• rtxn@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    From Wiktionary (I’m not posting a link, look it up yourself):

    There have been efforts by those of African descent to reclaim the word (especially in the form n___a), but these efforts are controversial and some people do not believe it is able to be reclaimed due to its fraught history and continued derogatory usage. Regardless, usage by non-blacks is still almost invariably considered highly racist and offensive.

    • Rhaedas@fedia.io
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      3 months ago

      That doesn’t seem to be a reclaiming of a word (since it wasn’t previously used in a good way), but a reuse of a historically insulting term. I can respect the effort, but I still cringe when hearing it used as an amiable word. I don’t know if that makes me racist because I have trouble moving past it being a slur and distasteful. Maybe it’s still too new and it’s going to take a few generations to become more normalized.

      • egrets@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        “Reclaim” is still the term we use for that, even though just “claim” or “seize” might be more fitting. See also

        homophobic slur

        removed

        which some LGBT+ people use in an almost tongue-in-cheek way to refer to themselves and each other, as a way to invert and defang the hostility with which it is used by bigots.

        • Seleni@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Huh, your slur got removed. Didn’t realize World did that, thought it was just ml or something.

          • egrets@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            Yeah, that was news to me, I wasn’t sure if it was just my client. I’m not complaining - but I’ve been half-expecting an automatic ban!