Yes, it happens from time to time. Anyway here is commenter Prajk speaking on the appropriation of "Nigger" by nonwhites:
Great post. You have any thoughts/opinions on other racial groups appropriating nigger/nigga? In college, I got the impression that the various ethnic cliques used the word to each other. I know many of the Indian kids did it all the time.
I've also noticed that when college kids segregate by race or ethnicity, they often imitate popular images of so-called black culture. Lord knows I went through that phase.
Of course, I am a single data point...but I get the distinct impression that it happens in many places.
Thoughts?
Shockingly, I have none. I'm sure, in the time of colonization, the English came up with quite a list of insults, so I'm not sure why those don't suffice. But this doesn't make me groan so much, as much as it just seems a little stupid and immature. I know my white people are going to think that's completely unfair. Hey, I don't know what to say--I'm a ball of contradictions. Next week, when have our poll for White Spokesperson, perhaps the winner can lead a protest.
Anyway if you really want to hear about unfairness dig this: In New York, Puerto Ricans sling around the word "Nigger" maybe more than black people. This never bothered me for a couple reasons. 1.) When you're not from New York, you can't necessarily tell Puerto Ricans from other light-skinned black people. I would not have known Big Pun, Fat Joe, or Nore were Puerto Rican if they had not said it. Having lived in New York for some time now, I can tell the difference, but it wasn't always obvious to me. When I saw Do The Right Thing, for instance, it wasn't clear to me that Rosie Perez wasn't "black." I didn't think that Mookie was in an interracial relationship. I mean, I have African-American cousins that could pass for Puerto Rican.
2.) Even once the difference became clear to me, I still wasn't bothered. I always felt that in New York, there was a weird kinship between African-Americans and Puerto Ricans, unlike anything I'd seen. Typically, American ethnic groups tend to have frosty relationships with African-Americans. Maybe it's because Puerto Ricans aren't immigrants--they can relate to the whole "Plymouth Rock landed on us" deal. But frankly, the realtionship is like nothing I've ever seen.
I remember being out at a club one night (back when the Freedom Party was at Star Foods) and watching a gang of Lower-East side cats grooving to all this 80s R&B. It was shocking to me because, African-Americans party in a very particular way--they love music, not so much more than whites, but just in a different way. The Puerto Rican cats I was watching were partying in that way which I commonly associated with blacks--it was more the spirit of the thing, than anything tangible. I mean, they did form a Soul Train line, so that was tangible, but, as I said, it was more the spirit of thing. Being straight out of West Baltimore, where the only ethnicities are Black, Blacker, and Blackest (I pledged myself to the latter) I was completely shocked. One of my best friends, whose half-Puerto Rican and half-Dominican, happened to be with me, and he just got a great kick out of my naivete.
What I was witnessing was quite simple--the Puerto Ricans (and maybe the Dominicans) are probably the only other non-black ethnic group in America that Rakim could point at and say, "I know you got soul," and there'd be nothing ironic about it. To paraphrase, Bobby Byrd, if they didn't, they wouldn't be in here. Obviously, a lot of Puerto-Ricans (and Dominicans) have African ancestry, and from what I've heard, there some issues around that. But, hey, from what I've heard there some issues around African-Americans having African blood also, so who am I to talk. During the Puerto-Rican Day parade, I see Negroes who I know are only two generations out of the South, who don't speak a lick of Spanish, waving the flag. But those same Negroes could care less about the St. Patrick's Day parade. I know some black folks do have a problem with Puerto-Ricans saying "nigger"--but most of them have a problem with African-Americans saying it also. I don't know. Its never really bothered me. I've come to think of Puerto-Ricans as my long-lost cousins--even if I was the one who was actually lost.
FIXT: Two great examples of what I mean:
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Ta-Nehisi, I like you, but I can't believe how derelict you were with this post. How in the world can you discuss Black-Puerto Rican relations without a like to Frankie Cutlass' class "Puerto Rico/Black People":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83nbGFRvseo
Shame on you.
Man, I'm so angry I can't even spell right. It should say "How in the world can you discuss Black-Puerto Rican relations without a link to Frankie Cutlass' classic "Puerto Rico/Black People"
I wonder if the fact that Latino is not a race complicates this question. Dominicans tend to be black; that is, many of them are of African descent. In Puerto Rico, there was a lot of mixing. Part of the hatred between the two nationalities is about race, color.
So when you talk about not being able to tell that Fat Joe isn't Black, you're acknowledging the genetic mix is not much different from the genetic mix in Black Americans. Color is not unpacked enough when we talk about Latinos is this country. Dark-skinned Latinos probably get treated like niggas and all Latinos bear the brunt of their non-whiteness in ways similar to, but distinct from, the experience of Black folks.
Puerto Ricans ARE black, even if they don't know it.
This wouldn't apply to Puerto Ricans & other Latinos, but the British used "nigger" as an all-purpose racial slur in their colonies. Indians & other Asians, Australian aboriginals, etc. - all were routinely referred to as "niggers" & the word became detached from any specifically African context. Even "black" (usually not capitalized) means differently in the U.K., including South Asians & pretty much all nonwhites. So folks whose personal or family history passes through the British commonwealth may have picked it up through that route.
"I wonder if the fact that Latino is not a race..."
I'm with Tyler on this one, as is the US government/census (not that this matters much). Latino is classified as an ethnicity, and thus Latinos can also be black/white. For example, as the product of a light-skinned Dominican father and a darker-skinned Jamaican mother I'm a black Latino...sorta.
It's all very blurry, but I agree with Ta-Nehisi to some extent on the Dominicanos/Boriquas tip. That being said, I would add that the reason Dominicans and Puerto Ricans tend towards some sort of kinship with Black Americans has more to do with that shared experience and context TC was talking about in the original post than it does in the racial/visual overlap between blacks and latinos that he mentioned here. Especially in New York, people from PR and DR grew up with, went to school with, dated, etc. black people. Latino rappers like Big Pun and Reggaeton as a genre are musical examples of that shared culture well of culture. I know black kids who don't speak any real amount of Spanish that can spit entire bars of Alexis y Fido tracks and of course there are a lot of Dominican cats who love some Jay-Z or some Weezy.
To finish up, I'll end with a true story from my life. My best friend, and perennial roommate at Columbia (last year!), is 100% Dominican and white as fucking snow. If I counted the amount of times we tossed around the word nigga (or the word spic for that matter) I'm sure some people would be seriously disturbed. So we we're walking down 125th heading to the barber, and we were of course talking shit switching between English and Spanish as is our custom, and he dropped the n-bomb like 5 times in a sentence. I was cracking up, because he's the funniest kid alive, but a black dude outside the shop was not amused. I was like "Oh dude, he's Dominican." And the guy thought about it for a second, said "my bad" and that was the end of it.
"This wouldn't apply to Puerto Ricans & other Latinos, but the British used "nigger" as an all-purpose racial slur in their colonies. Indians & other Asians, Australian aboriginals, etc. - all were routinely referred to as "niggers" & the word became detached from any specifically African context."
This reminds me of one of my favorite scenes with the Major from Fawlty Towers.
"She kept referring to the cricketers as niggers! No, no, no, no, I said! The WEST Indians are niggers! THESE people are wogs!"
yeah, seems like anyone with parents from a country that had a slave port can get away with it.
The coasts of Mexico, Colombia, and other countries can look like Cameroon or something. But the further in you go, the less African it gets, and the more your N-word pass begins to fade.
it's amazing how the black-PR relationship pretty much ends once you cross the maryland state line.
i grew up in philly and can't believe that kinship doesn't translate down here in DC. new york, NJ, philly, and even in some parts of delaware, that love can be found.
i had quite a few puerto rican friends growing up (plus other latinos) and am anxious to replicate that vibe down here.
regamuffin, I live in DC and this is a port for El Savadoreans, so there are few afro-latinos here from what I notice. I get the sense from my NY friends that this love you speak of is more like a step-brother kinda love, both ways.
Most of my folk in NYC are Boricua, and that's not a coincidence. There were three black men in my freshman class at Vassar, and my closest friendship there began with a hearty dap and a "peace, nigga," both an ironic statement of affection and an expression of solidarity over a shared racial experience. The dude was Puerto Rican, and I've found myself spending weekends in the South Bronx ever since, an adopted member of a crew that has more skin tones than Dominicans have names for.
And yet, when my Bronx boys met my DC crew, a couple of my boys from DC pulled me aside and told me my homie from the Bronx had to stop flicking around n-bombs like cigarette butts or there were going to be problems. They didn't feel what I felt when we shared that first pound years ago, and that's real.
dna - what class were you?
'05...why?
puerto ricans are a mix of AFRICAN, spanish (white), and taino indian. some have more AFRICAN than others (rosie). they look "black" to you, because they ARE. ay ay ay!!!!
I remember when I was living in Virginia, and I first heard people getting mad about Jennifer Lopez saying "they my niggas" in a song. I didn't get why people were any angrier at her saying it than they would have been if, say, Ashanti said it. It had to actually be explained to me why black folks said she couldn't use it, because I'm from Camden, NJ, and there, we - blacks, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans - are all intermingled culturally just like in Philly, NYC... The saying "some of my best friends and lovers are ____" is so tinged with racist cliche, but it's so true. Ragamuffin is so right about the MD state line being a tight boundary for that kind of cross-cultural understanding.
Even "black" (usually not capitalized) means differently in the U.K., including South Asians & pretty much all nonwhites.
That's not really true any more. There was a time when the Left in Britain used 'black' as a word for all non-white immigrants from the Commonwealth, but now 'black' means what you would expect it to (sub-Saharan Africans and Afro-West Indians), while 'Asian' means South Asians.
Well, I am from Virginia and I understand the cross cultural understanding of the blacks and ricans. But what the fuck is up with Filipinos saying 'nigga'?
Well, I am from Virginia and I understand the cross cultural understanding of the blacks and ricans. But what the fuck is up with Filipinos saying 'nigga'?