White people never should say the N word. Period. It is an unbelievably derogatory word with a loaded history. This is obvious.

But what about black people? Unfortunately, hip-hop culture, sports, and America, in general, seem to be increasingly embracing the word as if it were just a term of endearment. The problem is that "n****" now has so many different meanings. A black man can say "what up, my n****?" to another black man, and he comes off as just being friendly. Nevertheless, when a white man says "what up, my n****?" to a black man, he comes off as being racist, regardless of his true intentions.

In many ways, black people are only fueling racism by saying "n****". They are just keeping the word in circulation. Do you see a lot of people saying "mulato" these days? No. And do you know why? Because it was an offensive term and people stopped saying it.

"N****" must be treated the same way.

This post was originally written by Kevin Williams
University of Michigan · Economics · 16 Dec 2006