It's not ok for anybody to use that word. Regardless of skin color.

On the one hand a little dismayed by the fact that some commented without reading. On the other, glad everyone said "never," because yes, that's what the post was about.

Never

Black people have been burned alive and hung from trees in the United States. And here is a thread, comprised mostly of white people, asking the question: 'when is it OK for white people to use the 'N' word'.

Typical white privilege noise.

No. It should never be used. It's hate speech. It's borne of slavery and lynchings.

I don't appreciate Patreon's click-bait tactics or the OP posting it.

I think this is an American prejudice against a word, it's not nearly as charged in some other parts of the world.

But I think it is best not to discuss the colour of a person's skin unless it is actually relevant, and it is almost never relevant, compared to a person's other qualities.

I've read passages from Faulkner in public cafes (well who hasn't?) and fixed his use of this word to "slave" or "black."
Literary integrity is important to me, but the word and world has changed a lot since William wrote.
Otherwise, that's the only word people would have heard me say all night. His writing would be for naught.

Ohhh yes. Listen to the question itself. Not speak rhe nword. Not write it. USE it. Like the social weapon that it is. The same people take GREAT offense at being called crackers or rednecks, and bemoan thier "Irish Slave" nonsensical ancestry of "oppression".

Nobody should use the n-word. If black people quit using it, it would virtually disappear. The words Chink, Kike, Wop, Spic, Jap, and Beaner were common in the 50's and 60's. I haven't heard those racial slurs in decades. The same thing would happen to the n-word if everybody quit using it.
Changing the 'er' to an 'a' doesn't make it any less offensive.

Growing up, one of my best friends was black, and he insisted I call him n****r. After some reluctance, I did, and it was a good thing. Since the word was so charged, it was his way of letting me know I was trusted; I had permission to do what was verboten for anybody else. He would have been offended had I not taken the trust and privilege here was granting me and made that clear when I resisted!

Like anything else, it's not about rules that are inviolate. Instead it's about respect and trust. Clearly, you don't want to go around using offensive terms like n****r in ways that disrespect others, "cracker" is just as offensive.

Many phrases are offensive. Even"complimentary" slang can be: to "grow a pair" implies that women are weak, for example.

We should work to eliminate these implied insults from regular casual speech, but even so, context is always extremely important

When you are Quentin Tarantino.

never

NEVER.

Never.

NEVER. Why do you even ask?

Never if you understsnd the historical context that accompanies the word. Never even if you don't understand the contextual history.

I agree with the article. American whites are the hardest people to understand this. The ones I know seem to want to argue for their reason to use the word. Sorry. It just doesn't cut it.

I agree with the article.