Since I'm not an American, maybe I missed out some crucial part of American history when the term nigger can no longer be used by whites, Hispanics and any other ethnicity for that matter, but blacks can, without any fear of reprisal, call each other "niggers" on a regular basis. I've spent years studying American history, and I couldn't find a reason. So maybe it's a cultural thing.

OK, even back in 1913, the term nigger is considered an insult.

Nig"ger (?), n.

A negro; -- in vulgar derision or depreciation.

Alright, I get that. Then how did it all of a sudden become so fashionable for blacks to call each other niggers? Do Asians go around and call each other chinks? Do poor white Americans call each other trailer trash? Not that I can see. Oh wait a second, maybe it's a big joke. Alright then, why can't we use it? Why is it that any non-black using the term nigger around blacks would be immediately threatened with physical pain?

Hey, it doesn't end there. Gays have turned queer into a word of honor. Hey, "out" everythingians, do gay people say things like "He's my favorite queer boy"? So blacks have turned a formerly derisive term into a term of endearment. Alright, that still doesn't answer why blacks can use nigger and we can't. I can use the term queer without fearing reprisal in Cornell. I can't say the same for nigger.

If you ask me, this is just a load of crock. "Banned words" seem to be universal, except nigger. I mean, words like gook, chink, slant eye, kike, spic, nip, Kraut, frog, mick, wop, dago, etc. are all considered insults, and I don't hear any Jews calling each other "kikes". I don't call my fellow Chinese "chinks". To me, it's just more political correctness and selective application of free speech. Give me one specific reference to African-American culture that allows the term nigger to be used by blacks only. And give me a good reason.

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Right. We Chinese have taken a century of abuse courtesy of the whites, especially in the Western states, and yet, we hardly ever bitch about whites. We do not even come close to the level to which blacks complain about white boys.

Alright, so you say it is self-depriciating. So why can't Asians use the term chigger. I find absolutely no evidence of any Asian/black conflicts in American history, so chances are we have never used the word nigger as an insult. Yet, we still can't use it.

Oh well, like I care. Just pointing out the selective application of free speech.

Have you ever used self-depreciating humour in an attempt to deflect insults? If so, then you may be able to understand or appreciate the mindsets of the the people you mention above. Hence why it may be unacceptable for those who were using it as in insult in the first place to continue using it.
I think also that it is only a certain section of the african-american population which uses it, ie, young males.
As for why other groups have not taken up their insults for their own uses, perhaps you could start this trend up in other communities or social groups, DMan...?

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Freedom of speech? You are free to use any term to any person, DMan. The question is not one of freedom, it is one of acceptability. Remember that society is only how you perceive it, so if you wish to explain to those who you wish to use the word "nigger" or "chigger" to, then feel free to do that too. Perhaps certain sections of the Chinese community do complain about whites. I would not rule that out.

Why would anyone want to use the word nigger? Who cares?

I don't understand why non-blacks get so upset when they can't have something that blacks have. You've got plenty of stuff, why can't you just let it go? I can't use the word nigger, I can't compete in the Miss Black Universe pageant (for any number of reasons), and I will never appear in a profile in Ebony magazine. So what? I've gotten past it, why can't you? Get over it.

A lot of white people wonder why Black people call each other nigger, yet get really offended when a white man uses the word. I don't think there is a double-standard at work here. The issue is more about the history of the word nigger and how it was used in American society.

Nigger is a shortening of Negro, and became known as a word of abuse during the 1950s and 1960s. Remember that in those days even educated Blacks were looked down upon and confined ot the ghetto. The word was, and still is, used by whites to diminish blacks.

Blacks use the word differently. It is a diminutive to them as well, but suggests familiarity much as we might call someone named David Davey. They're saying 'don't get uppity' to each other. But the person who says it is also black. He's the same, so he's a nigger too. The word in that context is a diminutive but inclusive, reminding the two black men of their shared identity.

A white man who uses the word nigger can't do that. He is and always will be seen as a member of the dominant class, the slaveowner rather than the slave. The word can never be inclusive, because the two men don't share that identity. This is why white men can't use the word nigger.

Of course there are times when white and black men find themselves at odds. Black people are human. Like all people, you'll meet both saints and jackasses. It's normal to seek a clear way to express anger. But if a white man uses the word nigger, he's suggesting the problem has to do with the man's color, rather than his attitude. Using the word 'nigger' means the white guy is now the one with the attitude. It may let the other guy off the hook emotionally. I'd suggest as a white man that we just forego using the word nigger. After all, asshole works just fine.