Reply to Do Black Parents Discourage Their Children from Using the "N-Word"?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I was riding on the Metro last night towards Reston, when three black youths (late teens/early 20s) got on the train near Farragut West.  Over the next 25-30 minutes, and in the presence of mostly white and Asian passengers, they spoke loudly, with about every 1/3 or 1/4th word out of their mouth being "niggas."  As I listened to them speak it became clear it was used as a substitute for "we" or for "young workers in entry-level jobs" (like "they make the niggaz stay late to clean up at Shake Shack").

Do black parents discourage their children from using this term, or do they not care?  And, if the latter, how can they take offense when youths of other races are then socialized to think it's an acceptable term?

This is not trolling, but a serious question that merits an honest discussion. As long as non-AA youths are routinely punished for using language that AA youths apparently can use in public places with no repercussions, some people will trend further right, convinced that the left is ready, willing, and able to enforce speech codes replete with double standards. [/quote]

1. So is it the fault of these young people that others trend further right? Are they therefore responsible for the entire drift of political discourse in this country?

2. Are you advocating that non-black young (or older people) should be able to use this word? I mean, go for your life -- but you do understand there will be consequences to you if that happens, right? These young people are not the keepers of who can use the word. You cannot simultaneously believe that it is too offensive for them to use but you want white teens to be able to use it too.

3. Why were there no consequences? You were there, you are an adult. Speak up if you are offended. Who else do you expect to speak up? It takes a village.

4. Yes, of course Black parents enforce this. It is also not the responsibility of Black parents to educate you about what they do or do not do.

5. I don't think you are trolling, but please realize that your questions come across as very naive. As though "Black teens" are this completely other group of people, and you've never seen kids acting out on the metro before. [/quote]

Here are my responses:

1. I think such behavior might lead people to trend further right, primarily for this reason: if people observe that members of one race are granted linguistic privileges that others are denied, they might embrace a political philosophy than encourages individual responsibility and denies notions of group rights.

2. I'm not sure what I think on this topic.  I personally told my kids when I realized - when they were in their mid-teens and I realized others in their age group were Tweeting away "nigga this" and "nigga that" - not to use the word and not to assume that there would not be consequences for them, even thought they are mixed-race (but not black).  But at a broader level, I do believe that, if AA youths can bandy about a term like "nigga" to refer to both other blacks and other non-blacks in a more general sense, there should not be any consequences for non-blacks who are socialized to think the word is acceptable and no longer uniquely is intended as a racial slur.  I do find it deeply offensive that blacks can treat the word like a race-card option: use it all they want, but complain about racism once some other kid or young adult who may have been influenced by their black peers starts to use the term as well.

3. That would have been an interesting conversation, perhaps in a different forum.

4. It's not anyone's responsibility to respond to any thread on DCUM. People participate voluntarily if they want to share views or express opinions.

5. This isn't a thread about whether some people behave in a rambunctious manner on the Metro.  These youths weren't trying to take over the train or harass anyone.  However, as noted, they were quite loud and anyone within 15-20 feet could not have helped but notice how frequently they were using the n-word."  As I said, at some level, I understand that using a slur like that is an attempt to "make the word our own," but they weren't using it to refer simply to black people.  I have to assume they speak the same way in front of non-blacks in other settings as well, so blacks shouldn't be surprised when others start using it as well.  [/quote]

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