So, African Americans are keeping themselves in a lower class?

No Lawlight, blacks aren't keeping themselves in a lower class. There are many blacks in the upper class. Every race has ignorant, low class people. Some even have more low class people than blacks do.

never heard of the guy but that was really clever.

OT -  i have no use for that word so i don't care if i'm "allowed" to or not.  and i don't really care about what black people do,.. whether they use it or not doesn't change the fact i have no use for it in my vocabulary. 

If they find such offense to it, then it shouldn't be used. It's really stupid to sit there and tell people "you can't use that word". I find that very annoying.

It's like if white people came out and said "no one can say cracker" I would feel the same way.

But honestly, how can you call each other a word that you claim to find such offense in?

I don't think anyone should use it, but I have a real issue saying "African American".

Why put the African in there? Just say American. They are black. I'm American I am white. I don't go around telling people I'm Greek, German, American. I don't want people to refer to me like that. They are American and so am I. They are black and I'm white. There is no difference so why add African?

What if they aren't from Africa? If they were Jamaican or somewhere else it would be offensive. In England if you asked a black person where they were from they would say they're English. They wouldn't say African English. Rant over.

I think it's okay but to me it's a curse word. It's like people calling eachother the C-word when I hear it. I mean I don't get bent out of shape over people using the c-word but it reminds me of school on a sunday

NO CLASS

My thoughts on the matter. I hate the word, and I wish that is would disappear from our language. I know that it cannot be controlled, you can't legally "ban" a word, but it has racial connotations that I feel that people of today just do not understand. It was used to belittle African Americans, to remind them that they were below us. No matter what form you use it, it to me is an oppressive and unacceptable word, I don't care what race you are. It has turned into a term to somehow mean "brother" and it has grown to be accepted. In my mind, the longer the word stays alive in the English language, the longer African Americans will be oppressed.

I personally have never used it and will never use it, because I know the meaning and the truth behind it, and hearing it being said makes me more than slightly uncomfortable. As long as that word is around, not only does it float oppression around, it also is a slap in the face to us other races because it is a reminder of a very bad time in our history. I don't and will never understand why it is used the way it is, but it may never disappear from our vernacular.

Thats not what I am talking about and ginger is not a race. I am talking about words like Nigga because thats the word thats being used.

I think you need to be consistent. Either always frown upon it's use regardless of the ethnicity of who is saying it. Or accept it as a word that can be used in certain contexts.

It should never be used as a racial slur. However, for rap etc to happily use it just to refer to friends etc. and say it's cool for black people to use it is merely continuing to have a racial divide.

It's not just people of one particular skin colour which listen to specific genres of music etc. if music and movies etc use the word and it is deemed acceptable, it's then a double standard to turn around and tell someone they should not be using the word because it is racist and offensive.

Language is a very strange thing, the problem is, we're getting very fixated on the words themselves, without looking into the context and inference from them. The way to reclaim the word, is to use it as a positive word and speak out against it being used in a negative manner. That is what we should be challenging, rather than this double standard we currently have.

I can't say it's a word I'm attached to, so I'm happy for a blanket it is NOT okay to use the word, or a blanket the word is fair game. I'm not okay with "well you can say it because of your skin tone, but you can't say it" that is the very definition of racism/racial discrimination and merely serves to continue a divide.

uhh gingers are no race, thats why its okay to make fun of em everywhere. 

you are a racist!  black people have it so much more better than red haired people, and they never suffered so much.  the KKK burned some crosses outside your hose?  ohh you poor thing. the catholic church burned gingers ON a cross...