Sneaky Racism: Reclaiming Racial Slurs for General Use

I've met a few people, an ex-roommate and a brief dating relationship in particular, who have said the N-word can't be racist if you use it to insult White people, too. They would never tell me why they felt so much endearment to the N-word that they thought it had to be rescued and not forgotten. To the ear, the word sounds both stupid and ugly, an illiterate derivation of "negro." It doesn't make sense given what other -er words, like "teacher," or "archer" mean. A word like "asshole" sounds better. They also never told me why it was such a great insult that they needed it in their arsenal.

I didn't make my point with them very well then, and so I thought about it and have finally figured out exactly why this exercise bothered me. First, did they going to use it against White people and not Black people?  Of course not. That would be racist in their Teabilly minds. No, after sanitizing the term racially, they intended to use it in a "racially neutral" way. It's affirmative action scorning. They felt n***** wasn't racist as long as fifteen percent of people they directly insulted with were White.

So, in their minds, if they called thirteen Black people n*****, then they better find two White people to insult with it or face their racially sensitized consciences, or worse, have their neighbors talk about it. "Oh, Bill's not really racist. He'll catch up on his quota soon."

If you're really behind, though, I guess you'll seem like an asshole when you call a white co-worker a n***** for using "infer" rather than "imply." But only until you explain to him that it's all in the interest of fighting racism in your very soul. He should understand. He doesn't want to be a racist either, and you can return the favor by letting him call you one in six months when he's under quota.

The other thing I wish I had said was, "Oh, you believe it isn't racist to call a white person a shiftless, sloppy, inarticulate black person, who deserves servility?" It's too bad I didn't find those words, because in fact, when I substitute the usual insulting definition of n*****, it's clear that it's even more bigoted against African Americans if you use it to insult Whites, too.

I did try to say this but wasn't very clear. My disdain alone didn't get it across. However, they were pretty ignorant to not grasp this already without somebody bringing to a conscious level for them. Other people know it even if they don't know how to explain it.