Also, it's like me calling a white person a "cracker." I'm pretty sure a white person would be offended by that. So should I be able to say it? But then again the word cracker doesn't even posess the powerful effect that the n word carries.

I have no idea what a Cracker is. I don't think we have Crackers in Canada. I can only assume that since Kirk said he's been called it, it's some reference to southern people?

Still, a word's just a word unless you give it the power to be something more.

Cracker is a slur for white people, but doesn't have the same impact that the N-word.

The reality is that the power behind the N-word was created by the white community, and the power behind it hasn't diminished at all.

Still, a word's just a word unless you give it the power to be something more.

But there is already power behind the word.

it was created by a white community that has been dead for many years.

You can't take power from a word unless you are willing to stop being afraid of it when its said by certain people.

I actually sort of agree with that. It goes back to the whole bully thing. If you ignore them, they really do go away. If they can't get to you, then you have the power.

I don't think anybody disagrees that the word should go away.

Except for blacks who rap with it and those who use it in everyday discourse and as a term of endearment.

tell that to the rap artists that use the word in their lyrics as much as they use the word "The".

Precisely.

The power and the magnitude behind it hasn't changed. It's just been passed on to a new generation.

But there is already power behind the word.

Not if blacks realize there'd be more peace if they just ignored the word and, like Drew said, (at least, as it's my understanding), and ignoring those who use it. Don't use the word, don't get offended when someone else uses the word, and then it loses any power it ever had. If no one's offended by it, it's no longer a slur. If people realize that words are just words, and they themselves only mean something when we attach meanings to them, the problem would go away.

I actually sort of agree with that. It goes back to the whole bully thing. If you ignore them, they really do go away. If they can't get to you, then you have the power.

Racist white people don't go away. They just change forms. They go from being overt to subtle and back.

What I think you're not getting is that racial slurs are not just words. There is 400 years of hate, violence, domination, and death in those words. How on earth can you possibly fathom separating that from the word? You can't. It will ALWAYS be there. It is so easy to say "just ignore it, and it'll go away". It will never affect you the way it affects POC. Never. To be honest, don't worry about what's going on within the black community. It's really not your concern. Just know that it is NEVER okay for a white person to use it.

Edited December 17, 200619 yr by Danni

Racist white people don't go away. They just change forms. They go from being overt to subtle and back.

And if people ignore them, they don't go away, but they sure lose their power. OTherwise, you're just going to have people beating each other up and even more deaths than the ones racism would provide because a lot of fights do start over that word. I think the racism of yesteryears, to the magnitude that it was, burning crosses and all being commonplace, is a dead era.

The power and the magnitude behind it hasn't changed. It's just been passed on to a new generation.

Like hell!

I've never owned a slave, made people use separate bathrooms, go to separate schools, give up their seat on a bus for me, etc etc. Yet white people are made to feel constantly guilty for the actions of their ancestors, with comments like that above. Hate apparently is being passed down to new generations of both colours. Very sad.

Edited December 17, 200619 yr by Drew

This thread is way off topic, and a mod should do us all a favor and put us out of our misery.

King just ignore the thread then.