Okay, so I finally blocked someone for tossing around the "n" word…

@Piper Exactly. I don’t use it, not even around other black people, on principle. It’s not a word that can be "neutralized", no matter what is claimed.
White supremacists still use it as an insult.
Most black people can still be offended by it.

@Piper It's a good point but, in my world, I'd like to see the word vanquished. I think the idea of black people appropriating it as nothing but another way of dividing people. It's a racist word at its core. Irrespective of how it's used. There's no strength in that appropriation. It's purposeful separation that is harmful at the end of the day. I don't care what the context or situation is. You can't strive for/demand equality and inclusion while being purposefully exclusionary. It's a word that needs to removed from our lexicon in my opinion.

@Ynotisay I agree with this. I don’t think anyone should want to use it.

Years ago, on EP I had a discussion with another kid, (black) who tried to claim that my objections were "generational", words have no power, etc.

I finally asked him if he loved his mother ?
"Of course", he replied.
I asked, "if a non-black stranger called her a "n*gger", would that be okay ?"
He admitted he’d be very upset.
I pointed out, even with all the rappers and entertainers, his own contemporaries using the word, it could still offend, right ?

Because it hasn’t lost any of its power.
He at least conceded the point.

@bijouxbroussard You made a solid argument. It loses its power when it's seen as a slur by all.

@Ynotisay Saying I kind of get the why of some black people using the word, was in no way an argument in favor of the "appropriation" of it.

@Piper Totally understood. Didn't take it that way. 👍