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If this makes folks mad, sorry. It’s been bugging me since there was a conversation about it…

Someone wanted to know why, since some black people use the "n-word", everyone can’t without being identified as a racist. The short answer is easy: racists are [b]still[/b] using it.

But I don’t understand why anyone who isn’t black and doesn’t see him or herself as a racist would [b]want[/b] to use a word with such an ugly history attached to it ?

As to why some black people use it among themselves (I don’t), I know the reasoning. I don’t [b]agree[/b] with it, but I know what it is: supposedly using the word takes the "power" out of it. Newsflash: it [b]doesn’t[/b]. And that’s why the popular wisdom is, you can’t use it if you’ve never been [b]called[/b] it (in a disparaging way) yourself.

Personally, I [b]hate[/b] the word, and I wish everyone would delete it from their vocabularies. It will never mean what some people want to make it mean—not [b]any[/b] form of it.
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sarabee1995 · 26-30, F
I share your hated of this word. Obviously it wasn't part of my personal experience growing up being a "suburban white girl" but I had a grandfather who would not allow any person or group or people to be disparaged in his presence. He believed strongly in the uniqueness of us all and the inherent value of us all. And he enforced that throughout our "clan".

I think we all have a tendency to want to understand the world around us. And in doing so, we often try to fit our observations into neat little boxes with labels on them. "This is me and my people" ... "That is you and your people." This is so dangerous. And I believe it is the genesis of racism and bigotry. 😔