N-Word for Thee but Not for Me

I came very close to titling this post "Nigger for Thee, but Not for Me" but I couldn't do it. You see, I was raised not to use that word. Ever. And I don't think it's just because I'm white, but because that word was supposedly so offensive regardless of who used it.

But, alas, I didn't have Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd to tell me that that word was really only off limits for me because of my race.

Well, I'll tell Sherri Shepherd she can't use that word. Not because there's anything illegal in it, but in using this "it means what I want it to mean" argument, it leaves that word open to its original, offensive meaning and usage. This is why I don't buy the same arguments used by a lot of feminists regarding all the offensive terms for women and their anatomy. Such terms are offensive and demeaning. They are still offensive and demeaning if I use them.

I couldn't help but wonder where this "black people can use that word" argument can lead. What if you have a mixed race couple who have children? Does the black spouse get to use the word but not the white one? What about the children? Are they "black enough" to use that word? Do they get to use it only half the time to acknowledge their whiteness?

When someone says we don't all "live in the same world" because we haven't all had the same experiences, it's a viewpoint that bars commonality. No, we aren't all descended from slaves. No, we weren't all denied the vote because we were female or didn't own property. No, we haven't all been barred from office because of religion. We haven't all had to deal with physical impairments or mental illness. But just because we haven't all had the same lives doesn't mean we don't inhabit the same world. What it does mean is that we need to respect that we have different experiences but accept that such differences shouldn't bar us from sharing a common history and language.