Posted on 09/14/2013 2:44:18 PM PDT by kevcol
A federal jury in New York awarded $250,000 in damages to a woman who said she was subjected to a racist tirade at work. In his defense, her boss argued that the N-word can be a term of love and endearment between black people. Reporter Peter Hall reached out for opposing views.
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Q: Are there any social settings or contexts where it is acceptable to use the N-word?
[Monica Miller] A: The recent federal ruling against workplace use of the N-word has sparked, once again, a discourse on the limits and boundaries of what we can say. And I say yes to the word's continued use among those historically victimized by it. It's for the users to work out when and where use is acceptable, not the courts...
Q: Does it matter how you pronounce or spell the term?
A: Yes. It matters significantly that the groups who have recast "n-----" as "nigga" (or some other version) are respected on the grounds of their re-appropriation of the word. The respelling embodies the reality of changing historical moments and identities. Words and people are not stuck in the mud of historical stasis, but tap into history to make their own history.
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.mcall.com ...
The brits got it from US southerners and some of the British dialects have the same pronunciation peculiarities. They did not use the term Negro much to start with. That was a Spanish word that came in to the US through New Orleans and Florida.
Yeah, remember that? Gee, Innis is conservative and I’m sure calling him “Nigger” was a complete “mistake”. My ass it was. Leftists are as racist as it gets and they prove it over and over and over every single day.
Hey and did you notice they took down that article of Ms. Professor Miller that I posted? I guess they didn’t like that I exposed her racist ass lol lol. Not only are they racist, they’re also yellow bellied cowards.
http://www.bet.com/news/national/2013/07/17/commentary-after-trayvon-whats-next.html
As long as they can call me cracker, honkey, whitey etc.
then I can call them nigger, porch monkey, melon jockey or
whatever I feel. Anyone who says otherwise is RACIST.
To have the most effect, it must be preceded by the word “Typical”.
HBO ran their movie of Richard Pryor’s life last night, and reminded me that he was the one that started the black use of the N-word. In fact his first LP album was entitled “This Nigger’s Crazy”. Blacks and college students had ‘listening parties’.
When he first used the word in his show in Las Vegas, his show was cancelled. But 10 years later, Saturday Night Live had a skit in which he traded racial insults, including the N-word, with a white guy.
Many years later he took a trip to Africa, and when he came back he said he “..saw lots of black people but no Niggers.”
He announced that he would not use the word any more.
He did his comedy routines without the N-word ... and they flopped ... no longer funny.
He returned to using the N-word. And we are left with the results.
Marc Furman’s testimony in the OJ trial was rejected by the jurors because the judge allowed the defense to ask him if he had ever used the N-word. Paula Deen’s career as a cook was nearly destroyed because a lawyer asked her if she had ever used the N-word.
In fact, the N-word is the single exception to the demise of the concept of “fighting words”. One hundred years ago, if you called a man a coward, or his girlfriend a whore, you could expect him to physically attack you and not suffer legal consequences - they were “fightng words”. Today, you will be charged with battery ... unless it is the N-word and you are black.
Let me give you an example. At a Tennessee High School a few years ago, a black boy repeatedly asked a white girl out for a date, and told her she was a racist if she didn’t date him. After months of this, she finally turned to him and said, “Let me make this as clear as possible: I don’t date niggers.”
He punched her in the face.
A white boy standing next to her punched him to the ground.
Other black boys jumped him.
Other white boys jumped them.
Within 30 seconds, there was a full scale riot.
The black boy was not suspended, was not arrested.
It didn’t appear in any newscast or newspaper.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=nigger&searchmode=none
The 1786 cite is from British poet Robert Burns:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/robertburns/works/the_ordination/
Your theory is possible but not conclusive. Latin was widely studied in England back in those days. Indeed, nigra is the feminine singular of niger.
I could not find any 1944 cite of nigra apart from biological taxonomy.
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