Is the *N* word ever appropriate?

[Big Abraham]

"N-word" sounds like a six year old is talking.

[Big Abraham]

Imo it is ok for black people to use it whenever wherever, but never acceptable ever for people who are not black.

Never in my entire life has anyone who advocated this position been able to come up with a good defense for it, other than "but blacks were oppressed" which apparently gives them the right to a double standard

[Big Abraham]

Imo it is ok for black people to use it whenever wherever, but never acceptable ever for people who are not black.

Never in my entire life has anyone who advocated this position been able to come up with a good defense for it, other than "but blacks were oppressed" which apparently gives them the right to a double standard

People have the right to use slurs that are used against them. Same with LGBT people and f**got. So yeah, it's a double standard, but that doesn't mean it's a bad one.

That's a baseless assertion which has no legitimacy other than "this is how I feel on the matter". I'm not keen on double standards of any kind. I personally have no problem with anyone, white or black, saying the word "n" (or any variation thereof) unless they are using it in a specifically discriminatory context. And even then, it's the discrimination, rather than word, which is wrong.

[Big Abraham]

Imo it is ok for black people to use it whenever wherever, but never acceptable ever for people who are not black.

Never in my entire life has anyone who advocated this position been able to come up with a good defense for it, other than "but blacks were oppressed" which apparently gives them the right to a double standard

People have the right to use slurs that are used against them. Same with LGBT people and f**got. So yeah, it's a double standard, but that doesn't mean it's a bad one.

That's a baseless assertion which has no legitimacy other than "this is how I feel on the matter". I'm not keen on double standards of any kind. I personally have no problem with anyone, white or black, saying the word "n-r" (or any variation thereof) unless they are using it in a specifically discriminatory context. And even then, it's the discrimination, rather than word, which is wrong.

You have to be a special kind of dense not to understand why it's different for an outsider to use a disparaging word against a specific group than it is for a member of that specific group. It's really not that hard.

(1) Do you not think context matters? Did you not see the part of my post where I specifically made an exception for uses of the word that were discriminatory (or "disparaging", if you will)? Or do you literally think the word is always used disparagingly in every context?
(2) How do we determine who is a member of the "group"? Does a half-black person count? A quarter-black? One eighth? Does one need to carry a copy of their pedigree around at all times to prove how black they are? All humans have an admixture of different racial lineages, and most black Americans have a high degree of European ancestry as well, so where is the line drawn?