I think that Ta-Nehisi had many good points, and I agree with him to an extent. I find it really interesting that some people believe that only a certain group of people can say certain words, to me this seems counterproductive and un-inclusive. While I understand the reason behind it is due to the word being offensive I find it interesting and weird that members of the community are allowed to say it as a joke. I believe that words shouldn’t be secluded and closed off to certain people but rather that all people should be actively aware of what they are saying regardless of who you are. On the other hand, the words we say are influenced by the people around us. If certain words are given more emphasis than others you are likely to remember them, adding on, if certain words have been forbidden to say for your whole life you are likely to have a taboo against them. In the case of the ‘N word’ many people who have grown up around black family or relatives may have found that the word is used freely and normally like it isn’t a big deal, this may cause the people to take it lightly. On the other hand, if you have grown up in an environment in which the word is forbidden and looked down upon you are likely to be more aware and conscious of the word being said and make a bigger deal out of it. The only reason that words have importance is because we give it to them, the only reason that they are offensive is because we say they are.
