I do the same, but this is really the issue with words some people are allowed to say but others aren’t. Hearing something all the time and not saying it just isn’t something we’re built for. So it’s kind of like encouraging a cultural separation.
It’s for that reason why I advocate for everyone to be allowed to say it just like we do with cracker yea one is more prominent than the other but man if we are equal than shouldn’t it be easy to decide if slurs are allowed at all or not yet again I advocate for all slurs to be allowed by everyone because banning them just gives them power via significance
I mean, it’s not that difficult. I listen to plenty of rap and I don’t think I’ve ever spoken the word, certainly not in public. I don’t see it as cultural separation but as cultural respect. Eminem has gone an entire rap career without saying it, and he doesn’t seem very fussed about it.
Edit: He has said it before earlier in his career, but not now for quite a while. The general point I’m making is the same though.
For me when I hear someone speak my internal monologue patterns itself after their speech for a while, and I’ve heard others describe the same. Accents shift over time if you move somewhere with a different accent. I think it’s possible to have your words follow a set of rules, but for most people that will take active filtering that will make their speech less off-the-cuff and might slip if they are tired or drunk or something.
You know it’s interesting, because I’m the same way, but I haven’t had that happen for me. Not saying you’re wrong, it’s just interesting how the phenomenon varies. If I have one long listen/exposure, multiple hours long, then I’ll it happen to me. That isn’t a common occurrence though.
I get your point though. I suppose it just comes down to how someone’s brain is wired, and to what level they can separate it from their own speech.
If it’s in the song I like I just go along with. Me doing that isn’t in any negative way. If the artist don’t like some people say it, they shouldn’t put in there.
Skipping it or bleeping it out is like censoring art.
He actually mentions this on his new album in the song Auntie Diaries, which is about him learning to understand his trans aunt and cousin. He uses gay slurs throughout the song as an example of what he’d say when he was younger. There’s a very poignant moment I’ll paraphrase:
“I said those words but I didn’t know any better. I was taught that words were [just words].” - Kendrick
“Kendrick, ain’t no room for contradiction. [Let’s look at it from a different perspective]. F* F* F* we can say it together, but only if you let a white girl say n–” - Cousin who’s trans
“If the artist don’t like some people say it, they shouldn’t put in there.”
I think I’ve heard the response to this from creators, the idea is that it isn’t made for you. They create media informed by black experiences and tailored for black audiences. They don’t feel like they should have to change that to accommodate white/non-black audiences, and not doing so shouldn’t be a free pass for people to turn bigoted language back at them.
Take what you will from that, and consider that I cited a vague “they” with no clear reference or origin. I’m going off shoddy memory, and as a non-black person.
I know. When I made that choice I got rid of some songs I really liked. That’s the price I’m paying for keeping my mind more free of words I am forbidden from using.
yeah I get this. part of ADHD for me is having a lot of impulsive words floating through my head. I try to avoid things I wouldn’t want falling out later. I remember in high school I had a revival of “aw, gay” that kept popping up in my head, even though it had already died out socially years ago and I hadn’t said it (in that manner) in years. I probably saw it again on TV or something and it just stuck. it took a lot of conscious power to just stop saying it reflexively when I died in a video game or whatever.
Okay but if I’m doing karaoke I’m gonna sing the song like it is. I’m not the guy who’s just gonna skip the word or say “neighbor” or something, sorry.
Also I don’t choose my songs based on whether or not they have the n word in them. If I like a song and it has the n word in it sucks to suck I’m singing it
Yes it’s very racist to say you can’t sing a certain music because the color of your skin. If someone gets upset that white guy said it then blame the song writer not the guy singing.
Fr if they are comfortable saying it among themselves then it obviously doesn’t offend them they’re just being racist to exclude people based on skin color
I just make a record-scratch sound instead of say the word if it’s in a song I’m singing. If people think that’s lame then I’ll live with that. I do NOT want to get comfortable saying that word; I’m the same shade as printer paper.
I had a friend get very comfortable with the phrase “yeaaahhh, ma nizzle” (substitute nizzle for the word it’s code for, because I can confirm after using a perfectly acceptable word similar to snickering it will be removed and also I don’t wanna type it).
One day, we’re at a very rough pub in Digbeth. Lots of drinks had. We’re all sat at a table outside, behind my friend are two very large, very black bouncers. One legit looked like the Hulk and capable of casually ripping my friend’s head off. The other wasn’t as muscled but still well-built and very tall. Then… my friend… says the words. Everyone at the table kinda freezes and goes quiet. The very tall guy goes “What did he say?!” and the Hulk just shakes his head sadly and says “something stupid”. Thank you Hulk for not ripping my friend’s head off.
And that, boys and girls, is why you don’t get comfortable saying words that aren’t for you.
I’m a school bus driver and by far the weirdest experience (which I have regularly) is driving a busload of middle school or high school girl athletes (almost all white) somewhere and listening to them sing along to music with the n-word in it. They do not skip the n-word.
You’re not wrong, Sesame Street was developed to look like Harlem. It’s been very much about black representation in every aspect they could consider since the very early days.
Huh, even as a young child in Australia I kind of was aware sesame street was from a rougher area, although safe. Wonder how I clocked that even though it was never explicit
I once worked with a black dude who said the word all the time. One day we were talking hella shit about our boss and all kinds of n words flying out of his mouth, and I let one loose too, froze, and looked at him and he didn’t even give a shit.
People joke about the hard R but there really is a huge difference. And besides, people know there’s a big contextual difference. Homies aren’t going to mind if you’re just hanging out with them … probably.
It’s not a difficult concept. Just don’t say it. The word doesn’t have any power above the comradery between black people and hatred coming from a white person. The power dynamic is what’s important.
I never said it was difficult, it’s just ironic. I don’t say it. Can you read or are you just saying what you are thinking? It has a lot of power, it can make a room erupt into a riot in an instant or cancel your whole career/life…Look at Morgan Wallen for example…
Depends what you think the nuance is. Maybe the nuance is that a group of people are self-perpetuating negative stereotypes and have trapped themselves in a situation where they can never be criticised for it, and where the they consider protecting that toxic trait to be “winning”.
…or it’s the difference between using it in slang vs using it as an insult/perjorative. And people usually get that. The whole hard R thing represents that difference really well. There’s nothing wrong with taking back power over a slur. I can’t think of any better way to mock the people who use it, in fact.
Generally speaking, the group taking back the slur isn’t going to use it in a bad way, so it’s assumed they’re using friendly slang. If you aren’t part of that group, that basic assumption isn’t there. And considering how many racists are still alive today, that’s fair. For me, it’s also just basic respect. The slur isn’t used against me and probably won’t be. I have nothing to reclaim.
Look at it this way. Eminem has gone his entire rap career without saying it. He’s really good friends and colleagues with a lot of black people. Undoubtedly someone has “given him permission” at some point, and I imagine almost everyone he’s with would be fine with it, but he still doesn’t use it.
It’s ironic, actually. The people who understand this are also probably the people most likely to be “given permission”. And they don’t use it. That should tell you everything you need to know.
Edit: Correction, he had used it in the past, but he stopped quite a while ago. The general gist my point though is still the same, he’s built an incredible rap career without saying it much at all, and he clearly hasn’t seen the need to in a long time.
I agree with your message but Eminem has used it in his rap several times. I know it’s old and some of those were as backing vocals just nice to see that he realized it wasn’t right for him to say so he stopped.
A quick note, YouTube started adding tracking into the URLs that are connected to ur account, if you want to remove these just remove the question mark and everything after it, then you have a clean URL
Idk if you will call me a nerd, but I thought it might be interesting
Was there a South Park episode where Tolkien had his allowance cut off, and made up for it by selling “Nigga Passes” to the school? Or did I dream that?
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