As a black person at a PWI (predominately white institution), you often become desensitized to a lot of the stuff that happens around you.

You go through “Halloweek” disgusted by the constant garish cultural appropriation, but you get through it. You face a constant spotlight in history classes when slavery is discussed and you become the speaker of your entire race for the class. You brush off the “not to be racist or anything” comments that are followed by something obviously and completely racist.

It’s a part of life as a black person to take the brunt of America’s racist frustration; it’s exhausting and annoying, but it’s how you are raised.

One thing that has just kept rubbing me the wrong way is when someone who is not black uses the slang version of the word “nigger."

It’s almost like tiny pinpricks at my brain every time I hear someone around me say it; it comes off their tongue in the most unnatural, thoughtless way, and then they look at me to make sure it’s okay.

If you are not black, you cannot say the “n” word.

If you are Hispanic, Asian, Native American, or of any other non-white ethnicity that isn’t black, you cannot say the “n” word.

If you are not black, you cannot say the “n” word.

The word stems from the Latin word "niger" which means black. In the centuries before American slavery became a racist institution, the word was neutral, simply describing the skin color of dark individuals.

As American slavery became a system based on white supremacy and the disenfranchisement of blacks, the word became charged. It meant enslaved black people were inferior, so inferior that they were closer to animals and did not deserve the same rights.

The word held the power that so as long as you fit the description of it, you were beneath white people.

Black people took back the word and revitalized it into something of their own. In saying the word in a more slang version, you are acknowledging your blackness and showing that you will never be inferior again.

Saying the word means you are connected to the continuous struggle of black people for equality and validity.

Saying the word as a black person is okay because you continue to face problems in America that are simply because of the color of your skin and the status of your ancestors.

Saying the word as a white person means you are reviving its original racist meaning and continuing the culture of white supremacy that is destroying our society. You may think you’re so cool for saying it, or a black person told you once you could say it, or better yet, “your best friend is black”.

It doesn’t matter.

If you are not black, you cannot say the “n” word.

Furthermore, if you are a non-black person of color, you cannot say the word either.

This is spitting in the face of the progress and history Black people champion. While similar, your experience is not the same and you are not allowed to say the word either.

Respecting the rights and wishes of Black people has never been a strong-suit of Americans. There is always a condition to fulfilling what is asked for, and often it is never even met.

As we continue deeper into a racial terror zone, where police brutality is shaken off and race riots are common, we must start considering the small things like not saying certain words to better our society and its social justice issues.