Some words in the English language can invoke extreme emotional reaction just by the uttering of it. It goes without saying that “nigger” — a word so scathing that most only refer to it as “the N-Word” — may be the most offensive of them all.
The historical context behind the N-Word is rooted in racism towards Black people, coined by white people who enslaved Africans in the 1400s and created the culture of slavery in America that even today has been hard to grasp for many melanated folk out there. That, paired with countless others reasons which could take days to just scratch the surface, is why so many still find the word to be offensive even in the more acceptable version we often hear daily: “nigga.”
“Nigga” is used in hip-hop lyrics, regular conversation among friends and for many as a “term of endearment” as its been commonly referred to as. Some in the new generation have even taken things a step further and given people who aren’t Black a “pass” to say it. If used correctly, of course.
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24-year-old rapper Rubi Rose — her racial background includes Eritrean, African American and Japanese — recently went viral after saying in an interview that white people could in fact say the N-Word if they don’t have racist intent.
Say what now?
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Twitter had a field day giving their opinions on the controversial comment made by Rose (seen above) to white Twitch streamer Adin Ross after confusing him for, as she put it, “Indian or Middle Eastern.” The mixup causes Ross to jokingly ask if he can say the N-Word — other streamers interrupt before he can actually say it — to which Rose says, “I’m personally OK with anybody saying it, as long as their intent isn’t to be rude.” After giving an example of her “Mexican homegirls and white homegirls who be saying it” [sic], the former
XXL Freshman added, “I don’t care, but other people would find something wrong with it.”
While some gave her the flack that would be expected after making such a bold declaration, a few actually came to her defense on social media. On user wrote, “it’s only the malicious form that makes it so bad, and people just be bandwagoning cause it makes them feel/look good.” [sic] Another blamed her generation and their disassociation with slavery being that it predates them by so many centuries. “The further the world gets away from slavery and the extremely violent forms of racism in the past, these things will be taken less seriously and ultimately the respect for people that fought against it will also fade,” said another commenter who seems to have a good majority on his side.
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When it comes down to it, any form of the N-Word will never truly be acceptable — our ancestors deserve so much more respect than that! However, there’s also a new wave of young minds that will soon be ruling the world; can we even stop them if they decide make it a thing of universal, race-free endearment?
Sound off with your thoughts on the latest chapter in the N-Word debate over on our social handles, and see what some are saying on Twitter below:
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