no se. maybe only those with record deals. i can’t imagine myself being in a situation where i would actually want to use it.

This is pretty stupid. There sure are plenty of Latinos who DON’T have African heritage (I would even say the majority probably don’t).

I think most black people would have a mental breakdown when Mr. Whitey-Latino (i.e. myself) used the nigger.

Conversely, would that mean black people can use spic?

Sorry, that should just be “nigger.” I originally typed “the n-word” but I decided not to be a pussy.

Hmm. I think it depends on the Latino. Somehow I can’t see my fresita neighbor from Mexico City, or my Barbie doll friend from Argentina referring to herself as a niggas.

Whether you agree with him or not, I think Mooney’s point was that, due to slavery and hundreds of years of races mixing, everybody has some African blood in them. According to genealogists, the human race can be traced to a single woman. And she was a big, black mama.

The issue gets complicated with “white” latinos that come to a country like the US, where they are summarily lumped, regardless of the color of their skin, with the rest of the Latino “browns”. In the meantime, Chavelita is right. Only those of us with record deals can get a free pass. Peace out, my nizzles!

For me, it depends on the AA I’m speaking to. To be honest, I think some Latinos would be insulted by the comparison.

Honestly, I don’t think anybody should use it.

It is just a fuckin word. get over it black people. The word belongs to no one but to everyone….

There is more important issues at foot…

CHIVAS or CHIVAS USA, now thats some controversy for you…

I got smacked around in the lunch room when I refer to CHIVAS USA as CHIVAS…. the horror…..oh the horror.

@Bosrican: OMG, you never hear about this ever. It’s like longstanding racial tensions and racial identity politics in Latin America get thrown out the window when you come to the US. I mean, do you see Jessica Alba, Cameron Diaz and J. Lo hanging out together? No.

i’ll admit, i have used the word, but only in the context of a joke or a story. never have i used it as a term of endearment or otherwise. it’s not just a word. it carries so much behind it in the grand scope of things.

I didnt hear an uproar when Angie Martinez used it in “Go Muthafucka”!? Look, being a person of Black and Spanish heritage, I use the word as did my parents and grandparents. What I see happening is a bunch of uppity educated brothers and sistas, who feel an even stronger urge to assimilate, pushing to stop the use of the word. And also, no one ever points out that there are two different words, if you, or me for example, walked up to a friend and said, whats up, my nigger, they would look at me strange, but if i said what up nigga, all would be fine. Nigger and Nigga are not the same, havent been for quite some time. Do i have a problem with latinos using nigga, nope. Nigger, definitely. its all in how you use it, and yes, i believe it is term of endearment in certain instances. Dont get it twisted people. dig deeper and understand the word before you weigh in. dont rely on uncle toms and the media to tell you what you should think about the word. Blacktino fo life, bitches!!!!

Latinogamer, you got any ancestors who did a part of that four hundred years of slavery? Does that belong to you too? The comment you made was stupid, blacks dont need to get over it, everyone else needs to understand that the word is inherently associated with blacks, that carries negative and positive connotations. It doesnt, nor will it ever belong to everyone.It’s people like you who should just stick to gaming and not about social issues, that you obviously dont understand, homey!

Nigga, not nigger, is the only thing black people own in America.

As for latinos using it? I thinkly only latinos from The Bronx should use it. And by latinos I mean Puerto Ricans. Don’t even think about calling a dark or brown skin Dominican black or nigga.

I knida buy the idea of uppity negroes distancing themselves from the term because they want to assimilate. However, no matter how far a language has eveloved, words hurt. If you flinch when you hear someone refer to you as their nigga, then you gotta problem with it. I flinch all the time.

my ancestors were tortured, suffered genocide, and our literature burn by the spanish conquistadors…but do I go around asking for hand me downs from Spainish people and their country?

The word nigger became more prominent during the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, after the Civil War in the deep south. Yes the word can be used as a term for negative and positive connotations but does not carry the same weight as did it in the past. People use the word to be hip, to hate and to discriminate, it belongs to all. Is it right? Is it fair? We all know nothing in this world is fair, if the african american community want to eradicate this word from the english vocabulary then stop using it. Denzel won a freakin oscar in a movie that had it over a hundred times. Which is worse, profiting from your comedic or music act using the word or calling an african american a nigger because he cut you off….Not sure I can answer that since I dont hate anyone that I do not know. Maybe Denzel should of pass up the role. Eradicate the word from 50 cent songs and so on.

The word nigger does not describe the current racial issues in the world today, it is part of the american past and should be buried.

I am not your homey….

So if someone called you a NIGGA OR A NIGGER in a rude way, it would be different? Nigga please, nigga please.

It depends how and to whom you are refering to. I agree that no matter who you say it to, if you say it in a mean or hurtful way than you should get the SHIT beat out of you. But, if you use it in a nice brother-love type situation than there is no problem. I use the word almost every sentence and I use it for all races and sexes. I call almost everybody I come in contact with, man, woman or child, “my nigga.” Depending on the situation. A hundred years ago people would use that word with a different meaning behind it. Nowadays, like any other word that “evolves” can mean something totally different today. I think this country should realive what type of stupidity we’re concentrating on and notice that one single word doesn’t mean shit. It’s what’s behind that word that makes all the difference. Just go back and remember that good ol’ sayin’ my niggas… “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

-ferrerom3

YUCA- Young Urban Cuban American

Not to be kicking on a very old post by now….but this one, like the hairy vet with a Bowie knife post, just doesn’t seem to die…

Personally, I’m not one to use the term, endearing or otherwise. Why? When it was used when I was younger in a pretty white part of Los Angeles County by white and latino friends and (very close) relatives, its use always smacked of racist aggression, no matter how many times they would try and cover up by saying they weren’t racist or how many times they loved black people, but didn’t hang around any.

In the late eighties and early nineties (pre-Rodney King), which is a kind of 1950s for suburban minorities. Admittedly, none of us in our group of friends, white, black, brown, asian, jewish, whatever…called anyone a “nigger”, “nigga”, “niggy”, whatever. I don’t know, we just didn’t. Perhaps because we were educated to be overly p.c. about it. Or because we were too distracted by loud Cross-Colors jeans. But whenever someone used it, it was typically maliciously, you knew…and the school would erupt into a small-scale race riot (which happened in our high-school, thanks to some white supremacists and my tagger of a best friend…).

As for its contemporary use, the use of the terms amounts to a good deal of posturing, more than anything. I always found it a little strange when my rich, blonde-hair, blue-eyed, Guatemalan-Jewish cousin would call me (the darkest one in my family), his nigga. It was, well, pretty wiggerish and just in bad faith. Not that he should have become preppy or anything, which he didn’t.

So, in my opinion, nobody owns the term and we all do. Isn’t that the nature of language? I’m just not that into that particular one. Maybe I sould talk with my Peruvian-American shrink about this one.

I want to talk with Michael Eric Dyson about this. And listen to as many versions of “Babalu” in Spanish as I can possibly find, beginning with Astrid Haddad’s. The english version sucks. And to read about Afro-Mexicans in soccer.

@whatevs, you make no sense. How are Dominicans any different from Puerto Ricans in that respect, and why do Puerto Ricans (me!!!) have any more right to the word than Dominicans do?

“Y tu abuela, a’onde ta?” It’s a saying because it is mostly right… most people in countries that were colonized by the Spanish have some black heritage. That being said, what does it matter, who “owns” the word? Why perpetuate hateful language?

i use the word under my breath when a black person gets me pissed off or is very rude to me. i’m going to hell i know.

Interesting…let’s all fight over who is more african or more latino. Meanwhile our families (and our communities) are being torn apart by a misguided immigration policy that discriminates against us because we are from a “mexican country”.

Do you realize that for some it makes no difference what lines we draw around each other?

So……only latinos from the Bronx, unless your a fair skinned latino from the Bronx. And no Argentines, unless you have dark skin…….If your a Brazilian, its not ok……unless you have African ancestory……..and of course African Americans can use it……unless your more than 3/4 white. White people can’t use it at all….unless you’ve got atleast 35.5% African in your blood……If your Mom is white and your dad is black its ok, unless you look too fair….then its not ok. If your from Africa you can’t say it because you’re not hip enough…….unless you have been in the US for atleast 10 years and 2 months……..Michael Eric Dyson can say it, even though he has lighter skin than most Mexicans I know. Mexicans can say it except for the white ones……..this all makes a lot of sense. Racial profiling at its finest. Wasn’t it white people that were the inventors of the “you’re not white enough” rhetoric? Now its you’re not black enough? WTF?

So……only latinos from the Bronx, unless your a fair skinned latino from the Bronx. And no Argentines, unless you have dark skin…….If your a Brazilian, its not ok……unless you have African ancestory……..and of course African Americans can use it……unless your more than 3/4 white. White people can’t use it at all….unless you’ve got atleast 35.5% African in your blood……If your Mom is white and your dad is black its ok, unless you look too fair….then its not ok. If your from Africa you can’t say it because you’re not hip enough…….unless you have been in the US for atleast 10 years and 2 months……..Michael Eric Dyson can say it, even though he has lighter skin than most Mexicans I know. Mexicans can say it except for the white ones……..this all makes a lot of sense. Racial profiling at its finest. Wasn’t it white people that were the inventors of the “you’re not white enough” rhetoric? Now its you’re not black enough?

J-Lo was just unconvincing when she used it. She didn’t sound as if she grew up using that word. People didn’t neccecarily say that Jlo couln’t say it. We just told her she would sound stupid.

Fat Joe, Big Pun and True Life have obviously grown up using that word…amonst blacks.