Tim is a genious. :o

Queue Tim Minchin marathon!

I thought I would join in the discussion..

Firstly, I am white, and I live in the UK. I don't know the context of why people who are black are called African Americans, I do not understand it as I am pretty sure not all of the black community who live in America are from Africa or even been to Africa, personally I feel like it is racist, but I am from a different country and I may not understand..

As for the use of the words in question, as a white guy in my 20-25 years me and my friends who where also white referred to each other as niggers, as in "sup nigga" and such as greetings, and also a friendly insult like if we lost at a game of fifa or something stupid, we would be like you fucking nigger to each other. Non of us are racist, or even care about skin color, and used the words without any prejudice.

I have had a few black friends over the years also, sometimes they referred to me as a nigger, and even joked myself with them on the occasion saying he's ma nigga in return after being told it was ok by them, but they had great senses of humor and even made jokes calling me racist if I said black or something like that, in a different context, like.. oh he has a black car... I would be called racist and have a funny rant about how the black man is always being put down, mostly we would all just be laughing our asses off at it.

Personally, I think the word has just become part of every day life for a lot of people, who use it for many different things but not really in a racial way.. Just like the word fuck, its used so many ways but hardly ever used in the way it was originally intended ( as in sexual relations ).

As a personal belief, I think color does not matter, black or white.. I honestly think referring to someone as black, is racist, where all the same... But then again, there are things in the world I hate, like in places in the word people have black history month and such... if there was a white history month, it would be classed as racist...

The whole world just needs to get over itself and stop using political correction to be honest, white or black skin, we are the same.

I have never used that word, but living in the ghetto they call me cracker so I should have the right to say the n***** to them. If they get offended, they're hypocrites.

I'm an African American who grew up in a community where the word was tossed around quite liberally. Even though the word is mostly absent from my lexicon these days, it's still a word that occassionally makes its way to my ears and lips based on my company at the moment.

I think I'm in the camp that believes its OK to use the word so long one takes context in mind: the person you're addressing and your endearment with said person, being in a private space vs. public space, and a proper understanding of the dark history of the word.

I still have a couple of friends who can't go 10 words without using it, and you'd have to put a gun to their heads to get them to stop. I could do without it, but it doesn't bother me so much because I know for them, it is a term of endearment, an indication that they have accepted me, and know that I am comfortable with them on a personal level.

What I can't stand is when another black man addresses me as "nigga" when he doesn't know me. He doesn't know my comfort level with the word, he doesn't know my personal struggles, he doesn't acknowledge that it's a word that carries a ton of weight in all levels of society. He is essentially assuming that he has my mind and my character figured out based on the color of my skin. This is no better than being stereotyped by someone of another race, so of course I get offended!

I really love most of the responses to this topic, and I appreciate that the majority of you have been very classy about it. It's also cool to learn who else on this site is African American. Spemanig, I had a feeling you might be black too! Not stereotyping at all, but it's one of those sort of things you just sort of know...

I'm half black, i don't use any variation. Those who do are degrading themselves. That being said i don't think anyone should use it, especially not black people.

People should only use it when either it is appropriate to use the word or the people around you are ok with it. However, I myself would never use it -especially since I have a racist dad and racist grandparents... So using it would make me look as bad as them, to me

the word ofcourse should never be used in a malicious way

what is a bit confusing is that some parts of black youth/pop culture adopted "nigger/niggah" as a substitiute for "brother/friend/pal/homie/whatever" and obviously there are many non-blacks that are interested in said culture and want to take part

but those actually never are really allowed to use the same terminology (some may graciously be allowed to within certain groups, but it's rare), meaning it feels a bit like self-seggregation as even non-blacks with the same interests never can use "the same language"

recently Obama actually spoke out "nigger" when talking about racism and I think it was perfectly fine to use it there, not because he is black, but because saying "the n-word" all the time when discussing it's influence is pathetic

All forms of racist words should be against the law.

Yeah, ban ginger ale!  thats the worst word you can use.

I'm black and I don't use the word. Though many of my friends and family do. See, no one wants to ban the word. No one wants to ban words. But it's just that when most other races are using it they're not using it in the way most blacks use it. I have a friends who's white and he uses it. Some people hear him say it and they ask me why I allow him to use it. I don't allow him to do anything! He's an adult who makes his own choices. What's most odd though is that blacks who use the word themselves are usually the ones who are offended when someone non-black uses it.

I see that some people are saying that blacks are allowed to use it but not others. But it's not like if a black person goes on a tirade about gays, Mexicans, etc. that we won't be chastised similary to a white person who goes on an N-word tirade.