Nigger

For other uses, see Nigger (disambiguation).

Nigger

Nigger

Nigger is a term used to refer to dark-skinned peoples, especially Africans or Negroids. Its use by other races, particularly white people , is regarded as offensive in most social contexts.

At the time of the Atlantic slave trade, it was a standard, casual English term for black people. The word later became associated with an overt contempt, a racist assumption of inherent black inferiority, making it extremely pejorative.

Etymology

Main article: Negro

The Spanish word negro originates from the Latin word niger, meaning black. In English, negro or neger became negar and finally nigger, most likely under influence of French nègre. Neger (sometimes spelled "neggar") prevailed in northern New York under the Dutch and also in Philadelphia, in its Moravian and Pennsylvania Dutch communities. For example, the New York City African Burial Ground was originally known as "Begraaf Plaats van de Neger."

In the United States, the word nigger was not originally considered derogatory, but merely denotative of black, as it was in much of the world. In nineteenth-century American literature, there are many uses of the word nigger with no intended negative connotation (see below). The perception of the term nigger as derogatory is no doubt related to the fact that the Negro race itself was regarded by many whites of the time as inferior, lazy, simian in appearance, stupid, and criminally inclined. There is an observable pattern of terms denoting black people which have come to be regarded as derogatory, just as exist for all ethnic groups. Some well known ones are: Nigger, darky, coon, Spook, and colored, all of which were at various times acceptable, but are now considered offensive in North America. Black was generally the preferred term from the late 1960s until the 1990s, but has now been displaced in politically correct usage by African American, which resembles the term Afro-American that was in vogue in the early 1970s. However, Black continues in widespread popular use as a racial designation.

In Cuba the Spanish word prieto (similar origin to the Portuguese preto) is not derogatory. In Cuba a prieto is someone who is very dark, but not black ("Negro"). The Spanish word for "black" is "negro." White Southern dialect in many parts of the southern United States changes the pronunciation of "Negro" to "nigra." The form "nigger" may have come about from "nigra" through metathesis.

At times, black people have appropriated the slur, subverting it to a self-referential term that is often suggestive of familiarity, endearment, or kinship.

The word is occasionally spelt nigguh or even nikuh in imitation of some speakers' pronunciation. However, the forms nigga and niggah are far more common alternatives. Other variations designed to avoid the term itself include nookah, nukka, and nagger.

Usage

In the United States

In the United States, the word was freely used by both whites and blacks, until the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s. A striking example is in televised coverage of a march in Birmingham, Alabama, when protesters, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, were met with attacks from dogs and fire hoses. A white woman from another Alabama county was interviewed. Visibly upset, she said, "It's not right. We don't treat niggers like that here." Louisiana Governor Earl Long also used the term when advocating expanded voting rights for "African Americans." At that time, the term was less noteworthy than the expressions of support by white southerners, as it was a common regional term for blacks, along with Negro and "colored." Similar uses of the word were made by Mark Twain and Charles Dickens, and Joseph Conrad published The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' (1897) without racist intent.

Today, the implied racism of the term is so strong that the use of nigger in most situations is a social taboo in English-speaking countries. Many American magazines and newspapers will not even print the word in full, instead using n*gg*r, n**ger, n——, or simply "the N-word." A Washington Post article on Strom Thurmond's 1948 candidacy for President of the United States went so far as to replace it with the periphrasis "the less-refined word for black people." The word was also completely excised from the Microsoft Encarta dictionary, despite its common usage. The shock effect of the word can also be used to deliberately cause offense. Several activists, such as Dick Gregory, have said the use of "N-word" instead of "Nigger" throughout modern English vernacular robs younger generations of the full history of black people in America. For example, using "the N-word" in place of "Nazi", which was also a pejorative term, would rob younger generations of the full gravity of the Holocaust.

Also in the past, nigger sometimes meant a disadvantaged person. For example, Ron Dellums, an American politician, once said that "it's time for somebody to lead all of America's Niggers".

In Australia and New Zealand

In Australia, although in general the meaning of the word is perfectly well understood to refer to black people, it is now rarely used by urban light skinned people in any context; when referring to indigenous Australians, the casual terms Abo and the more derogatory boong are used in its place. However, nigger has seen common use in rural or semi-frontier districts. In this context, the usage was British colonial, that is, applying generically to dark-skinned people of any origin (c.v. Rudyard Kipling). This has led to controversy, since Australian Aborigines have started to take the term strongly to heart, in both the pejorative and revisionist senses (see below under Names of places and things). In neighboring New Zealand the term has been used to refer to the Māori people as well (Simpson, 1989), but the word Māori itself is often used as a derogatory adjective, much the way nigger is used in the US.

Non-human uses

In the past, nigger was sometimes used as a synonym for "defect." For example, the May 1886 issue of Scientific American, page 308 said, "The consequence of neglect might be that what the workmen call ‘a nigger’ would get into the armature, and burn it so as to destroy its service." Similarly, when performing shoddy but functional work, one is said to "nigger rig it," especially when duct tape is used in place of proper equipment. See also: jury rig

The term nigger is also applied to a piece of machinery that was used in lumber mills until the mid-point of the 20th century. It refers to a device that turns a log while it is being stripped of its bark. This may be an off-hand reference to the prejudicial use of the word, as until the machine was invented, this was considered a job too dangerous for anyone other than a black man.

Literary uses

Nigger has a long history of controversy in literature. Carl Van Vechten, a white photographer and writer famous as a supporter of the Harlem Renaissance, provoked debate and some protest from the African American community by titling his 1926 novel Nigger Heaven. The controversy centered on the use of the word in the title and fueled the sales of the hit novel. Of the controversy, Langston Hughes wrote:

No book could possibly be as bad as Nigger Heaven has been painted. And no book has ever been better advertised by those who wished to damn it. Because it was declared obscene, everybody wanted to read it, and I'll venture to say that more Negroes bought it than ever purchased a book by a Negro author. Then, as now, the use of the word "nigger" by a white was a flashpoint for debates about the relationship between black culture and its White patrons.

The famous controversy over Mark Twain's novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), a classic frequently taught in American schools, revolves largely around the novel's 215 uses of the word, often referring to Nigger Jim, Huck's raft mate.

Nigger in the Window is a book written by a young black girl who describes the world from her window.

Slaves often pandered to racist assumptions by using the word "nigger" to their advantage in the self-deprecatory artifice of Tomming. Implicit was an unspoken reminder that a presumably inferior person or subhuman could not reasonably be held responsible for work performed incorrectly, a fire in the kitchen, or any similar offense. It was a means of deflecting responsibility in the hope of escaping the wrath of an overseer or master. Its use as a self-referential term was also a way to avoid suspicion and put whites at ease. A slave who referred to himself or another black as a "nigger" presumably accepted his subordinate role and posed no threat to white authority.

An example of this historical use in American literature occurs in Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Gold Bug (1843). The narrator and a white character in the story use negro to refer to a black servant, Jupiter, while Jupiter himself uses nigger.

Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None, also known as Ten Little Indians, originally appeared as Ten Little Niggers. Among the classic novels of Joseph Conrad (famous for his use of the word in Heart of Darkness) is The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' (1897).

Harper Lee's 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, also uses the term "nigger" throughout, and efficiently demonstrates the racism present during the mid-1930s.

Other examples of literary usage in the United Kingdom during the late 19th and early 20th centuries suggest a more neutral usage of the term, which can cause a problem when reading such books today when the word has such an offensive meaning.

In the original version of their operetta “The Mikado” by Gilbert and Sullivan, The Mikado in his song “Make the Punishment fit the Crime” used the line “Blacked like a nigger/ With permanent walnut juice” when describing the appropriate punishment for an overly made up society lady. It was changed in 1948, after much objection to the word after D'Oyly Carte performances in America, to “Painted with vigour/ And permanent walnut juice”.

The “Scarlet Pimpernel” contains a black character referred to casually as a “nigger”, in a way which suggests no serious insult is intended.

In one John Buchan novel the hero goes into a night club in the early 1920s, where “a rather good nigger band” is playing.

P.G. Wodehouse's Thank You, Jeeves has Bertie Wooster mention that he would like to practice the banjo with a "troupe of nigger minstrels".

It has been suggested that the USA usage became more prevalent in the UK during and after the Second World War. Whether this is through contact with American troops or whether it reflects a growing racism in UK society is open to question.

War Comes to Willy Freeman by James Collier and Christopher Collier (ISBN 0-440-49504-0) mentions the word "nigger" nineteen times. Current readers complain as this use of the word is unnecessary and, in the 18th century context of the story, is not historically correct.

Rudyard Kipling's Just So Story "How the Leopard Got His Spots" tells of how an Ethiopian and a leopard, who are originally sand-colored, decide to paint themselves for camouflage when hunting in dense tropical forest. The story originally included a scene in which the leopard, who now has spots, asks the Ethiopian why he doesn't want spots as well. The Ethiopian's original reply, "Oh, plain black's best for a nigger", has been changed in many modern editions to read, "Oh, plain black's best for me."

Nigger in popular culture

At one time, the word was used freely in branding and packaging of consumer commodities in the U.S. and England. There were brands such as Nigger Hair Tobacco, Niggerhead Oysters, and other canned goods. Brazil nuts were casually referred to as "nigger toes". As times changed, so did labeling practices. The tobacco brand became "Bigger Hare" and the canned goods brand became "Negro Head". Eventually, such names disappeared from the marketplace altogether.

In the 1954 film The Dambusters, Wing Commander Guy Gibson's dog was called Nigger (as in real life), and this has been edited out of recent British TV screenings.

The comedian and activist Dick Gregory used the word as the title of his best-selling autobiography in 1964. In 1967, Muhammad Ali explained his refusal to be drafted to serve in the Vietnam War by saying, "I got nothing against no Viet Cong. No Vietnamese ever called me 'nigger,'". In 1972, John Lennon released a song, "Woman is the Nigger of the World", the title of which implied that women were universally oppressed. During the same year, Curtis Mayfield used the word in the first verse of "Pusherman" (a hit song from the Superfly soundtrack). Pierre Vallières, a founding member of the FLQ terrorist group, wrote a book in 1968 called Les Nègres blancs de l'Amérique, comparing the alleged oppression of French-Canadians to that of blacks in the southern United States. When it was translated into English, it was published under the title White Niggers of America.

Not every usage of the word 'nigger' in entertainment media has sparked protests or denouncement. In one notable exception, British punk rock pioneer Elvis Costello used the term in one lyric of Oliver's Army, from the album Armed Forces. Ironically, this usage - 'One more widow, one less white nigger' - sparked no recorded protests or complaints, and the video for the song was aired uncensored on several music programs and networks, such as MTV and VH1, for years.

Jewish comedian Lenny Bruce used the word repeatedly in a comedy routine, suggesting that the more it was used and heard, the less potency it would have. Richard Pryor, whose albums included That Nigger's Crazy and Bicentennial Nigger, vowed to never use the word ever again after a trip to Africa in the 1980s. Commenting that he never saw any niggers while in Africa, Pryor said he realized that niggers were figments of white people's imaginations.

File:NWA Compton 1988.jpg

Hip-hop group N.W.A.

In 1988, hip hop group N.W.A. ("Niggaz With Attitude") released the album Straight Outta Compton. Although they abbreviated it in all official contexts, their self-referential use of the word caused a great deal of controversy in America over the language and lyrics of hip hop. Today, the word is used nearly universally among black rappers in casual contexts. Not all black hiphop acts appreciate the increased use of the word, however; Public Enemy plainly state on the fifth track of Apocalypse '91...The Enemy Strikes Black, "I don't wanna be called 'Yo Nigga'". The usage is parodied in the 1994 film Fear of a Black Hat, a mockumentary about a ficticious rap group named "N.W.H", or "Niggaz With Hats" (the title of the movie itself being a play on Public Enemy's album Fear of a Black Planet).

While nigga raises relatively few objections when used by black rappers, it generally is considered off-limits to nonblack performers, with exceedingly rare exceptions. According to a 1998 interview with Spin, the Beastie Boys, an all-white hip-hop group, left the stage mid-performance after a friendly but ill-received use of the word to refer to their audience. [1] In 2001, Latina performer Jennifer Lopez provoked the ire of the African American community when she used the word in a song written by two black songwriters. Meanwhile, wrath was limited toward punk rocker Patti Smith when she released the song "Rock 'n' Roll Nigger" in 1978, and non-existent toward Marilyn Manson when they covered the song in 1995 and later used the word openly in their own song, "Irresponsible Hate Anthem."

Many left-wing hardcore punk bands say "nigger" in their songs. The Dead Kennedys (whose drummer was black) say nigger in their song "Holiday in Cambodia," by saying, "acting like you know how the niggers feel cold and the slums got so much soul." MDC (aka Millions of Dead Cops) use nigger in their song "Dead Cops," by saying, "hunting for queers, niggers, and you" in reference to the police. Even British anarcho-punk band Crass use nigger on "White Punks on Hope" when they say, "If you care to take a closer look at the way things really stand, you'll see we're all just niggers to the rulers of this land." The use of nigger in most punk rock songs is for a number of reasons, the first of which is blatant disregard for anything deemed as taboo. It is also used in a mocking way, as a gesture to make fun of or illustrate how others think or use it as a pejorative term. As the majority of these bands are staunchly anti-racist, their usage of 'nigger' can be for many other reasons, including cursing so frequently to begin with or that the social stigmas behind any vulgar words are completely absurd, much for the same reasons that comedian George Carlin points out.

Many modern hardcore bands, especially ones in the underground, while not rapcore or hip-hop influenced directly, have taken to using the words nigga and nigger in the same way that rap and hip-hop artists do, but in greater frequency. This is both a mockery of the blacks who abuse the words as well as the whites generally deemed as 'whiggers' who try to discreetly use the words in the same manner as blacks. As hardcore music is rooted in punk, it takes heavily from the punk rock ideas of blatant disregard and abuse of anything taboo in mainstream society. As many whites are afraid to criticize any aspect of black culture or subcultures out of fear of being accused of racism, hardcore bands pounce on it and are quick to mock the thug lifestyle for its inherent shortcomings and misdirected ambitions. The PC Death Squad is a good example of one of these bands. It has become increasingly popular in white, middle class suburbia to mock what is portrayed in rap music, and this resonates in hardcore. It is not hateful or racist, but stems from a frustration of not being allowed to criticize things because it is not socially acceptable or politically correct for whites to do so.

Although the popular white rapper Eminem refrains from using the word, recently the word nigga has been used by many non-white, but non-black rappers such as Fat Joe, Pitbull and some latin artists. The slang term has brought some controversy to America and confusion to the white population as to what forms of the word are offensive and what forms are not.

African American comedian Chris Rock's 1996 television special Bring the Pain and 1997 album Roll with the New included a segment known as "Niggas vs Black People", which humorously describes the behavior of some blacks that conform to a theoretical stereotype. Rock cast "niggas" as "low-expectation-havin'" individuals - proud to be ignorant, violent, and on welfare; the equivalent of "white trash". The controversy surrounding this, to which many took exception because they felt it pandered to racism, was such that Rock ceased performing it.

Conversely, part of the repertoire of white American comedian George Carlin is a routine concerning sensitive words - that words by themselves are never good or bad and it's the user's intention that counts. "We don't mind when Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy uses it," he quips. "Why? Because we know they're not racists. They're Niggers!" In a famous skit on Saturday Night Live, Chevy Chase and Pryor explore this dynamic as a job interview devolves into racial name-calling on both sides, with Pryor calling Chase "honky" several times; when Chase eventually says "nigger", Pryor responds with "dead honky".

Since the coining of the phrase "the N-word" (see below), some television broadcasters have added the word nigger retroactively to their lists of taboo words, thereby censoring movies and television programs from the past in which the word is used, no matter its context or the effect on the program. For example, television broadcasts of the film Die Hard with a Vengeance which originally featured a white character (played by Bruce Willis) being placed in jeopardy when forced to carry a sign saying "I hate niggers" around Harlem, are altered so that the sign now says "I hate everybody", which is not offensive and, critics argue, renders the scene far less effective. The comedy series All in the Family is rarely censored even though the "N-word" is used frequently—likely because the primary premise of the classic, groundbreaking show is directly related to the main character's social backwardness and racial biases. On the other hand, Mel Brooks's anti-racism comedy Blazing Saddles, which was co-written by Brooks and Richard Pyror, is rarely shown on American commercial television any more due to the pervasive use of the word. However, as in All in the Family, the film's intent was to call attention to the issues of racism through satire—a fact discussed at length by Brooks when the film's 30th-anniversary edition DVD was released in 2004, and already patently obvious in the film's premise of a town full of white people reacting with hostility to their new black sheriff.

African-American comedian Dave Chappelle frequently has used the word in satire. In the first season of his show, Chappelle's Show, a blind white supremacist, unaware of the fact that he is black, uses the word repeatedly in remarks disparaging black people and at the end of the sketch, after learning the truth, comments that he left his wife because she is a "nigger-lover". The second season of the Dave Chapelle show examines this word closely with the sketch "The Niggar Family", a portrayal of a 1950s white family with a last name resembling the infamous word. The comedy hinges upon the interaction among other members of the community and results in an uncensored and laughable outcome. (source: Multimedia Events-John Cashew)

The controversial animated series The Boondocks frequently uses the word "Nigga" by the main characters and sometimes others. The term can be used to shock the other characters or for satirical purposes, as when Granddad tells Huey not to use the word in his house and Huey reminds him that he himself used the word 46 times the day before. Granddad's reply is "Nigga hush!". In the same episode, a drunk Uncle Ruckus sings a song entitled "Don't Trust Those New Niggas Over There". Afterwards, there is a short clip with two non-Black characters, one of which says "I think it's OK if they say it." The show also makes note of "Nigga Moments", where an otherwise well-adjusted black man acts in an ignorant or self-destructive way out of anger. The show was criticized for putting the word "Nigga" in the mouth of a fictionalized Martin Luther King Jr.

Actor Damon Wayans of the Wayans Brothers tried in 2005 to trademark the word "Nigga" for use on clothing, books and other merchandise. His application was rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, citing a law that prohibits marks that are "immoral or scandalous." A previous attempt by entrepreneur Keon Rhodan to trademark the term "Nigga'Clothing" in 2001 was also unsuccessful.

In the 2005 film Be Cool, the leader of the Russian Mafia tells Sin LaSalle (Cedric the Entertainer) to "Be cool, Nigger!" Daboo (Andre 3000), surprised and obviously offended, whispers "Nigger?". At this point, Sin launches into a long, well thought out lecture on how only truly ignorant people use the term to disrespect someone's race.

In the movie "Malibu's Most Wanted", Jamie Kennedy's character "B-Rad" uses the term "nigger" in front of an all-black crowd at a rap-off. The next sound that is heard is a phonograph needle being dragged to a screaming halt on the current record that's playing. The crowd can't believe what was just said by this white person on stage. Everyone looks at each other and one can tell by the hostility building up in the crowd of people that he said the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Names of places and things

Because the word was used freely for many years, there are many official place-names containing the word nigger. Examples include Nigger Bill Canyon, Nigger Hollow, and Niggertown Marsh. In 1967, the United States Board on Geographic Names changed the word nigger to Negro in 143 specific place names, but use of the word has not been completely eliminated in federal government.

One specific example is that of 'Nigger Head Mountain', located just outside of Burnet, Texas. For decades, a particular hillock was referred to as such due to the forestation at the peak resembling a black man's hairstyle of the times. It became a popular spot for the predominantly white local high school students to show their spirit by holding pep rallies and post-game parties, and even during the start of the Civil Rights Movement news services continued to refer to the hillock as 'Nigger Head' with almost no reported complaints from either side of the rights struggle. In 1966, First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, as part of her beautification efforts at the time, denounced the name and asked both the US Board on Geographic Names and the US Forest Service to take immediate steps to change the name to something more acceptable to reflect changing views. The name was officially changed to 'Colored Mountain' in 1968, and while both maps and road signs were replaced with ones bearing the new name, local inhabitants still refer to the location by its original name. There was also a "Dead Nigger Creek" in central Texas that changed its name to "Dead Negro Creek".

A point on the Lower Mississippi River was known well into the middle and late 20th century as Free Nigger Point, or Freenigger Point. A later variation was Free Negro Point, but the location, in West Baton Rouge Parish, is now known as Wilkinson Point. The geographic coordinates are 30.5126893°N 91.2126084°W / 30.5126893; -91.2126084.

A jagged rock formation resembling a silhouetted human face protruding from a cliff over highway 421 north of Pennington Gap, Virginia was called "Nigger Head Rock" until the 1970s, when the name was changed to "Great Stone Face." Checks issued by a local bank in the 1940s bore an illustration of the rock accompanied by the original name.

The British term for a black iron marine bollard, made from an old cannon partially buried muzzle upward with a slightly oversize black cannonball covering the hole, was "niggerhead". Sailors also once called an isolated coral head a niggerhead. The latter are notorious as navigation hazards.

Many varieties of flora and fauna commonly are still referred to by terms which include the word. The nigger-head cactus, which is native to Arizona, is round, the size of a cabbage, and covered with large, crooked thorns. The colloquial name for echinacea, or coneflower, is, variously, "Kansas niggerhead" or "wild niggerhead". The "niggerhead termite"(Nasutitermes graveolus) is native to Australia.

Around the world, the names of several varieties of foods do, or did, include the words. Brazil nuts are often referred to as "nigger toes". An Irish colloquialism described prunes as "nigger's knackers". A popular chocolate snack in Belgium is widely known as Negerinnetetten (negress's tits), however it is sold under the trademark Melo-cakes. Another chocolate treat in Holland was until recently called Negerzoenen (Negro kisses), but is now called Buys Zoenen (Buys Kisses) after the vendor's name. In Sweden, the traditional treat Negerbollar (Negro balls) is now more commonly referred to as Chocolate-, Oat- or Coco-balls.

In April 2003, there was a stir in Australia over the naming of part of a stadium in Toowoomba, "E.S. Nigger Brown Stand". "Nigger Brown" was the nickname of Toowoomba's first international rugby player. Edward Stanley Brown used the shoe polish brand "Nigger Brown". The stand was named in the 1960s. As in the United States some decades ago, the word was used casually by whites, with little thought. Brown himself was happy with the nickname, and in fact it is written on his tombstone. A growing black consciousness among Australia's aboriginal population, however, has led to the term being considered increasingly offensive, particularly when uttered by whites.

Australian activist Stephen Hagan took the responsible local council to court over the use of the word. Hagan lost the court case at the district and state level, and the High Court ruled that the matter was beyond federal jurisdiction. The federal government cited the High Court ruling on a lack of federal jurisdiction as its legal justification for continued inaction. (Hagan also has tried changing other supposed racial slurs such as the Coon brand of cheese.)

General John Pershing is remembered by the nickname "Black Jack", which was coined by World War I reporters who couldn't print his actual nickname "Nigger Jack".

Avoiding offense

"The N-Word"

The euphemism "the N-word" became a part of the American lexicon during the racially polarizing trial of O.J. Simpson, a retired football player charged with -- and ultimately acquitted of -- a widely publicized double murder. One of the prosecution's key witnesses was Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman, who initially denied using racial slurs, but whose prolific and derogatory use of it on a tape recording brought his credibility into question. The recordings were from a session in 1985 that Fuhrman had with Laura McKinney, an aspiring screenwriter working on a screenplay about women in the police force. According to Fuhrman, he was using the word as part of his "bad-cop" persona.

Members of the media reporting on and discussing his testimony began using the term "the N-word" instead of repeating the actual word, presumably as a way to avoid offending audiences and advertisers. This form mimics other euphemisms for offensive words such as "the F-word" for fuck, "the B-word" for bitch or "the S-word" for shit.

Near-homophones

The word niger is Latin for "black" and occurs in many Latin scientific terms and names. (See Niger for other meanings such as the country in Africa.) Niger is the root for some English words which are near homophones of nigger. Some sellers of niger seed, a small black seed commonly used as wild bird feed, have begun to sell it under the name Nyjer seed, in part to avoid the common mispronunciation. Also, the Classical Latin pronunciation /niˈgeɾ/ is uncomfortably close to the English /ˈnɪ.gə(ɹ)/. The situation is not the same with Church Latin pronunciation, /niˈdʒeɾ/.

Nigra, which is the way Negro is pronounced by some people in the American South, was considered by some to be a more polite way to refer to a black person. Because of its similarity to the n-word, however, it is generally detested by blacks and is no longer regarded as acceptable.

The words niggardly ("miserly") and snigger ("to laugh derisively") do not refer either to black people or to characteristics or behavior attributed to black people, nor do they have any etymological connection with the word. Niggard (a miserly person) and the verb niggle come from the Old Norse verb nigla -- "to fuss about small things". As such words are easily mistaken for "nigger," their use is frowned upon by some and sometimes seen as offensive. David Howard, a white city official in Washington, D.C., resigned from his job in January 1999, when he used niggardly in a fiscal sense while talking with African American colleagues, who took offense at his use of the word. After reviewing the incident, Washington Mayor Anthony Williams offered Howard his job back. Howard declined that position but accepted another position in the Mayor's administration. [2]

Revisionist usage

In the United Kingdom, the word was in common use throughout the first half of the twentieth century to denote a shade of dark brown. "Nigger" was famously the name of a Black Labrador [3] belonging to the RAF Second World War hero Wing Commander Guy Gibson. The dog died before the 617 Squadron's 1943 raid on the Ruhr dams (the "Dam Busters raid"), and "Nigger" was adopted as the radio code word signaling the destruction of the Möhne dam. Because of the modern connotations of the name, the British television broadcaster ITV now tries to reduce offense by editing out some scenes including the dog when it broadcasts the film Dam Busters. This has been condemned by some as "revisionist", although the edited version apparently produced fewer complaints than a previous uncensored broadcast. However, this scene probably has been viewed more times than any other part of the movie. It was watched by Pink (Bob Geldof) in the hotel-room sequence in the Pink Floyd film The Wall, during which the dialogue relevant to the dog's death is screened.

Nigga

Since the 1980s, nigga has been used as a synonym for accepted slang words such as dude and guy. In an interview in the documentary Tupac: Resurrection, Tupac Shakur claims that there is a distinction; "Niggers was the ones on the rope, hanging off the thing; Niggas is the ones with gold ropes, hanging out at clubs." [sic]

A passage from the African American Registry counters:

[Neo revisionist] arguments [for the use of "nigga"] may not be true to life. Brother (Brotha) and Sister (Sistah or Sista) are terms of endearment. Nigger was and still is a word of disrespect. ...the artificial dichotomy between blacks or African Americans (respectable and middle-class) and niggers (disrespectable and lower class) ought to be challenged. Black is a nigger, regardless of behavior, earnings, goals, clothing, skills, ethics, or skin color. Finally, if continued use of the word lessened its damage, then nigger would not hurt or cause pain now. Blacks, from slavery 'til today, have internalized many negative images that white society cultivated and broadcast about black skin and black people. This is mirrored in cycles of self- and same-race hatred. The use of the word nigger by blacks reflects this hatred, even when the user is unaware of the psychological forces involved. Nigger is the ultimate expression of white racism and white superiority no matter how it is pronounced.

Combinations with other words

Within American culture, adding the word nigger to a second word connotes an extremely negative conception of that second word, usually playing toward racist stereotypes.

For example, to call someone "nigger rich" is to say that they unwisely spend their entire paycheck upon its receipt. To say someone is playing "nigger hockey" implies that they're cheating. To say that something is "nigger-rigged" (a synonym of jury-rigged) suggests that it was hastily or carelessly improvised from any available materials. To say that a victory was a "nigger-win" suggests that the victory was not justified and most likely a result of cheating or other forms of illegitimacy. To call a black person a "house nigger" implies that he is acquiescing to white dominance, and it is similar to calling him an Uncle Tom.

"Nigger-lover" is a derogatory term used to characterize whites who sympathize with blacks, most commonly used by racist whites against other whites. "Nigger knocking" is a prank played on people in a house, in which a person runs up to the door, knocks, and then runs away. It is used syonomusly with Ding-dong ditching.

While such phrases are used to describe people of any race, they are nonetheless considered as racist as using the word nigger by itself.

Another variant involves forming portmanteau words with nigger. The term wigger, or whigger, refers to a young, white mimicker of certain affectations of hip-hop and thug culture. It is a portmanteau of white and nigger or wannabe and nigger. The word is widely considered offensive because of its similarity to nigger and because it reflects stereotypical notions about blacks. However, some people have now embraced the usage of the word "wigga."

References

Cited references

General references

• Robert F. Worth (Fall 1995). "Nigger Heaven and the Harlem Renaissance". African American Review. 29 (3): 461–473.
• "nigger". (2 ed.). 1989. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |ency= ignored (help)
• Swan, Robert J. (2003). New Amsterdam gehenna: segregated death in New York City, 1630-1801. Brooklyn: Noir Verite Press. ISBN 0-9722813-0-4.
• Smith, Stephanie (2005). Household words: bloomers, sucker, bombshell, scab, nigger, cyber. Minneapolis: University of Missesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-4552-3.
• Kennedy, Randall (2002). Nigger : the strange career of a troublesome word. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-375-42172-6. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Fuller, Neely (1984). The united independent compensatory code/system/concept: A textbook/workbook for thought, speech, and/or action, for victims of racism (white supremacy).

See also

• Nigga
• The Coons
• Cultural appropriation
• Discrimination
• Kaffir (ethnic slur)
• List of ethnic group names used as insults (distinct from the below)
• List of ethnic slurs
• Profanity — with a discussion of how words can differ in meaning and offensiveness depending on who is using them.
• Racism
• Taboo
• Wigger

External links

• "Nigger and Caricatures," Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, Ferris State University
• "Nigger (the word), a brief history!" from the African American Registry
• Appropriating a Slur in M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture