Date:  Thu, 30 Oct 1997 00:38:08 -0600
From:  Greg Pulliam <gpulliam[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CHARLIE.IIT.EDU>
Subject: Re: What does the "n" word mean? (was PC dictionaries)

>I don't understand how a white person can use the "N" word and it be
>offensive and black people can use this word toward each other and it
>not be offensive. Maybe someone can explain this phenomenon to me. I
>personally do not use this word in any context, but this is something I
>just don't understand.
>
>
>Thank you
>Stephanie Kirk

Well, if white guys sit around and call each other rednecks, it's a group
identification thing. If a black guy calls a white guy a redneck, it might
be offensive. If my 15-year-old daughter and her girlfriends sit around
and say "you bitch!" to each other, it's not offensive but a group
identification thing. If one of their male friends calls one of them a
bitch, it will probably be taken as offensive.

It's hard for me to believe that you've never before encountered the
co-opting of a negative term for group identification purposes.

Gregory J. Pulliam
Illinois Institute of Technology
Lewis Department of Humanities
Chicago, IL  60616
gpulliam[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]charlie.cns.iit.edu