White Girls Saying "Nigga"

If you are white, do not say nigga. I'm addressing white girls in particular, since I've noticed them saying it far more often than white boys.

I'm going to repeat myself, since this concept is apparently quite difficult for most white girls to grasp: if you are white, do not say nigga. If you are white, do not say nigga. If you are white, do not say nigga.

Under no circumstances should the word "nigga/nigger" come out of your mouth.

I do not care if your best friend is black.

I do not care if you're dating a black person.

I do not care if you grew up in a black community.

I do not care if you were adopted by black guardians.

I do not care about any reason you give me that could possibly justify your use of the word. It's never okay. Do not say it.

Yes, black people use the word "nigga" frequently and casually. It may seem "unfair" to you to see them use it so freely. (That's what the white girls at my school tend to whine about. They think it's "unfair" that we can say it whenever we want. *rolls eyes*) Whenever it seems "unfair" to you, shut the fuck up and remember hundreds of years of slavery and institutionalized racism. That's unfair.

It's really sickening to see white girls throw around "nigga" so easily. I mean, they're really comfortable with the word and honestly feel like they have a right to use it. And have a prepared mental list of reasons why they should be able to use it. That's crazy to me.

It seems like they're constantly looking for opportunities to say nigga; looking for reasons; looking for excuses. As I've said countless times before, and will probably say countless more times, if you are not black it is not okay to say nigga. Period. End of story. It will never be okay.

The day I allow white people say nigga is the day they decide to own up to the racism and hatred behind the word. It will be the day that they understand that there is dominance behind the word, and that using it belittles every black person that they know. It will be a day that they recognize white privilege, and their ability to embrace aspects about a culture that seem cool, like the word "nigga", without taking on the shitty aspects of that culture, like racial profiling and discrimination. When that day comes, then they can say nigga whenever they want. But until then, I will continue to check every single white girl (and boy, of course) that lets the word slip out of their mouth.

Separating the Art from the Artist

Separating art from artist has always been difficult for me. I almost consider them to be the same thing. After all, there is not one without the other. And even if the two could exist separately in my mind, I would still see the creation as a sort of extension of the creator.

If I do not like the artist as a person, it is likely that I will not like or support the art. And vice versa. There are so many extremely talented artists that I don't support because of their character/behavior/morals or lack thereof. I could fall in love with a painting but would not buy it if the painter was homophobic. I mean, if Solange (my spirit animal), were to make racist comments, I couldn't listen to her music anymore. And she's my spirit animal. However, I feel like work that comes from the mind, heart, and soul of someone hateful is tainted by that hate and weighed down with negative energy. And regardless of who that artist is, or what they create, I'm not capable of overlooking that.

But a lot of people I know are not like this.

For example -- Many of my friends are absolutely sickened by the fact that Chris Brown ever even considered putting his hands on Rihanna. They're disgusted by his rampages and tired of hearing about him being in and out of court. But they still buy his music simply because they see it as unrelated to his character. They do not like Chris Brown but do like Chris Brown's work. For another example, there are a lot of young girls that I've (unfortunately) stumbled upon on Twitter who overlook Justin Bieber's destructive and even racist behavior because he's cute. Because he's cute. (I wonder -- would Jim Crow laws still be in place if he had only been blessed with better genes?)

I can't do that.

Of course I don't expect artists to be perfect. I don't expect anyone to be perfect. And I understand that art is flawed and thrives in darkness and sorrow and even hatred; that it often comes from bad places. But I do not believe that art can come from "bad" people, or bad intentions.