The English language is full of connotative meanings for words. The word “run” has something like 16 different meanings in English. The context in which the word is used determines whether I’m talking about a person using their legs to move quickly or whether I’m talking about a tear in your stockings.

Yes, but one context makes the word a racial slur, and the other context does not.

The song is part of the context. It doesn’t just automatically overrule 500 years of history.

It’s not appropriate or acceptable because that word carries an entirely different connotative meaning when spoken by a white person than by a black person based on centuries of historical context that can’t simply be ignored because the word appears in a piece of popular culture.

The teachable moment here is that singing along to a song that says “nigga” is actually not the same as calling someone a “nigger”.

Are you trying for some sort of meta-joke here, or are you really just ridiculously obtuse?

That’s right. It’s an issue of historical context and how that shapes the meaning of the words we use. That word coming from the mouth of a white person has an inherently different meaning than it does coming from a black person. That’s what linguists call the connotative meaning of a word; the meaning it acquires…

It’s not about ownership. It’s about historical context and how that shapes the meaning of the words we use. That word coming from the mouth of a white person has an inherently different meaning than it does coming from a black person. That’s what linguists call the connotative meaning of a word; the meaning it…

If there’s two things in this world I absolutely hate, it’s bigotry and the Dutch.

What’s the difference between arrogance and confidence?

You said rich people scam cheap labor by importing poor people.

God, this is like, peak smug prick. You are the pinnacle of what being a smug prick can be. And you’re going to walk away from this conversation thinking you “won” some sort of moral victory.

And....that’s in no way a relevant response to my comment.

It’s funny that you think you’re the “better” type of asshole. That’s exactly what a smug, holier-than-thou prick would think.

Americans don’t believe in the American Dream because they’re the only people in a position to know from experience that the American Dream is a scam that rich people use to maintain a cheap labor force in the form of poor people.

And yet plenty of black people managed to include themselves, and their perspectives anyway, in direct contrast to your assertion that this movement has been appropriated by white people. In reality, the movement is (and should be) bigger than either group individually, and this sort of collaboration is precisely what…

That means you re-read your previous comment, and still, you decided: yes, this is exactly the type of asshole I want to be.

Jesus, do you even hear yourself? Or is that a problem when you’re so far up your own ass?

Maybe do some fucking research before you start trying to instigate unnecessary racial infighting among the left.

Jesus. Lucky for you there’s no property taxes billed to people who live up their own asses.