system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How did the n-word go from being a slur to casual slang among African-Americans?

I'm interested in how this occurred, how exactly did it go from being a racist slur against blacks to being thrown casually thrown around by African-Americans?
gpt
This article speaks directly to your question:

Rahman, J. (2012). The N word: Its history and use in the African American community. *Journal of English Linguistics, 40*(2), 137-171.

**Summary**
The N-word "persists in the lexicon of African American English because it conveys a social meaning that is foundational in the identity of many African Americans. Use of this form allows a speaker to construct an identity representing awareness of the history of African Americans and practical knowledge of the nature and implications of the diaspora experience. The form has been productive in its capacity to convey a range of attitudinal stances related to its basic meaning, including solidarity, censure, and a proactive stance that seeks to bring about positive change."

**From "hard 'r'" to "soft/open-ended"**
Slurs are ostensibly meant to injure, but fundamentally and unconsciously work to discipline "the disparaged group by imposing a negative identity on them." However, those social meanings can be transformed by "licensed speakers."

"The variant that developed among the slaves took an open syllable ending, as is common in West African languages (Bhambose 1969; Dakubu 1988)...A continued desire to “maintain distance, distinctiveness, and some sense of ownership” (Gomez 1998:177) is among the social factors that contributed to the retention of the open syllable ending and other African features in the language of the slaves…This article posits that in the counterlanguage, discussed below, social meanings developed among the Africans that reflected a view in which they saw themselves as survivors and as humans whose freedom and dignity had been assaulted."

**Different Contemporary Meanings**
 
* Solidarity - "While projecting identity as an African American who is conscious of survival in the diaspora, n[\*\*\*]a may add a dimension to that identity by projecting an attitudinal stance that shows solidarity with another African American or with the African American community. This solidarity is generally based on perceptions of racial injustice." This use is moderated by gender (not used to refer to women) and situations of social conflict (substituted with "brother").
 
* Censure - "The core social meaning of n[\*\*\*]a may also be overlaid with an attitude of disapproval or censure, where a speaker assumes the attitudinal stance of judge. Using the term in this way performs the illocutionary function of serving notice that another African American, as writers observe (Kennedy 2002; Asim 2007), has behaved in a way that does not conform to the norms or expectations of the African American community...While the racist use of n[\*\*\*\*]r criticizes a presumed innate moral and intellectual inferiority of African Americans, the meaning under discussion is a biting criticism from within the African American community that suggests that a behavior of the referent lends support to racist claims of inferiority. The expression that someone is “acting like a n[\*\*\*]a” is similar to “acting a fool” (Morgan 2002:41-42), with the added dimension that it appears to sarcastically reference the racially insulting form..."
 
* Hip-Hop - "The hip-hop comedians have been involved in a movement to erase negative associations of the word, turning it on its head by presenting an enhanced version of the African American meaning that emphasizes a self-empowered and self-determined African American identity...The identity that the hip-hop comedians project through use of n[\*\*\*]a is an effect of exercising agency in exploiting the meaning potential that inheres in the tradition where African Americans see themselves as resourceful, pragmatic survivors (Rahman 2004, 2007)."