Quote:
Originally Posted by hijabihippie
I never questioned the etymology. What I pointed out was the word has been used as a racist insult for a very long time.
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fair enough but did you read the entire wiki article? even mark twain used the term nigger in neutrality in some of his books. nigger Jim, for instance. I think Poe used the term as well.
anyhow I think Rev's ultimate point was that the word has never caused such a stir as it currently does. what confuses the hell out of me is the fact that black people call each other niggers but it is offensive if a white person says it. I mean I understand the racial implications in regards to slavery and what not but if it's such a horrible word, blacks say it more than whites do.
and don't give me some bullshit about how the phonetic spelling of nigga is any different than the literal meaning of the word nigger, if you really believe the severe racial implications it carries than logically the fact that blacks call themselves the N word is 10 times worse than a white person using it.
Brother, on the other hand, I can appreciate