NAACP holds eulogy for N word

[Archaea]

Such occasion gave me cause to research its origins.

This is what I found.

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 (also derived from the Latin niger).

In the United States, the word nigger was not always considered derogatory, but was instead used by some as merely denotative of black, as it was in other parts of the English-speaking world. In nineteenth-century literature, there are many uses of the word nigger with no intended negative connotation. Charles Dickens, and Joseph Conrad (who published The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' in 1897) used the word without racist intent. Mark Twain often put the word into the mouths of his Southern characters, white and black, but did not use the word when speaking in his own voice in his autobiographical Life on the Mississippi.

In the 1800s, as nigger began to acquire the pejorative connotation it holds today, the term "Colored" gained popularity as a kinder alternative to negro and associated terms. For example, abolitionists in Boston, Massachusetts posted warnings to "Colored People of Boston and vicinity." The name of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People reflects the preference for this term at the time of the NAACP's founding in 1909.

In the United States, the word was freely used by some whites and blacks, until the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s. It seems that the word acquired a pejorative meaning in the Northern United States before acquiring the same connotation in the South.

Today, the implied racism of the term is so strong that the use of nigger in most situations is a social taboo. 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." However, some African Americans use the word as a term of endearment and familiarity (see nigga, hip hop culture).

In Australia, though the word's meaning is generally understood, it is now rarely used by urban whites in any context; when referring to indigenous Australians, the casual terms Abo and the more derogatory boong or coon are used in its place. Nigger is sometimes used amongst working class Australians, when used in a casual sense between friends or work colleagues of both white and mixed race. It is generally used in the mockery of American slang, e.g. "Wassup, my nigger." Black, Aboriginal or Maori people may use the term to greet each other. Australians, black or white, do not on the whole have the same sensitivity to the word as Americans, at least when it is used in a lighthearted, non-derogatory fashion among established groups of friends. It would not be acceptable to use the term to a stranger or casual acquaintance. The relaxed attitude is mainly because there was no direct slave trading or slave use in Australia per se[citation needed], as the country was built on the exploitation of European convict labour. The mistreatment, and genocide, of the indigenous people is generally covered under the term of "racial abuse" rather than "slavery"; however, the increasing use of American vernacular has sensitised conservative Australia to its use.

[Frank Ryan]

N*gger?

It is an interesting read.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by Mastershake

N*gger?

It is an interesting read.

No.