Why would a black person would keep calling themselves and/or another white person the n word during a conversation?

[Anonymous]

I took a bus ride back home from the airport the other day and there was a black guy a few seats behind me talking to a white guy. They seemed like their were buddies to a certain extent. They either already knew each other or became friends on the bus ride.

Over the course of a 30 min ride the black guy called himself and his friend the n word at least 20 times. Not angry but just talking about issues. Pretty loud too.

I guess black guy felt like a real homey with the other white guy. But it just felt weird.

I get it that some black people like to better connect with white people. That’s really cool. But the white guy knows if he said the n word even in friendly discussion his ass when would be in hot water. I could tell the white guy was trying to be cool but he felt uncomfortable from the tone in his voice.

[EnnyT-S]

As far as I'm aware (you can see how black I am), it's about owning the word, instead of it being a de-humanising term used against you. Interestingly, 'man' was similar, since back in the Jim Crow era black men were called 'boy' by racist white people.

It isn't acceptable for white people to use since it is a de-humanising term, and not one used against us, and therefore it isn't something we can own.

[Asker]

Yeah I am not arguing that I should be able to use it. Don’t really care to. But the ugly truth is that black people are keeping this term alive by using it. White people not say it out loud especially in front of black people. But we are HEARING it. And we hear quite often (rap music, movies, etc.)

There a lot of other racial slurs for other minorities that have mostly died out over the past few decades. Other minorities are far less likely to call each other slurs.

[Bricealan]

I have heard that but never thought much about it.