Pardon me if these questionings are offensive in any way. That is not my intention. I am merely curious on the intricacies of the N-word and its uses.

It is commonly known, I think, that white people oughn’t say it, something which doesn’t extend to Black people. I wonder, though, if white people think of the word, in their head (assuming the person has some sort of inmer monologue). I would imagine thinking the word might increase one’s propensity to utter the word aloud. Or perhaps not. Certainly further exposure to content that features said language must increase one’s likelihood of using the term, no? Even if one never makes use of it aloud, surely the chances hypotetically increase, no?

Race is a social construct anyways, so what exactly are races? What defines a race? Is it from a 'Murican perspective? Asian is a race, innit? Is Latin American a race? If so, do white Latin Americans, or those with European descent, is that part of such race? How does the usage of the N-word apply to other races, assuming such thing?

Edit: I imagine race doesn’t just boil down to skin colour, right? There’s more to it than white = light skinned and Black = dark skinned, innit?

Edit 2: Maybe this was better for NoStupidQuestions. I may have mistankenly gone too soon for Ask Lemmy, seeing it is a question.

I’d like to add I am not questioning the N-word itself. I would not say it. I comprehend it is offensive. Seeing as it gets used by Black people, and it’s not to be used by white people, I was merely wondering on how this goes exactly. Whether it boils down to Black vs. non-Black, and what exactly defines being Black. (And also the part about thinking the word)

To add, I am not 'Murican, so no need to assume that. English isn’t even me first language.

Edit 3: to be very clear, I DO NOT WISH TO USE THE N-WORD. And I am not looking for some sort of loophole. I am merely trying to better understand things. I apologise if this is of any offense to Black people, as it is not my intention to harm anyone

Edit 4: mods, if needed be, you can safely delete this post. Not that you needed permission. I’d just like to let known if this is any problem, deletion is fine by me. I don’t intent on causing issues

  • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    5 hours ago

    Yeah the only cases I would consider it even remotely conceivable to use the word would be when you’re actually trying to capture its horror in a historical context. Like if you’re reading some newspaper from 1910 Alabama as part of a history lesson on lynchings. I don’t know if those just casually drop the N word, but it seems likely. Same reason you might show examples of Nazi-era anti-Jewish propaganda. Sometimes we have to look at the ugly parts of history.

    But even then, actually saying it out loud probably isn’t necessary. If I was having students read some Jim Crow era news clipping, I wouldn’t cross the word out from the page itself. The students can still see and read it with their own eyes. But we also don’t need to read it out loud. Hell I would probably just have a frank discussion about it at the start of the lesson. That would probably be a good learning experience in and of itself.