Is it morally okay for a white person to say the n-word while singing a song?

[LBJer]

I didn't vote because I think it depends on the context.  In general I would say no--a white person should not use the "n-word" whether they're singing or not.  However, I didn't vote no because I think there are important exceptions--most notably historical songs (for example, a song from the 19th century) that use it.  In that situation, I think it's a whitewash of history to not say the word and/or rewrite the song so that it doesn't include the word.  

[LBJer]

No (...abnormal?? Seriously, Atlas?)

It's not just an abnormal opinion on Atlas. Most people don't understand the no-nuance-allowed attitude that Americans have to this and other slurs. I bet that if you ask a representative sample of the United States if it's okay to say the n-word in a non-insulting context like quoting a song, the vast majority will tell you it's not immoral. The idea that it is immoral to utter a word regardless of context is actually pretty hilarious and even a bit disturbing when you think about it.

While I agree that it's not automatically immoral for a white person to use the word--like you say, it depends on the context--given that more than a third of voters have voted "no" so far, I wouldn't call that position an "abnormal" opinion on Atlas.  Just because it's not the majority doesn't make it abnormal.  And "abnormal" carries a connotation not just of being unusual (an opinion held by more than a third of people is hardly an unusual viewpoint) but of also being bad in some way.  Even if one disagrees with the "no" option, I certainly wouldn't call it bad in the sense that, for example, saying that the U.S. is a "white man's country" is bad. 

[LBJer]

I don’t think it’s MORALLY wrong, but god help you if you’re caught on camera doing it. Like that one poor teenage girl who ended up losing her college offers over it.

I think it's possible that America will start associating the n-word more with arbitrary internet cancellations than they do with actual bigotry and racism. Same thing with what we now have to call "the F slur" and the many other letter-words that Americans have ascribed supernatural powers to. Stripping away this context and saying it's morally wrong to say a word no matter what the intent or situation is will just hurt marginalized people more than anyone because people forget why the word was even hurtful in the first place. If you ask most white people why they shouldn't say the n word (and they were answering honestly), they'd probably say they'd never say it because they don't want a white lady to write an opinion column about how evil they are and get them fired. This is not healthy and it's just an unreasonable way to grapple with language.

No (...abnormal?? Seriously, Atlas?)

It's not just an abnormal opinion on Atlas. Most people don't understand the no-nuance-allowed attitude that Americans have to this and other slurs. I bet that if you ask a representative sample of the United States if it's okay to say the n-word in a non-insulting context like quoting a song, the vast majority will tell you it's not immoral. The idea that it is immoral to utter a word regardless of context is actually pretty hilarious and even a bit disturbing when you think about it.

While I agree that it's not automatically immoral for a white person to use the word--like you say, it depends on the context--given that more than a third of voters have voted "no" so far, I wouldn't call that position an "abnormal" opinion on Atlas.  Just because it's not the majority doesn't make it abnormal.  And "abnormal" carries a connotation not just of being unusual (an opinion held by more than a third of people is hardly an unusual viewpoint) but of also being bad in some way.  Even if one disagrees with the "no" option, I certainly wouldn't call it bad in the sense that, for example, saying that the U.S. is a "white man's country" is bad. 

I disagree that abnormal means inherently bad, but anyway the only reason I was using the word abnormal is because the person I was responding to used it. But you also have to remember that Atlas is a very left-leaning forum. I wouldn't know where to begin when unskewing an Atlas poll, but I'd wager that if only 35% of people here believe it then it must be really fringe amongst the general public.

While Atlas is certainly more left-leaning in general than people as a whole, that's not always reflected in the polls on specific issues.  In a poll a while back about reparations for slavery, 79% voted no, 21% voted yes.  That's at least as anti-reparations as polls of the U.S. public on the issue.  Of course, an Atlas poll doesn't necessarily reflect the views of Atlas members as a whole--unlike a regular public opinion poll, the respondents are only those who feel strongly enough to vote on the issue at hand, and sometimes people with a particular point of view may be disproportionately motivated to vote.