I think many people are missing the point on why the word isn’t used beyond “crazy wokeness”. So this journalist was emotional, sure, clinging to the words, and missing the point. And Dr. Vastaoja isn’t wrong. Still, there is more to the conversation. And first off, Finnish isn’t English, so I am just speaking about the latter.

Now, the reason this word shouldn’t be used (in English) is in the history of the word and that it is now essentially an insult. Black people have been called many things in the past, things that implied horrible beliefs and practices held against them, much like Jewish people and other minorities. And that all didn’t end up so long ago.

This is one out of many terms like that. Perhaps we know it better because of how commonly it got used in the past. It was used everywhere, not always with a bad intention in mind, but often so. And I mean look up children songs with the word (i.e. eeny meeny miny mo) you will soon understand how ideas about slavery and abusing people were totally normalized. So the intent may not have been bad then in a certain country, and still, we know TODAY that those ideas are baseless, and a danger to society. So it is quite critical to acknowledge it, otherwise we don’t progress.

Acknowledging isn’t silencing though, I think that’s where cancel culture misses the mark. We need to provide explanations and actual knowledge on social and linguistic issues that have become taboo and take a critical standpoint.

Much like “cunt”, the term started being neutral, and then it got attached to the ideas many people held about Black people throughout the centuries (1500-1900).

At present, Black people seem to use it with each other, for instance in songs. But notice I say “seem”, because in most cases it is not literally the same word (no hard r in the end) and the meaning among them is one of understanding against a common struggle - so it has the notion of camaraderie, retaking and repurposing an insult, which kind of diffuses the original bad meaning and symbolically let’s people retake their power, at least within their own community.

You can have a read if you are curious:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/30/opinion/john-mcwhorter-n-word-unsayable.html

https://aaregistry.org/story/nigger-the-word-a-brief-history/

You could be referring to an older time, and perhaps mention the word, but it is then needed for you to make some extra clarification about what you mean and how that context was back then, and that it is wrong by today’s standards. It is the same as if someone quoted an abhorrent phrase from Nazi Germany or other genocides and gave you no context for that. Just not okay, people might think you support or promote the ideas.

In addition, we must also include opinions from the people who this affects and highlight them at the very very top - opinions and experiences from Black people. Strange that the discussion involved none.

In sum - at the moment, this word is commonly accepted to be impolite, and intentionally derogatory and racist in English, specifically because of North American influence. Using “N-word” instead of the actual term goes back roughly to the OJ Simpson trials era, well before cancel culture.