what people don't understand is that the word nigga is not just a word, but it has a whole history attached to it. it has slavery, oppression, lynching, being spit on, being called dumb by teachers, being teased at school, being reduced to a fraction of a human attached to it. that's why the word is so powerful. it's just like if you have a little brother with a big head. he might let the family call him big head, cause he knows that they don't mean any harm by it, but if someone at school calls him that, it's on and crackin'-no exceptions!