  Their children who they teachare ignornant niggers, yankees, crackers and lonely souls amongst this world......They are cowards, theives and have a serious lack of self image or they wouldnt hide.  I have never seen a group that is more vocal but is AFRAID to show who they are, If I believed in a cause so much.. I would definately want everyone to know what I believe in.  \n\nThey are also a disgusting addition to the white race for not all of whites are like them.... !
45103
I don't like it's origins (not the root of the word, but the hateful use of the word) but the fact is, it's meaning has changed over time, I'm not offended if I hear it used in a friendly way "What's my nigga?" sort of thing (though I think it's a little awkward when said by a white person to a white person.  It's such a touchy subject because many people find it offensive, for good reason.  As for me, I'm only offended if it is used as racially condecending.
918140
There are black people who don not like the N' word being used by other blacks and there are blacks who choose to use it with each other. However ALL blacks agree that no white person should use it EVER. Their is no word that black people can use that carries the pain, hatred, and brutal history of slavery and the struggle for  blk freedom that the N' word does.  Their are blk senior citizens who are still afraid of white people' because of what that word means.  No one will ever have the right to abuse us again. Don't get it twisted. Until your relatives are held down and raped in-front of you , your church is burned to the ground, your windows are broken out because you moved to a NICE neighborhood, Don't even consider using that word. unless of course your a racist. I prefer to know who the enemy is. I cannot give an excuse for other blacks who use it' but we don't need anyone adding to their ignorance. and I can't even begin to say what I think about that tree remark. Oh wait,  His career is hung and done just like that statement.
1127966
The word Negro stems from the Spanish word Negro, meaning black. In English, negro or neger became negar and finally nigger, most likely under influence of French nègre. Neger (sometimes spelled "neggar") prevailed in northern New York under the Dutch and also in Philadelphia, in its Moravian and Pennsylvania Dutch communities. For example, the New York City African Burial Ground was originally known as "Begraaf Plaats van de Neger.\n\n"Nigger is an extremely derogatory term used for black people. During the period when slavery was practiced worldwide, and in particular by the United States and European countries, and for several decades after Europe and North America prohibited slavery, it was a standard, casual English term for black people. The word traditionally has been associated with an often casual contempt, a racist assumption of black inherent inferiority, even of bestiality, making it extremely pejorative. In the last 100 years it has also become a friendly and jocular term, used self referentially, among some black people.
858605
Racial slur for white people.
951908
White people are the only people banned from using it. White peoople are TRYING to offend someone by saying it, while hispanics and blacks are using it as a term of endearment for lack of a better word!
928972
Jesse Jackson has a point.  By black-media's (not all of course) insistence on adopting the term in order to (fill in whatever justification you have heard over the years) they have basically stripped away the true negative meaning of the word.   It's just a word that non blacks think is a "term of endearment" among blacks.  While that couldn't be further from the truth it does make clear the fact that African Americans do have some measure of control of how the world views us.  Personally I feel that rap artists and black comics share a major role in this.  These are the two main groups that are capable of influencing our young ones.  If no one was using the word in the first place a person wouldn't be able to play off their racial outbursts as just using the words they have heard used.  \n\nUnfortunately this goes way beyond just the use of a word.  The negative aspects of black culture gain far more attention then the positives.
77396
as an educated muliracial woman, i am offended by such comments.  i think comments like this are ignorant.\n\ndoes the person who says this mean to say that black is a behavior and that white is a behavior?  and if so, then that means that to be black is to be stupid and loud and to be white is to be intelligent and proper.\n\ndoes the person who says this mean to say that black people can't be smart, and that white people can't listen to rap if they want to?\n\ni think it's a disgusting comment and the people who say it have no imagination.  anyone can be whatever they want to be.
21614
It is such a hot-button topic, however, here's my take on it. First, for the black people who use it, I feel that they are seriously disrespecting their cultural history, their elders, & so forth. As for the whites who use the term...well...I think they are nothing more than ignorant bigots  who give the rest of us a bad name.\n\nAn interesting story for you regarding this & my reactions to the word's usage. I was in a store earlier this year & this young black man was shopping with his grandmother. He sees a friend a few aisles away & yells the word to him in greeting. I took a quick look at the grandmother's reaction & just LOST it..yeah, me, possibly the most white-bred woman on the planet :) I reamed that poor boy out & embarassed him so badly in front of everyone that he was practically on his knees apologizing to his grandmother. Still irritated, I turned to her before leaving & asked her why she didn't care enough about her heritage or the struggles she went through to impress them upon her grandson. I was so hot I had to leave the store in order to calm down. While outside, the boy comes out & actually apologized TO ME! He said that, until that point in time, he'd never thought that him using the word could upset a white person so badly & had never thought about it disrespecting his grandmother. Turns out, the woman had raised him most of his life & he couldn't believe he'd been doing something that could hurt her feelings.\n\nThe point here is that, if more people would have the nerve to react, whether black or white, we might have a chance of making this generation realize that they can't have it both ways; if they are going to use the word, they can't then get upset if others do the same & they also can't use it & then sit back & talk about being kept down or treated with bias by others. Usage of the word denotes acceptance or it's context, yet I feel that this is totally lost on most of this generation.
812556
The meaning behind it is the context in which it is used. Black people say it with an "a" at the end. Basically claiming that it is something they turned into a term of endearment within the black community. \nThe n word does not mean that a black person was going to be raped, killed, or anything else. It means ignorant. Look it up in the dictionary. \nPersonally, I don't think anyone should say it, regardless to what color they are or what context they use it in.