Black People Should Stop Using the N-Word and Women Should Stop Bopping to B****

Photo by Lucas Lenzi on Unsplash

I know this isn’t going to be a popular opinion, but its mine, and its taken me years to get here.

Black people should stop using the N-word and women should stop listening to music that calls us bitches and hoes. I’m Black and I’m a woman. I’ve rapped along and danced along to many songs that say the B-word…and the N-word. I’ve used the N-word in casual conversation. B****, not so much. I’ve never used it as a term of endearment or called myself a bad bitch.

My opinion on both words has evolved over the years. Sometimes I’ve thought these words should be reclaimed. Other times I’ve thought they’re problematic. I’ve never thought they should come out the mouth of Non-Black people or men. And guess what? I don’t use slurs or pejoratives for people of other races or sexual orientations…whatever they may be. I don’t have a reason to, and its not hard for me not to. Nobody has to use offensive language that’s been historically used to degrade groups of people that they’re not a part of. It’s pretty simple.

R&B singer Ne-yo recently ruffled feathers when he said that women are partially responsible for misogynistic lyrics in songs because we smile at them and dance along to them. Ne-yo said, “the more misogynistic the lyrics get, the more y’all accept it, the…