The phrase “Nothing about us without us,” means that in an argumentative discussion about a racial group, at least one member of that social or racial group must be present in the discussion. An example of this, is if a group of white, Indian and Asian people are all having a conversation about whether or not other races have the right to say the “n word” or not, they need to have at least one African American, African or black person present in the discussion. By doing so, it opens up the discussion to be less bias.
My example above leads into my discussion of why other races do not have the right to say the “n word,” in my opinion. Do not get this twisted though, I do not believe anyone should be saying the word, not even black people. In all honesty, out of everyone who feels that they have the right to say it, black people have the most. If they want to call themselves what whites used as a hate word towards them, then so be it, at least it is a part of their history. It is not part of anyone else’s history, so why say it? What gives these different ethnic groups the right to call each other or refer to themselves as a “Nigga?” Even typing the word makes me cringe (I hate the word myself, it has way too much history behind it for me to just be using it). I decided to ask a couple people I knew that were not black who said it. An Indian guy said “because we went through the struggle too, so I feel like we have the right to say it! An Arab boy said “the word is used different now, it’s a casual word so I think I have the right to say it!” An Asian guy said “It’s just a really chill word, like I call everybody it and people call me it.” Finally, a Dutch girl said “Oh everyone says it in this country, so I thought it was okay to say it, plus it is in every song.” Every one of these people said the word around me and I have gone off (yelled at or confronted) on each and every one of them. It was after the fact that we then decided to discuss why they felt they could say the word. They also mentioned that they could not say it around certain people (aka me).
The reasoning behind all their answers still doesn’t give them the right to say the word. I feel that with black people using it in their songs, calling other races it and just using it so flamboyantly, provides other races with the idea that they can say it too! It sends out the wrong message in the first place, as black people we should be rising above such a demeaning word. What we were and in some places still are referred to as by other races should not be coming out of our mouths, we are only giving power to those who put us down with that word.
In high school I was put in a very awkward/terrible situation with one of my “friends.” Also, as I tell you this story, keep in mind that he is a white Jewish boy. He kept asking me what I would do if he called me the n word with the “er” at the end just for jokes, he honestly thought it was funny. I kept telling him you better not dare call me that or you will get slapped, he thought I was joking. So he decided to call me it while laughing and I slapped him dead across the face, he was so confused that he couldn’t even respond. He thought the term was a joke, he didn’t realize that it still had so much history behind it and that alone angered me. I could go on for pages about this topic, but I don’t want you guys reading for days, so I will stop on this note. It does not matter how old a term dates back to, it will always have its original meaning somewhere deep in the underlining of itself.
Unruly Bodies 
I know that commenting on this may be bad, since I am a white person, but I agree. I don’t think any other race, other than African Americans, should use the word. My boyfriend’s friends love using it (they are all white) and when I tell them to stop, they use th argument, “well they can each other that”. They don’t understand the history of the word. It’s such a violent and ongoing history too. Good post! Caught my eye!
Noo you commenting is not bad at all, I actually liked reading how you felt about it, glad you enjoyed it!
You make some very powerful and accurate points. I am a black woman and do not use the N word my self. I feel that it give our society the idea that it is perfectly fine and normal to use this word freely. I recently had an experience with a peer that heard the song N***as in Paris, and when talking about the song she thought that it was acceptable to use this word. A year later she was still making insensitive comments and I addressed the situation. She was so defensive and did not deny the FACT that she was being raciest and overall insensitive to people around her(not only people of color), but she said “why did you only talk to me other people talk in the same way…….my point is the way that the N word is used today is not necessary, and in my opinion no one should use it, ESPECIALLY if you are not black.
Thank you and I completely agree!