"Nigga" also means/meant solidarity, Lox... And in that context, there is nuthin' wrong with them term as long as it is being used by black folks... Context is everything...

I mean, let's get real here... Culturally speakin', seems that white folk are way behind black folk on lotta different levels and sometimes just immitatin' 'cause they really haven't spent the time, walked the walk, learned the nuances, heard the stories, sung the songs, spent time in black churches, etc... So white folk lotta time really don't get it at all... Yeah, they got the CD's and they can turn 'um up and go 'round callin' women "bitches" and think that they are all into somethin' that they really know nuthin' about...

Lotta this come outta of a reaction by young black folks in the 60's who were rebellin' against "establishment" black parents and grandparents... I was there and saw it with my own eyes... I knew the parents and the grandparents who my friends were rebelling against... Was a generational thing for young blacks just as it was for young whites...

I mean, their parents and grandparents didn't like their kids callin' each other "nigga' and I understand that entirely... I mean, their parents and grandparents came from another history that was indeed about bondage... The 60s changed that... And with it, the langauge and culture slowly evolved away from "Can't we all just get along" to "Power to the people"...

That's when "nigga" was released from "bondage"... Where Black kids refused to allow "nigga" to be a term that whites used to signify superiority, bondage, fear of control to a term of pride... The black kids threw it back in the face of, not only their parents and grandparents, but also in the face of Jim Crow and Uncle Tom...

I mean, I understand these things... I was a single white face for a long, long time... I mean, in black churches... Teachin' in the jail... Workin' at 2nd and Calhoun at the half-way house... I mean, I'll admit that even with coming from a fmaily that was involved in civil rights, even having had my parents bring a black kid into our family I never had to figure stuff out... The 60s forced alot of figurin' out on lotta us...

So yeah, "nigga" to most white folks is a term that if they don't understand is something they prolly should be real careful talkin' about...

For me??? I have no problem with it but then again I have a much different history and understanding than most white folks... Not that that makes me any wiser, better, worser, 'er... Just they way my life played out back then...

B~