Korean Job Discussion Forums

[SuperFly]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/09/nword.funeral.ap.ap/index.html

[kermo]

So, when is the funeral for the term "colored people"?

[Rteacher]

I think the burial is premature (based on wishful thinking) because it ain't dead yet. It has an interesting etmological history.

From Wikipedia:

Etymology and history

Main article: Negro

The Spanish word negro originates from the Latin word niger, meaning black. In English, negro or neger became negar and finally nigger, most likely under influence of French n�gre (also derived from the Latin niger).[1]

In Colonial America, negars was used in 1619 by John Rolfe, describing slaves shipped to Virginia colony.[2] Neger (sometimes spelled "neggar") also prevailed in northern New York under the Dutch and also in Philadelphia, in its Moravian and Pennsylvania Dutch communities. For example, the African Burial Ground in New York City was originally known as "Begraafplaats van de Neger" (Dutch: Cemetery of the negro).

In the United States, the word nigger was not always considered derogatory, but was instead used by some as merely denotative of black skin, as it was in other parts of the English-speaking world. In nineteenth-century literature, there are many uses of the word nigger with no intended negative connotation. Charles Dickens, and Joseph Conrad (who published The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' in 1897) used the word without racist intent. Mark Twain often put the word into the mouths of his Southern characters, white and black, but did not use the word when speaking in his own voice in his autobiographical Life on the Mississippi.

In the United Kingdom and other parts of the English-speaking world, the word was often used to refer to people of Pakistani or Indian descent, or merely to darker-skinned foreigners in general; in his 1926 Modern English Usage, H. W. Fowler observed that when the word was applied to "others than full or partial negroes," it was "felt as an insult by the person described, & betrays in the speaker, if not deliberate insolence, at least a very arrogant inhumanity." The note was excised from later editions of the book.

In the 1800s, as nigger began to acquire the pejorative connotation it holds today, the term "Colored" gained popularity as a kinder alternative to negro and associated terms. For example, abolitionists in Boston, Massachusetts posted warnings to "Colored People of Boston and vicinity." The name of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People reflects the preference for this term at the time of the NAACP's founding in 1909.

Southern dialect in many parts of the southern United States changes the pronunciation of "Negro" to "nigra" (used most famously by Lyndon B. Johnson, a proponent of civil rights).

Black became the preferred term in English in the late 1960s, and this continues to the present day. In the United States this has been displaced to some extent by African American, at least in politically correct usage; this resembles the term Afro-American that was in vogue in the early 1970s. Nevertheless, black continues in widespread use as a racial designation in the United States and is rarely regarded as offensive.

Today the word is often spelled nigga or niggah, in imitation of the manner in which some pronounce it. (Less-common variants are nigguh or even nikuh.) Other variations, designed to avoid the term itself, include nookah, nukka, nagger and the much older "jigger." ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger

[Tarmangani]

Time to break out the Ouija board.

[Alyallen]

[Bibbitybop]

Tell this to the hiphop community or people who use the term endearingly.

I don't use the word unless I'm referencing or quoting something.

The word is offensive, yes, but people need to get over offensive words and learn to deal with issues like adults living in a world with free speech. Being offended, dealing with it and rebutting offensive language is the challenge.

If people could deal with an offensive word instead of trying to bury it, fewer people would become violent when they hear that word. I'd rather have offended people who deal with it intelligently than offended people who deal with it violently.

[Alyallen]

[cangel]

Yeah, funny story. I would say, by far, the biggest users of the N word are black people themselves (particularly African Americans). I know they (NAACP) address this issue and it's a valid point. As for getting rid of the word or use of the word "colored", I don't see the National Association of Colored People doing that any time soon.

[pkang0202]

[Rteacher]

Yeah, it's not good to unnecessarily offend others by using words - or even expressing ideas - that they find very offensive.

Then again, not all members of the "offended" group may consider all uses of such words to be offensive. Comedians, rappers, poets, and writers can use them for well-received artistic and entertainment purposes - especially if they are members of the same group.

I don't think that most blacks mind so much when Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, or Dave Chapelle lace their monologues with the N - word. It's only really offensive when a cracker like Michael Richards uses it...

How far should we go to "sanitize" public speech? Would the world be a better place if Carlos Mencia were banned from using the descriptive term "beaners" to refer to fellow Mexicans ?...

I think that different purposes served by using such words should be considered before trying to institute a total ban.

When used hatefully (like KKK members hunting down blacks or use of the word "gooks" to dehumanize the enemy soldiers and civilians we were killing during battle) such terms become more offensive. But in the war scenario, a case can be made that some valid purpose is served by directing offensive speech toward an enemy that had to be killed in large numbers...

As long as there's no sense of true universal brotherhood and spiritual equality (extending even to animals) there will always be offensive speech used in one form or another - since the tendency is to give a dog a bad name and then hang it...

[Tony_Balony]

I lived in the Ranier Beach area of Seattle for 4 months. I'ts Seattle African American district. I'm not African American.

while i was walking, African American men would through half empty bottles of Olde English 800 at me from passing cars and say "Get out the ghetto *igger!"

The N word is ok to use as a racist slur as long as its used against White people. Its called slavery reparations. Its OK for Black people to say the N-word becuase they own it and there are no restrictions on use.

[Alyallen]

[migooknom]

I'd like to add that variations of the n word such as kigger or wigger are also NOT ok because in the end, you're rhyming it with the n word and pinning the other races with the "negative" character traits associated with the n word.

I believe I mentioned this in another thread that got deleted.

[endo]

It weird because I grew up listening to the word (nigga) from rappers like Pac and 50 Cent and biggie and so on.

So when I hear the word I don't necessarily see it as a racial slur.

Plus I'm from a part of Canada with not a lot of black people. And the people I heard it used most growing up were my Filipino and Chinese friends. But it was always used in terms of friendship.



But I think the older generation grew up with the word (nigger) in it's racial context. So they identify it a different way.



So there are two things our society can do. Try to bury it or together accept the positive way the word can be used.

But I'm white so the word (positive or negative connetation) doesn't effect me the same way as it might others.

[Dan The Chainsawman]

Any bet on how long it takes before the coffin to be exhumed?