So Time–at least time.com–has this piece up on New York City’s ban of “nigger.”
This is, and probably always will be, a tricky subject for me because, well, I say it a lot.  I also have a tendency to enforce upon people that use it when I deem it out of turn.  Out of turn could mean the connotation bothers me, or sometimes I’m just bothered by the person saying it.   An example of bad connotation would be from one of those people that makes the delineation between black people and “niggers.”  Not a fan of class warfare am I.  By “the person,” I mean “somebody that ain’t black just said it.”
The problem, of course, is there’s no standardization of the use of the term.  There are no clear boundaries for when someone says it and it’s cool or it’s not.  Some black people don’t mind people of other races using “nigger” as a term of endearment.  I’m not one of those black people, but I do understand how someone could let it slide in this day and age.  Because of the proliferation of this rap music, it’s difficult to determine who means it in a good way or a bad one.  Trickier is that I’ve heard good people slip and say it when they shouldn’t, and their goodness as people trumped the use of the term, in my mind.
Then there’s the story my brother tells about a white dude he plays basketball with putting an arm around him and saying, “you’re my nigga, but you know O.J. did it.”
See, that one just don’t sound right in no kind of way.
And I’ve yet to hear it sound right coming from a non-black person (and I don’t know what to say about Puerto Ricans that use it because I didn’t grow up around any).  That said, I don’t think I’ll ever be okay with being some white person’s nigger.  Just not going to happen.
But I do think it’s different being some black person’s nigger.  As in, “you’re a nigger, ha?  Well, you’re my nigger, and I still got you.”
Either way, it’s gray.
But let’s move the discussion to something I find most interesting–how come nobody’s talking about banning “bitch?”  There is no gray on that one.  There’s no positive connotation for referring to a woman–or man, for that matter–as a bitch.  None.  The only time it seems halfway passable is when women are talking amongst each other and using the term playfully and in a way that mocks the use of the term at all.  Granted, that’s little more than an outsider’s perspective, but I can’t think of any other way where calling someone a “bitch” is anything but hateful.
Anyway, I just want to know why all these moral crusaders that are prepared to vomit when they hear “nigger” say absolutely nothing about “bitch.”  They’ll complain about it in that rap music, but not much after that.  Why don’t I get “Ban the B-Word” e-mails?  Where’s the city-wide resolution on that one?
Thoughts?