As you very well know, this word is quite interesting, it can be used as a term of endearment (in fact my mum calls me Negro in the masculine) BUT (and this is really important) it can be used as an insult, go figure language is so nuanced and CONTEXT is everything.
My mother calls me “negra” as well, it is true. However, as I said in the context of a racialized insult, it is absolutely not the same. What I take as a term of endearment from my mother, I would be incensed if it was used against me in a professional context to shut me up (which is the case in the football match in question). Also, a word like this, which we use at home in Buenos Aires or Montevideo or what have you, acquires a totally different meaning if it is used in a European football stadium against a non Spanish speaking football player (again, which is what happened here).
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