Nigger

Nigger (“the N-word”). A loaded, originally derogatory term referring to African Americans that continues to be hateful with the exception of being used within certain sections of the African American population, often Black urban youth. The dictionary defines this term as an offensive, contemptuous term for a dark-skinned person.

The word “nigger” is a key term in American culture. It is a profoundly hurtful racial slur meant to stigmatize African Americans; on occasion, it also has been used against members of other racial or ethnic groups, including Chinese, other Asians, East Indians, Arabs and darker-skinned people.

This word has been an important feature of many of the worst episodes of bigotry in American history. It has accompanied innumerable lynchings, beatings, acts of arson, and other racially motivated attacks upon blacks. It has also been featured in countless jokes and cartoons that both reflect and encourage the disparagement of blacks. It is the signature phrase of racial prejudice.

The NAACP has said that the N-word has been established to be derogatory, degrading, dehumanizing and is one of the most offensive words in history; and is too often freely and casually used by some individuals in popular media, literature, and general society with usage broadened across racial and generational backgrounds. The stigma of this word embodies and invokes painful memories and inhumane ill-will; and countless individuals including NAACP freedom fighters, have lost their lives due to the beliefs perpetuated by the use of this word.

The NAACP is on record as stating definitively that it will not condone, award, or engage any person that uses the N-word in any capacity, or in any artistic endeavor that does not allude to the historical context of the word, or that does not highlight the prejudicial nature of the word; and resolves to implement the following actions to reinforce its ban on the use of the N-word issued in 2007 and bolster education and awareness about the offensiveness of the word across racial and generational lines:

Make the ban reinforcement a top civil rights priority for all units; and urge every youth unit in consultation with their corresponding adult branch develop a plan of action for implementation. Plan must include internal branch affirmation, public awareness, community outreach and a reporting process. In places where no active youth unit exists, the adult unit would be held to the same said requirement.

The Jim Crow Museum states: The word nigger carries with it much of the hatred and repulsion directed toward Africans and African Americans. Historically, nigger defined, limited, and mocked African Americans.

It was a term of exclusion, a verbal justification for discrimination. Whether used as a noun, verb, or adjective, it reinforced the stereotype of the lazy, stupid, dirty, worthless parasite. No other American ethnophaulism carried so much purposeful venom, as the following representative list suggests:

• Nigger, v. To wear out, spoil or destroy.
• Niggerish, adj. Acting in an indolent and irresponsible manner.
• Niggerlipping, v. Wetting the end of a cigarette while smoking it.
• Niggerlover, n. Derogatory term aimed at whites lacking in the necessary loathing of blacks.
• Nigger luck, n. Exceptionally good luck, emphasis on undeserved.
• Nigger-flicker, n. A small knife or razor with one side heavily taped to preserve the user’s fingers.
• Nigger heaven, n. a designated place, usually the balcony, where blacks were forced to sit, for example, in an integrated movie theater or church.
• Nigger knocker, n. axe handle or weapon made from an axe handle.
• Nigger rich, adj, Deeply in debt but ostentatious.
• Nigger shooter, n. A slingshot.
• Nigger steak, n. a slice of liver or a cheap piece of meat.
• Nigger stick, n. police officer’s baton.
• Nigger tip, n. leaving a small tip or no tip in a restaurant.
• Nigger in the woodpile, n. a concealed motive or unknown factor affecting a situation in an adverse way.
• Nigger work, n. Demeaning, menial tasks.(Green, 1984, p. 190)

Nigger has been used to describe a dark shade of color (nigger-brown, nigger-black), the status of white people who interacted with black people (nigger-breaker, -dealer, -driver, -killer, -stealer, -worshipper, and -looking), and anything belonging to or associated with African Americans (nigger-baby, -boy, -girl, -mouth, -feet, -preacher, -job, -love, -culture, -college, -music, and so forth). 

Nigger is the ultimate American insult; it is used to offend other ethnic groups, as when Jews are called white-niggers; Arabs, sandniggers; or Japanese, yellow-niggers.

Social activist and comedian Dick Gregory‘s autobiography published in 1964 was titled Nigger. It has sold more than one million copies to date and has never been out of print since its publication. The book was written during the Civil Rights Movement. Gregory comments on his choice of title in the book’s primary dedication, addressing his late mother, “Dear Momma — Wherever you are, if ever you hear the word “nigger” again, remember they are advertising my book.”

Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy wrote Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word in 2002. Kennedy questions the claim that “nigger” is the most tabooed term in the American language, faced with the implacable prevalence of its old-fashioned anti-Black sense. “Nigger” continues to be part of the loud soundtrack of the worst instances of racial aggression in American life—racially motivated assaults and murders, arson, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and workplace harassment.

Twenty years ago, Kennedy wrote that any major politician credibly accused of using “nigger” would be immediately abandoned and ostracized. He was wrong. Donald Trump, former POTUS himself, was credibly charged, and the allegation caused little more than a yawn. No one doubted the accuracy of the claim but amidst all his other racist acts his “nigger-baiting” no longer seemed shocking. “Nigger” is still very much alive and all too widely accepted.

On the other hand, Kennedy is concerned to address the many episodes in which people have been punished for quoting, enunciating, or saying “nigger” in circumstances that should have made it clear that the speakers were doing nothing wrong—or at least nothing sufficiently wrong to merit the extent of the denunciation they suffered.