In the episode, The S Word, the infamous case of the teacher calling a student a “nigga” and getting in trouble for using the word. The episode says A LOT!

The question of when and how to use the word comes into play. It seems, according to the episode, that no one knows when and how to use either variation. The teacher shows clear confusion of how to use the word. Petto says there’s a difference between the two words, what I noticed after preying on a feed for a while is that the lines between the -er variation and the -a variation has blurred significantly. Of course there were the few specks of people using the -er variant in a directly racist way, but the other used in the same fashion that maybe someone who uses the other variation uses it.

One of the points made in the episode is whether or not it’s hypocritical to use a word that you tell other people not to use. I still cannot grasp the idea of using group-exclusive words.

It also seems that the word became so ingrained in speech that it stopped being a group-exclusive word. Especially with our youth, there seems to be less of a divide between who is allowed to use the word and who isn’t.

Another observation of the show is that Thomas and Huey rarely utter the word. They are supposed to represent the educated black community. I think it shines true in real life. I’ve never heard and educated black person refer to another person as their “nigga”.

This might also show the divide between the educated and the not as fortunate to get educated.