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