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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

[bintblue]

I have had this come up in the context of teaching ESL in the U.S., which is different than dealing with it in a personal friendship (where, say, I could just get pissed off, or laugh and ask them if they think they are being funny, or frankly react as I please in the moment). But as a teacher i have made the choice to address it head on when it is used, and let my students know that it is not necessarily their word to say, and that it could be hurtful to others at best and get them punched in the face at worst. I am respectful, honest, open to discussing it as much as they want to, and obviously they can make their own choices (I teach adults). But in this situation I feel I would be doing them a disservice not to be clear and honest about the term. If appropriate I include my and my family members choices and feelings around the word.

I have not been in a situation where this has come up with students who are black or of African descent, but I am pretty sure i would address it in a similar way.

[di_glossia]

I have not been in a situation where this has come up with students who are black or of African descent, but I am pretty sure i would address it in a similar way.

I have. I knew a Nigerian-German in high school. He had just moved to the US at the beginning of the year but was fascinated by Ebonics, hip hop culture, and rap music, and was just plain delighted to be surrounded by other blacks, so he picked it up pretty quickly (the school was at least 50% black). Since he was black and African, I saw it as harmless and ignored it. Most of the black students were delighted that he used it, though there were some discussions of inappropriate words for the classroom.

[seifaiden]

I had that conversation this week in this very context (university ESL in the U.S.). Via the media, they have absorbed the meaning of this word as "way to address your friend" or just "my friend", as opposed to racial slur. I explained why this is not appropriate in the U.S. and the potential consequences of these actions, which include being perceived as racist even if that's not your intent. Interestingly, this group tends to be very confused/irritated by the pervasiveness of racism in the U.S. and it's not an uncommon topic of conversation in class.

I do have a student from the Ivory Coast in that class, though he doesn't use the term; all of the students in this context using it were Moroccans who ID as Arab or Berber. This is not the first time I've addressed this with this group, because I feel they need to know how they may be perceived. What they choose to do with this knowledge is up to them.

[di_glossia]

Well, the reappropriation has that meaning, as well as referring to a black male. It's the original term that's offensive. The problem is that the difference is identical to how the N word would be pronounced in a non-rhotic dialect, as well as being a difficult difference to notice when speaking quickly or not enunciating, so coming from the mouth of a white person, it's assumed to be the insult

[keeni84]

Not all black people can use the word "nigga" though, including those from the continent of Africa. There's the issue of authenticity. And there are many black people who use the word "nigger" to mean exactly the same thing that fellow racists mean.

Many North Africans are also black. Sudan, South Sudan and Southern Egypt are all filled at least partially or predominately with people that look no different than the average black American.

[di_glossia]

North Africans of Arab or Berber blood aren't exactly black. If black Africans can use the word, why can't North Africans?

I'm sorry, I wasn't very clear. I was referring to North Africans of Arab or Berber blood (also Turkish, especially in Egypt). There are black Africans in Morocco, hence the racism.

[keeni84]

Gotcha.