The New York City Council approved a symbolic resolution yesterday imposing a moratorium on the use of the racial slur called the n-word.

Councilman Leroy G. Comrie Jr., the Queens Democrat who sponsored the measure, said that people who use the slur are “disrespecting their history.�

The effort began in February, Black History Month, and has gradually gained nationwide notice and support. In New York, supporters gathered at City Hall yesterday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6406625.stm

Racial slur banned in New York




By Jeremy Cooke
BBC News, New York





The city council of New York has voted to ban the use of the word "N****r".

The resolution to ban the so-called "N-word" is largely symbolic as it carries no weight in law and those who use the word would face no punishment.
But it reflects a growing unease that the racial slur is now part of everyday conversation and that the taboo against its usage has been swept away.
The word is in common usage among sections of the younger generation in the United States.

'Throwback to slavery'
For many years the "N-word" has been used by young African Americans who have appropriated it as a, perhaps ironic, term of endearment.
Now, other ethnic groups have started to use it in a similar context, and those who insist it should be banned are growing increasingly outraged.
Many African American community leaders, with the backing of fellow lawmakers, say it is offensive in every context and that is a word which should never be said.
For them the word is loaded with offensiveness.
They regard it as degrading and a throwback to the times of slavery when blacks were regarded as sub-human, to be bought and sold by their white owners.
The New York City resolution was sponsored by Councilman Leroy Comrie, who says the "N-word" was derived solely out of hate and anger and that its meaning cannot be changed.
But for America's so-called hip-hop generation using the word among themselves is about self-empowerment.
Its usage is habitual and seems culturally fixed and to stop it is likely to take a change in their attitudes rather than an edict from elected officials.


here is an audio debate link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/new...w=bb&mp=wm

Threads Merged

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6407413.stm

Should racist word be rehabilitated?
As New York bans the use of the word ******, the BBC's Kari Browne finds that when it comes to the small word with a long legacy, there are even divides within her own family.
******, or "nigga" as most young people pronounce and spell it these days, has been banned by the largest city in America.



In a historic move, the New York City Council has publicly called on all residents, young and old, rich or poor, black, white, Asian and Latino to voluntarily stop using the word.
The ban is a symbolic one, a plea for the public to stand in solidarity to re-stigmatise the word.
For years the "n-word" has carried a stigma which is so strong that most American journalists and writers have chosen not only to refrain from saying it, but also to refrain from writing it.
Taboo word
I actually am a reformed n-word user.
As a product of a mixed-marriage - my mother is African American and my father white - I grew up in an extremely racially diverse community near San Francisco.
I used the n-word among friends, at school, singing along to songs. I used it carelessly without thinking much about it. It wasn't uncommon to hear my Filipino friends say to my Korean friends "what's up nigga".
Even among white kids, it was used ironically as a term of respect to one another... a way to fit in or identify with friends of other races.
Thinking of it now, our ancestors (both black and white) would be rolling in their graves as they listen to black kids greet their white friends with "what's up my nigga", or whites doing the same to their black friends.
Indeed it's become a part of our language, and sadly I don't remember feeling ashamed of using the word. Actually, that's not entirely true. I would never have said it around my parents or family. And perhaps that's the key.
I suppose the hope is to shame people out of using the word in a very public effort.
Origins
But are young people even listening?


Words are multidimensional. And they mean different things to different people. But how can a word used to categorically dehumanise an entire race of people ever be flipped around to be used as a term of endearment?
Some African-Americans argue that by reclaiming the word, by owning it for themselves, the word can take on whatever meaning they ascribe to it.
In other words, they argue it is possible to reinvent the n-word and change its connotation.
Words can be painful and incredibly emotional. The n-word was born in the context of American slavery.
The first written documentation of it in print form was in 1786. It was used by white slave masters to label their black slaves.
Centuries later, it has enjoyed a rebirth among mostly young folks who have never known the context in which it was once spoken. And this is the problem.
We do not hear our elders saying: "Hello my n..., how are you today?"
My grandfather, raised in part by his grandmother - a freed slave - doesn't greet his friends with the word.
In fact I have never heard him, or anyone else in my family use it. So why did I?
Generational perhaps? And that is exactly what young people say today.
Different perceptions
My great-grandmother once asked me if I knew what the term "cracker" meant. Cracker is often used in a derogatory context to describe white people.
It too has had a rebirth among some whites who jokingly refer to themselves as "white trash" or "crackers".



For all I knew, the term cracker referred to the white colour of saltine crackers we eat. So I always thought we called white people crackers because they were the colour of crackers. End of story.
Apparently not so. My great-grandmother told me that the term "cracker" was used by slaves to refer to their white slave owners as the man who "cracks the whip".
Crackers were the masters who beat their slaves.
Words carry weight.
Perhaps the gesture by the city council is to encourage people to be more considerate and sensitive to the legacy of the word.
So the debate continues. Though New Yorkers will not face fines or penalties for using the word, those on the New York City Council hope that people will consider carefully the context and connotation of the n-word and make an empowered decision to stop using it.

.........While we're at it lets ban the phrases

'Antique farm equipment'

'Aunt Jamima'

'black barbie'

'boy'

Gollywog

and lets also ban the nursery rhyme baa baa black sheep too...

.....with each new generation and the change in cultural trends, the meaning of derogatory words change ... the word 'N****r' has lost allot of it's power simply because black people are in a position to choose how they want to reactit...I remember watching a utube video of a Britishwhite rapper called 'lady sovereign' singing along withsome gansta rapper and mouthing the words 'N****r' several times...themixed black/white audience sang along with glee...of course I’m sure there are several southern American states where that word N****r has lost none of it's potency

.... There are many with whom the word N****r will always have a profound effect on, and i will always acknowledge that.... i doubt that i will live to ever see the end of everyday words used in a derogatory fashion,i can only hope that future generations will be in a position of power better deal with racial insults.....

..Saying that if a white person called me a "N****r"right in front of my face well sport-smiley






p.s. yes some people may find the word ****** /nigga offensive but I’ve written much more offensive language in much bigger forums and that hasn’t been auto censored …..why the auto-censorship? why won't you let me write the word ****** Administrator

fools .....blkcry

this law being past is pointless, it's a PR exercise to remind world that they exist......