Serious Suggestion/Discussion - Use of "nigga"

[hXcjedders]

I'm sure I'm going to catch a lot of flak for this, but I just wanted to have an open discussion among current Skialites about this being branched under racism.

Now, don't get me wrong, I understand full well why it is there and why it can be considered racist. My question is, is it being oversensitive? When was the last time anyone was actually offended by the word?

I don't have any particular reason that I think it HAS to be allowed, but there's a lot of criticism out there of Skial that it's just being oversensitive to have it being a punishable offense. My personal opinion is that I don't find it in itself to be racist to use the word, since most of the time it is referring to "a friend" or "another guy."

I'm just trying to understand on why it was decided to throw this word under racism in the first place. Now like I said, I'm not dumb, this is a thought provoking topic. I am hoping to have an elevated discussion on this where people argue with actual reasoning and not cookie cutter answers such as "It has always been against the rules so therefore it's bad," or the whole "it will open the floodgates" argument. I think it's quite simple to allow use of "nigga" while barring use of "nigger."

I personally have seen Skial mods use it outside of Skial servers and while I know what happens elsewhere isn't governed by Skial rules, obviously some people don't have a problem with using it.

To be short, I find that it borders upon unreasonable to punish for nigga and leave every other insult in the book that isn't racial open for business, especially when in most cases nigga isn't even intended to be insulting. I do care about Skial's image and I hear a great deal of griping on how people perceive us to be oversensitive.

Please keep comments and arguments in a civil manner, I am willing to be proven wrong on this issue, it's just that as I said before, I want people to stop and think about how they actually feel about the word before they respond, not just cite the rules and say "bad." I would also hope that some of our more zealous mods will allow this discussion to continue in a civil manner and not lock it immediately.

 

[KillerZebra]

tl:dr

Racism is bad. Stop saying it or be banned.

Google

 

[hXcjedders]

In practice, its use and meaning are heavily dependent on context.[4] Presently, the word nigga is used more liberally among younger members of all races and ethnicities in the United States.[5] In addition to African Americans, other ethnic groups have adopted the term as part of their vernacular.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigga

 

[KillerZebra]

wikipedia definition... GG

 

[KillerZebra]

The point is we have the word banned so people don't find loopholes

for example:
"I didn't mean nigga as racist, i meant it as this wikipedia definition".

We don't want to deal with that. We don't want to deal with all the loopholes, definitions and morons so we banned it completely. I don't see why this is hard to understand.

 

[hXcjedders]

Look, like I said I want to have an intelligent discussion on this. I personally have used the word in front of multitudes of black people without incident. Wikipedia in this case is more accurate than the dictionary. You can't use a dictionary to define slang because uptight people who don't use slang write the damn thing.

 

[KillerZebra]

Go up to a random black person and call him a nigga. Let me know how that works out for you.

We know it can be slang for other things/ But if you bothered to read what i just said. We don't want people using that loophole to actually get around being racist.

 

[hXcjedders]

The point is we have the word banned so people don't find loopholes

for example:
"I didn't mean nigga as racist, i meant it as this wikipedia definition".

We don't want to deal with that. We don't want to deal with all the loopholes, definitions and morons so we banned it completely. I don't see why this is hard to understand.

I can understand that but I find it blatantly obvious when someone is trying to use it as an insult.

Go up to a random black person and call him a nigga. Let me know how that works out for you.

We know it can be slang for other things/ But if you bothered to read what i just said. We don't want people using that loophole to actually get around being racist.

I've said it before in front of black people and to black people. As long as you're not going out of your way to say it to them directly, nothing is implied. But if you're going out of your way to say something to someone just to test their reaction it's always going to be suspect.

 

[PsychoRealm]

Look, like I said I want to have an intelligent discussion on this.

There will be no intelligent discussion on that. It has been discussed million times with the same result - thread was closed and suggestion was denied. I doubt it's gonna work this time either.

 

[hXcjedders]

There will be no intelligent discussion on that. It has been discussed million times with the same result - thread was closed and suggestion was denied. I doubt it's gonna work this time either.

I had already figured that much haha, I was just hoping since a lot of the oldfags are gone maybe some new blood would have a different result.

 

[[YDEK] fi$hy k!tty]

I can understand that but I find it blatantly obvious when someone is trying to use it as an insult.

But then you have it the other way around, where people are like "Oh but he said it, and it was fine. So why can't I say it? Why don't you just make it so that no one's allowed to say it at all?" Which puts us back at where we are now.
I agree that the uses can be different while still being touchy, but online, it's better off to not raise the issue at all since that fine line is exacerbated (yay big words).

I think it's fine as is, because apart from the fact that people seem to think being racist only applies to slandering black people, it keeps away people like this guy
http://www.skial.com/sourcebans/index.php?p=banlist&searchText=Vials+of+African+Cum&Submit=
who are nearly impossible to deal with, because of all the "edgy" little kids that go along with it, making it harder to mute/ban/report, because "LOL IS SO FUNNAY CUZ TRUE XD"

I personally don't swear much at all, because even when I type it out, I imagine my tiny voice saying it and it sounds ridiculous.

 

[hXcjedders]

But then you have it the other way around, where people are like "Oh but he said it, and it was fine. So why can't I say it? Why don't you just make it so that no one's allowed to say it at all?" Which puts us back at where we are now.
I agree that the uses can be different while still being touchy, but online, it's better off to not raise the issue at all since that fine line is exacerbated (yay big words).

I think it's fine as is, because apart from the fact that people seem to think being racist only applies to slandering black people, it keeps away people like this guy
http://www.skial.com/sourcebans/index.php?p=banlist&searchText=Vials of African Cum&Submit=
who are nearly impossible to deal with, because of all the "edgy" little kids that go along with it, making it harder to mute/ban/report, because "LOL IS SO FUNNAY CUZ TRUE XD"

I personally don't swear much at all, because even when I type it out, I imagine my tiny voice saying it and it sounds ridiculous.

I understand that argument but then again we have it in the rules where you're not allowed to say homophobic slurs, yet that is governed on a case by case basis instead of every time someone says the word fag. Which by the way, is a very hateful word to a lot of homosexuals. I accept that argument but when you stack it up against this one there is obviously some kind of hang-up.

 

[Mathias]

Being that I ran another community for years, I am in agreement with how the rule is currently set. You must understand that games in general are where grown adults act stupidly childish and children act even worse because we know there is always a lack of parental supervision when said children are on the computer. Knowing that, many people (children and adults alike) will take advantage of everything they can, just to push other peoples buttons because why? They know there are a million other servers out there and it's not like you can reach through your monitor and punk smack a kid (or grown adult) for acting a fool.

Granted not all adults and children act this way but it's the internet after all.

 

[Daniel The Medic]

I understand that argument but then again we have it in the rules where you're not allowed to say homophobic slurs, yet that is governed on a case by case basis instead of every time someone says the word fag. Which by the way, is a very hateful word to a lot of homosexuals. I accept that argument but when you stack it up against this one there is obviously some kind of hang-up.

The American version of "fag" and the British version of "fag" is quite different. One is used as derogatory term while the other is a term for a cigarette. Just like "faggot", one is used as a derogatory term while the other is used as a term for a bundle of sticks.

 

[Mathias]

The American version of "fag" and the British version of "fag" is quite different. One is used as derogatory term while the other is a term for a cigarette. Just like "faggot", one is used as a derogatory term while the other is used as a term for a bundle of sticks.

Very true but most of the Skial servers are American based.

 

[Daniel The Medic]

Very true but most of the Skial servers are American based.

True, but there are a lot of UK/British people that do play on the US servers (quite a few British on Turbine+ US).

 

[hXcjedders]

The American version of "fag" and the British version of "fag" is quite different. One is used as derogatory term while the other is a term for a cigarette. Just like "faggot", one is used as a derogatory term while the other is used as a term for a bundle of sticks.

That be true, but we all know what people mean when they call someone a fag (unless in Britain they make a habit of referring to one another as cigarettes and bundles of sticks), but other than that fag was just an example because it is so widely used.

 

[Pinker-tan]

tl:dr

Racism is bad. Stop saying it or be banned.

Google

If you're going to argue over this then actually read it.

 

[Shiny Charizard]

" "Nigger" is banned? I'll just use "nigga" so I won't get banned! "

It's nothing but a loophole.

 

[hXcjedders]

" "Nigger" is banned? I'll just use "nigga" so I won't get banned! "

It's nothing but a loophole.

In which cases mods could use their judgement to strike justice upon those who use it in a racist manner.

I mean, quite honestly to me it seems silly that I am arguing for a potentially racist term, but then again its such a widely used term that people have it engrained in their day to day speech that sometimes accidents happen, someone says nigga in nothing but a friendly term, and gets banned for it.

To be honest in terms of having to argue with the person being banned over racism issues I don't really think there should be much discussion. Fuck the kids who want to be edgy and argue their bans based on "oh, i didn't mean it like that." Everyone knows racism when they see it, people aren't stupid.