the N-word seems to be getting used more and more nowadays and especially by the black hip hop gangsta wannabes ... now when i was growing up the word was a no no ... unless u wanted to get a punch in the face. i'd be interested to see other ppls thoughts on the matter.reason i posted this now ... i just happened to see an article where a black comedian had his act cut short by the organisers (black enterprise) because of this guys liberal use of the N-word. another thing i've found difficult to understand is .... why is it ok for black guys (and girls) to use the word, but it's then racist if a white guy uses it ??my own personal opinion is that "it's a cheap nasty word and by blacks using it they are cheapening what their ppl have suffered in the past ... and present !!" When the black comedian and movie star Eddie Griffin, headlining an evening of stand-up routines, asked his 1,000-strong audience: "Why are some black leaders telling us to stop using the n-word", he could not have expected what happened next. The microphone went dead. Griffin, of Date Movie and Undercover Brother fame, was 10 minutes into his act in Miami last Friday night, having liberally peppered his jokes with the word. But the organisers of the event, the magazine Black Enterprise, had had enough.Minutes after the stage fell silent, the magazine's publisher, Earl Graves, announced to a standing ovation that "we will not allow our culture to go backwards. Black Enterprise stands for decency, black culture and dignity." He added that Griffin would be paid his full fee but would not be allowed to finish his act. The cutting short of an act of a prominent black comedian for using the word is the latest sign of the gathering force of a movement to reform public language. Its use, as well as that of words such as ***** and ho - widely deployed by black comedy acts and hip-hop artists - is decried by advocates of change for being demeaning and self-harming. The movement, spearheaded by the website abolishthenword.com and the New York-based campaigner Al Sharpton, has grown rapidly since the controversy surrounding the use of the n-word onstage by ex-Seinfeld actor Michael Richards and Don Imus's removal from his radio show for describing black players from a basketball team as "nappy-headed hos". In recent months several important groups have signed up to the spirit of the campaign. In July the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People held a mock funeral for the n-word in Detroit. The black fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha has called on its groups on university campuses to bar DJs from using it and hip-hop artists such as Master P and Chamillionaire have promised to keep their future albums free of the term

Is your journal about alcohol?? I have a problem reading long journal

Yes, Ciaran...bizarre!! Check out Chris Rock on youtube....one of his most viewed performances centres entirely around the n word

Sensible article. I agree whole heartedly.

Yeah ****** fo' sheezy

To me it's yet one more word that has lost it's real meaning to a younger generation, the frivolous use of a word that I was brought up never to use has been glorified mainly by Hollywood and generally since the 80's in films like boyz in the hood, juice, colors etc.

I live in a predominantly black area, people of my generation and older do not use that word in our area but the kids of all colours use it without a thought of the context of the word.

The educated Blacks don't care for the use of "N", only the lower class and those that continue to use it just to make money, nothing else......greed and ignorance iis always out there, and they really don't give a **** about their own, it's a shame. They is still a lot of discrimination in the US mainland, particular in the southern states. Where the so-called red-necks still use the "N" word towards Blacks. Multi-cultrual cities are a bit better, because of the mix of ethinic groups, and better educated people to understand the problems that still exist.

I guess it's not the word itself, but the associations coming along with it...

...my own interpretation...if one red haired says to another: 'You readhaired bastard!' ...then the obvious insult gets softened out... :-)

Pi Ant...ur thinking of nipples aren't you?

is there no words left that we can use ? personaly I dont care what people call me so I dont see the big issue