Is it now socially acceptable for white people to say the n word?

[wildeyed]

90. No.

The answer is always no.

My kids complain about the same thing. My kids know the historical context of the word and how it was used by white supremacists. They are smart enough to understand that in the mouth of a black person, the word might feel empowering, but in the mouth of a white person who is not being intentionally hateful, it just sounds ignorant. That may be why the black managers put up with it. Because you can't fix stupid? Who knows....

I watched an HBO series called Treme about New Orleans after the hurricane. There is a white character who loves black music and culture, lives in a black neighborhood, and has many close black friends. He is drunk off his ass in a bar with a couple of black friends, recounting something another black friend said that included the n-word. Another black man he does know overhears and calls him out. He tries to justify and says it again, and gets punched in the face. His friends just roll their eyes. Because no matter how much you love black culture, you are still white and saying that word is not ok. Some might put up with it, but at some point, you will probably get punched in the face.