I'm confused. Is 'N---o' an offensive word or not?
 

Apologies to anyone who is offended by the word (i am mixed race and do not find the word offensive, nor have i EVER heard of it being considered an offensive term until this series of BB. As far as i knew it was a perfectly acceptable and commonly used word for a racial type.

I just wondered what everyone else thought about it.

Of course we know that the word 'N----r' is offensive. That is undeniably clear to us all.
But 'Negro'? When did that become a racial slur? I thought it was a generally acceptable racial category like Caucasian, Hispanic, Nordic, Oriental, Inuit etc.

So if 'White' is described as 'Caucasian' - what is the acceptable 'Black' equivalent then?

And check out this Wikipedia page; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro

Martin Luther King used to the word 'Negro' to describe his race (and he didn't like the term 'Black')
Whereas Malcolm X preferred the term 'Black' and didn't like the term 'Negro'.

Confused? I am! It goes on;

The U.S. census of 2010 - still uses the word 'Negro' as a racial category.

There is also the 'United Negro College Fund' and the 'Negro League' in sports.

So how is it offensive if it is still being used in an official capacity ??

So what terms ARE we allowed to use? And who decides what's right and wrong? And how do we know if (and when) the rules change? A word that's ok one day might be offensive the next. How would you know??

It's all gone a bit mad i think!

There has already been a lot of talk about this on the thread about Ken's eviction.

Like you, I'm mixed race and don't understand why BB have decided this word is racially offensive in the way it was used.

I watched the original version of Robinson Crusoe over Christmas. Prime time viewing and that word was used a few times.

I don't think that the word should be offensive, but if it is taken as offensive by some then C5 have to be careful.

All about context. Well it's not in today's PC world, but it should be.

it's a recent social phenomenom too many people are trying to be offended, followed by group (social media) hysteria.

Its simple
On TV - Its banned



Yes its a word that is used

But it's not banned on TV otherwise they would have edited it out and we would never have seen it

I agree with the rest of the posters in here,

context and intent come into play when using or hearing this word. Personally I don't use it in my everyday language b/c it was never common language where I am from.

I find it strange that you can produce a well written and grammatically correct fairly long post, yet get confused about this matter1

Word like 'n----r' and 'p--i' have an obvious history of offence attached to their use, and it is generally agreed upon now to avoid using them.

My fear is how we could very easily find ourselves being unable to describe any racial or social differences for fear of being branded 'offensive'.

One person could take offence to the word 'Caucasian' or 'Geordie' or 'Leftie'. Does that mean we should ALL stop using them altogether?

I agree it's all about context. Only if there is malicious INTENT behind the use of words - then there is a problem. Words themselves alone have no power.

Ken had no malicious intent in his use of the word 'negro' when recalling his story about Frank Bruno. If anything the joke was on his own 'whiteness' by calling himself 'Lord Fauntleroy' in asking Frank to turn his rhythms down.

Yet Perez can shout 'disgusting pig' in Ken's face with full malicious intent to cause upset and it is not considered as offensive as Ken's comedy use of a term which is still socially acceptable (see my wikipedia link above).

I understand BB are on eggshells but who is calling the shots?

We can all take offence to one thing or another - does it mean we should all censor ourselves into a corner, afraid and unable to say anything?

Who knows, in 20 years time - people might be arrested for saying 'shut up' or 'idiot' or 'i don't like you' because someone got offended. Will that be progress?

:thumbs:

Perez, as soon as Jeremy was sent packing, he saw an opportunity to get rid of Ken, and he and "call the police" Nadia made sure it happened.

True. Perez strikes me as that dangerous sort of person who would call the police in real life over a small dispute with a neighbour or a colleague, just to get one up on them. I feel he's the kind of guy who'd know the exact type of language to use to frame someone as a threat and to force authorities to act on his behalf.

And yeah, Nadia is obviously quite similar with her actual 'call the police' threat - which i never would have expected from her when she entered the house.

Ooh it's a moody BB this one. Probably my worst one yet. Lunatics running the asylum.

I dont find it offensive and neither does my family had it been the other word then it would have been a different sorry but i think Political Correctness will destroy this country

Totally agree... 'offended' is the new black (no racism intended)

I, and everyone I know, only use the word 'black'. There's something a little sinister sounding about the word 'negro' and I never would use it myself, but I admit that I never knew it was quite as offensive as the other 'n word'.

That's because it isn't.

i loved the response from Alexander!

When Ken tried to explain it away as "well negro just means black in spanish", and

Alexander replied "but you aren't Spanish".with a stern look on his face. lol

:joker: funny point and sadly true

It's similar to the way people exploit the law to 'sue' others over a small thing. Like falling over in a supermarket and trying to claim a million pounds for it.

Scary stuff. That mentality needs to be squashed, not encouraged - for all our sakes. That's why these BB situations attract so much debate.


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and that is the point of BB, to see who can survive both mentally and physically in that environment, it should not be down to the HMs to turf people out they can't get along with that is the public's job. Alexander handled it superbly but people still decide to be offended on his behalf, his exit interview will be interesting.

if we dont know which words are deemed racist cos what one person thinks is offensive another doesnt, how has poor ken ended up being turfed out and branded a racist, and surely its the manner in which something is said thats an indicator. it goes too far sometimes

Oh yes, poor poor Ken, he was a such a sweet old man, he clearly didn't intend to offend anyone.... lol :joker: :wavey: :nono:

He was a prick who was intentionally trying to offend as many people as possible. when it coms to trolling, he made the 2 REAL trolls in the house (katie and perez) look like reasonable human beings. He was the TROLL KING.

If you're not black you don't really have a say

It's only offensive if the person you say it to is offended i suppose.Alexander acted as though he was offended so that made it offensive.Similar to robegate where it was Chloes reaction which sealed Jeremy's fate.I did'nt think it was offensive either but new things become offensive every week these days.

yeah, its all about context and how you use the word, I did cringe the way Ken said it as if doing a comedy routine but I don't think he meant it maliciously, alex's response was perfect, and true, there are some places that would've ended with a punch to the face

Kids are called a Pikinini lol!