Different Perspectives

The class lesson today was on the n-word. We talked about the meaning, the power it holds, and the offense it gives people. We went back in time and Ms.Rease showed us that the word was a term for blacks that were lazy, ignorant, and self indulgent. He asked us is it still okay if we used it in our slang term to other black people, using it as a meaning of your brother or homeboy. Most said yes because we have not been called that by someone who wasn’t black. He was telling us that it should be deleted out of our vocabulary all together because it has pain behind the word even if we did change it up a little.