What's the deal with people wanting Bill Maher fired? I heard something about him using the n-word?

Their reasons for using the word aren't something that should be questioned. If their usage of the word is what they see as a way to take the power from the word and be able to cope with it's negative connotations, then so be it. It reminds me of the Tyrion Lannister quote: 'Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor'. When people who do not have a stake in this word, are not hurt by it or still called by it, try to start telling people whether they should or shouldn't use it, that crosses a line.

Coming from a black person it is a term of endearment and reminds them of where they came from and what society they live in, where systemic racism is still rampant and egalitarianism is a distant dream. Coming from a white person from the suburbs, it is ignorance. White people can say it. Your mouth can make those sounds. What they're asking for is for nobody to criticize them for saying that, and that's just not a thing.

Members of dominant groups tend to make a big deal over small things that they are excluded from. This is the true heart of the matter for white people who get upset enough to write op-ed’s about blacks who say nigga. They want to say it too. They see it as a “freedom” that black people “enjoy” that they can’t. As if they don’t enjoy enough “freedoms.” Some examples would be white people lamenting the existence of race and gender-based scholarships even though white students still receive almost 70% of scholarship funds each year. If we lived in a world where white people could universally use nigga, they probably wouldn't give two shits about how black people use the word. I would be willing to bet that a lot of white youths would claim that they know how to use the word more appropriately than black kids.

It's coming from a place of entitlement when people say that. They see themselves as being denied something and they think it's not fair, therefore they're being oppressed in some twisted alternate universe kind of way.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with the use of the n-word (no matter the race) it is a part of black culture - if you are not of this community the usage is considered offensive by a large majority of the people, it is what it is on that. You do not get to decide if your usage of a word hurts someone.

I personally believe that white people that feel like they should be able to say the n-word don't care about black social issues. Out of all the real reasons to be upset about real inequality(Stop & Frisk, racial profiling, school to prison pipeline, Ferguson, the misrepresentation of black people in the media, aggressive policing leading to disingenuous crime statistics when compared to other groups etc. etc.), everyone is hung up on not having the blessing to say nigga.

/r/OutOfTheLoop Thread Parent