Probably the most offensive word in the English language, it has been reclaimed and become a term of fellowship in American hip-hop culture, especially in the slang form 'nigga'. Yet, because words gain meaning from context, including the characteristics of the speaker saying those words, slurs are sometimes considered acceptable if they are spoken by people belonging to the group the slur is about, or someone given special dispensation by members of that group. They are used as a way to imply that a whole group of people is inferior to another group in some way(s), or, as Richard Pryor memorably worded it, they 'perpetuate wretchedness' of a group of people. When people are not allowed to say derogatory slurs, or similar comments about a group of people, unless they are part of that group or otherwise granted special dispensation.ĭerogatory slurs are wrong.
