Nigger
Nigger is a pejorative and politically incorrect term used to refer to dark-skinned people, particularly those of African origin. It is derived from the Latin word niger, meaning "black", in particular from a dialect variant of the Latin-derived word negro, the Spanish for "black". It was commonly used in the United States and United Kingdom in public as recently as the 1960s, when it was commonly replaced in the American South by the variant nigra. Its implications of racism are so strong that it is not heard nearly as often now. Many publications will not even print it, instead using the euphemism N-word or The less-refined word for black people in a Washington Post article on Strom Thurmond's 1948 candidacy for President of the United States.
In the United States, the more neutral descriptive term African-American is currently preferred in public discourse, in the pattern of Native American, Italian-American, Asian-American, and others. Acceptable words vary from country to country and, ultimately, from individual to individual. Mark Twain's novel Huckleberry Finn has been subjected to censorship numerous times because the word is used in the book in an everyday fashion, reflecting its common usage among rural Americans during the time the book was written.
It is worth noting that the word has, to some extent, been reclaimed by black people in recent years, particularly in America. Some young African-Americans, in particular, use the word to one another without any derogatory implication.
In 1988 the album Straight Outta Compton was released by the rap group Niggaz With Attitude -- despite their own use of the word nigger (sanitized via spelling) the group's name was often glossed as "NWA", perhaps reflecting the extreme discomfort that often surrounds the word. Other African-Americans, however, consider the term offensive in all contexts and do not agree that it is ever appropriate to use it.
As an illustration of the process by some of reclaiming the word, in 1967 Muhammad Ali had 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." Comedian and activist Dick Gregory used the word as the title of his best-selling autobiography in 1964.
It should be reiterated that some consider the word extremely offensive other than in the very specific contexts described above.
Indeed, even the sound of the word is offensive to some. Careful speakers often refuse to use niggardly or snigger, even though these terms do not refer either to black people or to characteristics or behavior attributed to black people. Nor do they have any etymological connection to the word nigger. A bureaucrat in the city government of Washington, D.C., was briefly driven from his job in the late 1990s when he was overheard referring in a private conversation to "a niggardly budget", meaning that it was insufficient and cheap.
Internal Links
External Links
- "Nigga or Nigger" Davey D's Hip Hop World long discussion of use of the term in rap and hip-hop.
- CNN story on Washington bureaucrat
Further Reading
- ISBN 0671735608 Nigger: an autobiography, by Dick Gregory
- ISBN 0375421726 Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word, by Randall Kennedy