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[di_glossia]

How do you explain reappropriation of offensive terms within a certain country to non-native speakers?

I have a Scandinavian friend with a strong interest in American hip hop culture and especially music. Some time ago, I realized that she was using and misspelling a reappropriation of the N word in informal contexts. While our conversations are

Comments

[muckefuck]

But is it off limits? American values are not universal. The history of race in this country is not like that of any other, so it the strictures and taboos we operate under are not necessarily applicable to places an ocean away.

Rather than being about you telling your friend what she can and cannot say, this should be a conversation about the different histories of your two countries and how this all plays out in the present day. Anything else is a kind of cultural imperialism.

[di_glossia]

That's my problem. She's a Norwegian of Norwegian descent with no family connection to the United States. IS she barred from using the word? I haven't said anything because I don't know. I just don't want her to end up saying that to a black American one day and suffering the consequences.

[intrikate88]

I agree with muckefuck, this is something you should have a genuine conversation about, not just telling your friend what to say. I agree with your concern that she'll use the word in a context one day that may have repercussions, and I think if you share the history of the word and WHY it has the current usages that it does- by some groups for oppression, by others for reclaiming and creating a new identity with the word, then at least she'll be conscious of what she's saying. She may still use it, and there may still be consequences of her using it, but at least she'll have the understanding to make the decision for herself if that's a term she wants to associate with.

[di_glossia]

I'll keep that in mind, thank you. I didn't realize how ethnocentric it would be for me to say that she couldn't use a word simply because I had always been taught that I couldn't use the word, its origin, its derivatives, or even similar-sounding words.

[intrikate88]

Well, yes, there is definitely the ethnocentricity of it, and, really, you don't have the right to tell your friend what she can and can't say, other culture or not. I don't use that word as a white person in the South partly because I'd probably and deservedly get the shit beat out of me at some point, but I also don't want to use that word because it is hurtful to the people in my community with whom I share my life. I don't know your friend and what she feels about the world, but if it were me, I'd want to know if something I was saying without knowledge was something that would hurt someone else.

[muckefuck]

In light of the fact that most black Americans are reasonable people who understand that foreigners can't be expected to grasp all the ins and outs of American race relations and proper usage, what is it you think those consequences would be?

[di_glossia]

I'm not assuming she will be recognized as a foreigner or that she will deal with people who care. Where I live, people are quick to get offended and even violent over racist terms because, in the South, such terms are rarely used outside of their offensive contexts and racial oppression ended later and has not been easily forgotten.

What do I think those consequences would be? Yelling, cursing, spiteful words against her and her country, rude hand gestures, maybe even a physical altercation. It depends where you are, what you look like. A blonde haired, blue eyed white girl is going to get a worse reaction simply because of her looks and the historical connection between similar looking people and white supremacist groups in the US. I'm not assuming the average person is going to hear her and attack her. I am thinking, however, that it would be a very unpleasant experience for her if she does meet someone who isn't "most".

[carerica]

A reasonable person doesn't necessarily know that a foreigner isn't versed in the most offensive vocabulary in a foreign language, especially if the person has decent language skills. Especially if they haven't been around non-native speakers a lot.

And I even still get a little upset when I hear people mutter "Fuck Fuck" to me on the street here in South America even though I know it's the only English they know, and they don't know how *truly* strong that word is for me. Knowing the context still doesn't cancel my gut reaction.

[tisoi]

Look at what happened to Jackie Chan.. lol

[muckefuck]

I wondered if someone would bring up that example! All I can say is that if di_glossia's friend is visiting places like that when she comes to the States, she's going to have much bigger problems than her word usage.