Guys, they didn’t make a law forbidding anyone to say the word.  It technically doesn’t violate any constitutional right, its more or less, stop using a deragotory term in the wrong context. People can still say the word, they’re not going to get arrested or anything for doing so.  Silly.

I think we should stop giving minorities this special treatment though, since we’re on the topic.  If someone’s an asshole, they’re an asshole.  And if someone’s being an idiot, they’re being an idiot.  I don’t care what race, religion or whatever they are.  All these laws creating special circumstances for “hate crimes” are only making the differences more apparent.  Everyone gets equal treatment.  That’s what the argument is in the first place.  So I don’t get why special treatment is put in place.  It contradicts itself.

what the fuck ever happened to freedom of speech.  majority of the time Nigga is not used to insult people.  Get a life NY!!

To be quite honest, I recognize what New York is trying to accomplish, and I’m sure it’s for the best.  But seriously, this ban of a word is, at least in my mind, censorship that I was always raised to believe was protected by the constitution.  I haven’t been able to find exactly what actions the city will take to punish someone for saying the word, but I was under the impression that you can’t change the constitution.  I rarely to never use the word myself, and I agree that it’s offensive and unnecessary, but what amendment will they decide to change next?  Seriously, they could just go ahead and ban freedom of religion.  I’m an aetheist, and if someone tells me I have to believe in some god I can’t see, I’ll move.  Once the government starts taking my rights away, to me, it’s no longer a free country, whether I use the word or not.

A local school did a play in which the students refused to refrain from using the “N” word because it was a part of the plot to show how the word was used in American history. Parents still threw a fit about it. It makes people of other races uncomfortable when they hear it so out of site, out of mind.

I agree that it should not be used as a greeting, slang or insult but I think this is less about semantics than it is about the firestorm of attention the ban will bring to point out why it’s such a charged word. If anyone watched Black/White, the young boy on the show used it frequently and didn’t see anything wrong with it until his father gave him a bit of a history lesson at which point he said he saw now why he shouldn’t use it. Same with the trend of “sagging” that few people know about either.

Mandatory courses in humanities & civics & black history from kindergarten through college would go much farther than banning words.

I AGREE THE TERM ‘NIGGER’ SHOULD BE BANNED. HOWEVER,THE TERM ‘N-WORD’ IS EVERY BIT AS OFFENSIVE AS ‘NIGGER’ TO ME.  WHILE WE’RE AT IT LETS BAN NEO-CON, LIB, RED STATE,BLUE STATE,ETC. ETC. ETC.WE COULD BAN EVERYTHING, OR BAN NOTHING.  WHO SAID FREEDOM OF SPEECH?????????

Since the wise council of New York City has taken this position, it seems that they should back it up by removing any materials that reference “nigger” that is publicly available through governmental services, such as the library. This means removing the works of Mark Twain and Thomas Wolfe, to mention only two writers familiar with, and willing to use, the word “nigger.” Plus any movies that say the word “nigger” should also be destroyed.

Also, it seems unfair to all the spicks, wops, kikes, ragheads, Christians and other minorities that only “nigger” is bad enough to be illegal. I mean really, what is a downtrodden group to do these days to get proper attention?

I don’t know when I last heard the “N” word used by a caucasion in my presence. I haven’t used the word for fifty years.

I hear a derivative of the word used repeatedly from a segment of the Black community, mostly by comedians and Rappers.

I think we should all think of all the hate words used by Americans of all colors and Nationalities, and consider the consequences of using them. Absolutely nothing of value comes from their use. On the other hand, consider the effects of not using them. Could it result in more mutual respect? I don’t know, but I think it’s worth a try.

At to the issue of an elected Governing body officially taking a position to ban the use a word or words? I think that is alright as long as no official tries to enact a rule with legal consequences. That would be an attempt to limit free speech.

So stupid! “Nigger” is very useful, if anything, to shame the West’s recent superstition of the inherent inferiority of blacks.

Encouraging to see that there are some African Americans with a sense of pride, self-respect, dignity and honor.