For many years, the word “Nigga” was always a push and pull topic especially when it came to black culture. 

The newest conversation when discussing the word is who can and cannot say Nigga? Recently, Actress Gina Rodriguez received backlash for singing the Fugees song Ready or Not and reciting the line “niggas give me hee-bee-gee-bees" which created a much larger conversation; Can people get a pass to say the N-word? 

For years black people have put in so much effort to take back that word and turn it into a term of endearment that black people could claim as their own. Now there has been a conversation on whether non-black people can say the N-word without any consequences. Gina Rodriguez, who is a Puerto Rican woman has now sparked a debate on whether other people of color can say “nigga” without any issues. 

The response within social media has been 50/50 of people saying that there should not be any backlash because she was singing a song and others are completely outraged, but it is more than just song lyrics to a race of people who have to fight to have things to call their own.