It carries a strong connotation of personal worthlessness which makes it so highly pejorative that most people would no longer use it, particularly in public.
One theory of its origin (or etymology) is that it came into English via French from the Spanish negro (meaning "black"), and it is therefore related to, but not derived from, the English word Negro (ultimately from Latin niger, also meaning "black").
Nigra was once considered a more polite form of nigger. Coon was also once used in the United States as a word for black people, but it and other offensive slang terms, such as dinge, smoke, spade, and darky, are no longer in general use.
In the United States, "nigger" was freely used as an insult until the civil rights era of the 1960s, when it became unacceptable to most people. Today, unless it is used very cautiously, its implications of racism are so strong that use of it is a social taboo in English-speaking countries. Many American magazines and newspapers will not even print nigger in full, instead using "N*gg*r", "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 "nigger" with the periphrasis "the less-refined word for black people".
In Australia, the word is very rarely used in any context. There is an intellectual awareness of its pejorative use elsewhere, but locally it has no particular offensive character due to the lack of a racial group to level it at. This has been known to get Australians into trouble with the rest of the world: see below under "place names". It does have negative connotations towards Aboriginal Australians, however as this word was sometimes directed at this group.
"Nigger" is considered almost always pejorative when used by non-Africans or those without dark skin, particularly white Europeans. However, some African Americans regularly use it almost as a term of endearment, as in "What's up my nigga?" (or nigga). "Nigger" is widely undertood by African Americans to also mean, an ignorant (socially, or practically unknowledgeable) person, regardless of race. "Nigga" as a term of endearment is even sometimes evident among the younger generations of whites, and other non-white minorities. It is worth noting that while the word has been partly "reclaimed" by some young African Americans, others consider the term offensive in all contexts and do not agree that it is ever appropriate to use it. "Nigga," as opposed to "Nigger" tends to more gender specific amongst African American youth, where "Nigga" is used when refering to a Male. Females are rarely, if ever refferred to as "Nigga." Amongst African Americans, as well as, when the term is directed from outside the group by non-blacks "Nigger" is always derogatory, and offensive. "Nigga" as stated above, is more of a term of endearment by the group only.
Problems with this use of the word are illustrated in the comedy-drama film Gridlock'd (1997), which features the use of the word in its affectionate sense by a white character (played by Tim Roth). He is close enough to his black friend (Tupac Shakur) for it to go unremarked. But later he uses it when there are others around who he does not know so well, causing a dramtic reaction.
"Nigger" has a long history of causing controversy in literature. Carl Van Vechten, a white photographer and writer famous as a promoter of the Harlem Renaissancee, caused a great controversy by publishing his novel, Nigger Heaven, in 1926. The controversy largely centered on the use of the word "nigger" in the title.
The famous controversy over the novel Huckleberry Finn (1885), a classic frequently taught in American schools, revolves largely around the novel's 215 uses of the word "nigger".
One interesting example of its historical use in American English and of the prejudiced attitudes that surrounded it 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":
Among the clasic novels of Joseph Conrad is The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' (1897).
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", implying that white Americans had, and that he was offended by the racist use of the word, as well as the racial oppression associated with it. In 1972, John Lennon released a song, "Woman is the Nigger of the World", implying that as black people were discriminated against in some countries so were women globally.
In 1988, the album Straight Outta Compton was released by the hip hop group Niggaz With Attitude, (more commonly known as N.W.A). Although they abbreviated it in all official contexts, their positive self-referential use of the word caused a great deal of controversy in America over the language and lyrics of hip hop. Many rappers now use the word with a positive meaning.
Because the word was freely used for many years, the United States has 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 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 had a particularly fair complexion and hence was given the nickname "Nigger", in a similar way that a tall person might be called "Shorty". He also used the shoe polish brand "Nigger Brown". The stand was named in the 1960's. As noted above, the word has very little offensive character in Australia. Brown himself was happy with the nickname, in fact it is written on his tombstone. Most local Aboriginal members condone its use in this context.
That didn't stop civil rights activist Stephen Hagan taking the local council responsible to court over the issue. Hagan lost the court case at the district and state level, and the High Court ruled that the matter was not of federal jurisdiction. The Federal Government cited the High Court ruling on a lack of federal jurisdiction as its legal justification for continued inaction. (Hagan has also tried changing other "racial names" such as the Coon brand of cheese)
Even the sound of the word is offensive to some. The words niggardly and snigger 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 nigger. Many people are ignorant of this, however, and so refuse to use these words and take offense to their usage. David Howard, a mayoral aide in the city government of Washington, D.C, was briefly driven from his job in January 1999 when he was overheard using niggardly (an unrelated word which means miserly), in reference to a fund he was administering.
Many people outside the US are aware of the offensiveness of the word in the US, but they are often more concerned about pejorative words for minorities used in their own countries. For example, in Australia the words boong and coon are derogatory terms for Aborigines and are widely regarded as offensive. In South Africa, kaffir is similarly pejorative when it is used to refer to local blacks. In the United Kingdom "Nigger" was famously the name of a Black Labrador belonging to the RAF Second World War hero Wing Commander Guy Gibson. The word was in common use at that time to denote a shade of brown. 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 signalling the destruction of the Möhne dam. Because of the modern connotations of the name, the British television broadcaster ITV now tries to reduce offence by cutting 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 un-censored broadcast.
Rudyard Kipling's Just-So Story "How the Leopard Got his Spots", tells of how an Ethiopian and a leopard, who are originally white, decide to paint themselves for camouflage. 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" .
The term wigger or whigger is used to describe a Caucasian who emulates African American culture. The word "wigger" is usually offensive. It is a portmanteau word combining "white" and "nigger".
Related terms
Use of the word
Modern Meanings
Literary Uses
A popular children's rhyme once contained the word 'nigger' for 'tiger' See Eenie Meenie.'Nigger' in modern use
Place-Names
Avoiding offense
Wigger
See also
External links
Further reading