**** Elections thread *****

[OngBonga]

Are you really being put out by not being able to say it to a black person while another black person can?

I don't like racism. I just see racism different to most people. When someone says to me black people can use a word that white people cannot, I see that as racism, more so than the use of a single word. There are different standards of behaviour being applied here. It's not a case of the word meaning different things. The word "fuck" means different things, it's still an offensive word. The word "nigger" is offensive in just about every nation in the world. So some people have decided to "reclaim" the word or whatever is going on. Fair enough, they can do that all they like. So can I. Not that I'm going to, but those who say that I can't use the word while black people can, they are being racist, even if it's unintentional. Racism isn't necessarily conscious, it's treating people differently based on their race, and that can come from the subconcious.

The word "tosser" is a completely different issue. For one, it's not particularly offensive here, it's kinda mild; furthermore, it doesn't have the historical connotations that "nigger" has; for another it's not like we have one group of people using the word regularly, while at the same time saying another group of people can't use the word because it's offensive. So your "tosser" analogy really isn't cutting it.

[Poopadoop]

The word "tosser" is a completely different issue. For one, it's not particularly offensive here, it's kinda mild; furthermore, it doesn't have the historical connotations that "nigger" has; for another it's not like we have one group of people using the word regularly, while at the same time saying another group of people can't use the word because it's offensive. So your "tosser" analogy really isn't cutting it.

The degree of offensiveness or the commonality of the usage is irrelevant. The word is (mildly) offensive here but not in Canada. So by your logic it should not be used by Canadians to refer to someone making a salad, since it having a different meaning depending on the nationality of the user would be xenophobic.

[surviva316]

Before getting into it, I'll first re-emphasize that I don't think that every time a white person uses the word "nigger" it's necessarily wrong, and every time a black person uses it it is necessarily right.

I don't like racism. I just see racism different to most people. When someone says to me black people can use a word that white people cannot, I see that as racism, more so than the use of a single word. There are different standards of behaviour being applied here.

Well, you should know that your definition of racism isn't what the word means.

The cold, uncontextualized logic of double standard gets you in a lot of trouble when applied to social issues. Whether or not using a word is offensive is dependent on so much context (right down to whether it's said in a comedy setting or said in even a slightly sarcastic tone, and so on), that forcing the logic to apply equally regardless of the subject or object is necessarily problematic.

When you speak, you come with a different upbringing, background, beliefs, intent and whatever else (either assumed or actual), and those contexts all factor some way or another. This is true of any social issue, but it's especially hairy with the "n-word" issue when the whole reason it's gained so much semi-mainstream use is (at least ostensibly) a campaign to make the oppressed group reclaim the word. Your thoughts on how black people are trying to reclaim the word so you can just claim that you're doing that too are just so ong's-gonna-ong that I don't really know how to rebut it.

Again, doesn't mean that being black is sufficient to excuse you from hatefully using the word (hatefulness and superiority, by the way, should be prominent terms in this discussion), nor that someone being non-black means they're racist for using the word. It just means it all figures into it.

Is that all an overwhelming amount of considerations to make? Well, I mean, yeah it is. If that makes you just wanna play it safe and just say "n-word," and at that, use even that phrase as sparingly as possible, then fine. Doesn't necessarily reflect on you has having great rhetorical fortitude, but I can understand doing that rather than risk (rightly or wrongly) offending others or turning the microscope onto you. If that makes you wanna throw up your hands and say Fuck Tha Police, I'm gonna say it anyway, then you can do that as well, but you're still responsible for the things you say even if you can't keep up with new-fangled social expectations (and it's hardly like this is the only social expectation that's difficult to keep up with).

As for people who complain about not being "allowed" to use the word, lmao, as much as I hate divisive terms like "mansplaining" or "whitesplaining" ... my god, you can't actually think that's a viable social issue.