What Does Nigger Mean?

Reading the content in this book made me get a picture of what it was like to be a colored person in this time. My eyes were opened to the meaning of the word “nigga”. Nigga is such a derogatory term, yet now-a-days it is used by people so much. Kids in this generation use it as a term of endearment when they see their friends, or they say it when they are shocked by something. Frankly, I don’t believe they know how serious it really is. The fact that white people could look at a person and see less than a human being when they did nothing wrong distresses me. They (white people) treated them as if they were property and below them. Even though we don’t have racism to this extent

“You are a nothing little nigger” is one of the demeaning phrases African American human beings have heard over the years in an effort to keep them in a state of persecution. This paper will discuss the persecution of the African American. The following documents the struggles, gut wrenching pain, and heart ache of African American people have endured and are still suffering with today.

The history of racial bigotry in the United States presents a challenge in the teaching English literature. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn uses degrading terminology to portray the paternalistic nature of the South in the 19th century. The novel challenged African American inferiority in an era of unquestioned racial inequality, while simultaneously presenting an uncensored account of the treatment of African Americans. While Mark Twain commonly uses offensive Southern vernacular in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, removing the novel from school curricula negates the educational and satirical value of the book, which presents an unabridged illustration of racial discrimination in American history.

The word “nigger” is a word of many and various meanings with plentiful purposes. It is like no other word. People use this word to criticize, harm, exclaim, and even to sound “cool” to others. There are so many variations of the word nigger that could seem less harmful like “nigga”, “nig”, etc, that are used to disguise true intentions. To determine the meaning of the word “nigger” it is crucial to look deeply at the scenario because it can be used in so many ways for so many reasons. For instance, overlooking the time period, the geographical location and the acts unfolding could lead to a misunderstanding of the true meaning of the word “nigger”. The two biggest things to consider when determining the true meaning of the word is to recognize who is using the word and who exactly the word is being targeted towards; but failing to recognize other factors also help when determining the connotation.

In the English language, nigger is an ethnic slur usually directed at black people. The word originated as a neutral term referring to people with black skin, as a variation of the Spanish/Portuguese noun negro, a descendant of the Latin adjective niger . It was often used disparagingly, and by the mid-20th century, particularly in the United States, its usage became unambiguously pejorative, a racist insult. Accordingly, it began to disappear from popular culture, and its continued inclusion in classic works of literature has sparked controversy.

What does the word ‘nigger’ means? Why does ‘nigger’ generate such powerful reaction? Should blacks be able to use ‘nigger’ in ways forbidden to others?

The book captures the influential upbringing William “Bill” Felton Russell had and how the philosophies and culture he was immersed in shaped who he was. He grew up during the 1930s-1940s in West Monroe, Louisiana - a town that, at the time, had minimal blacks living there. While the town itself was relatively peaceful in terms of racial tension, surrounding areas did not adopt the same views. One day when Bill and his older brother Chuck were tossing pebbles at one another, a stray stone hit a passing car being driven by a white man. The man called Bill a “nigger” and threatened to hang him. As Bill recalls, “I ran off, half angry, half laughing.” This shows the almost humorous perspective some blacks during this time had about the “white power.” Often, there is a notion that blacks during the Jim Crow era were in constant fear of whites. While this was true, some blacks, such as the Russell family, opposed, laughed, and scoffed at this idea.

Imagine a situation where one is walking down an empty street and a woman gives one a glance and begins running, or one is told to leave a public restaurant simply because of the family one was born into. This is the reality for two African-American authors in the 20th century. Over the history of the United States minorities have faced a numerous amounts of racism. The types of racism that was expressed to these minorities has evolved as time went on. Two authors decided to write about their experiences and they occurrences vary vastly. The details that really set one essay apart from the other include the time of day the racism took place, time period of the occurrence, and type of racism witnessed.

Scholars, such as Philip Butcher and Julius Lester, disagree with the statement that Mark Twain was racist. Butcher concludes that “negroes were people to Mark Twain, people who had been wronged by his forebears and still unjustly treated by his contemporaries… Twain wanted to make amends for his ancestors”. Twain uses Huck Finn to illustrate slavery in the south, to show how they were treated and what he saw, and to use satirical language in doing so. But doing this, was not always so easy. Julius Lester claims “to Twain, slavery was not an emotional reality to be explored extensively or with love” (202). In order for Twain to exemplify the racism and hate, he told a story of ‘true’ events, those that one would have actually encountered post-Reconstruction time, such as the use of the word ‘nigger’.

This is again Twain making a mockery Southern values that considered it a sin to be kind to black people. Twain’s critics consider the novel to be racist and quite outwardly. They cite the common use of the word “nigger” as the most obvious instance of the book’s racism. To have used the words Negro or African American would have taken away from the story’s impact and would make it sound ridiculous. If Twain wanted to write a historically accurate book as he did then the inclusion of this word is totally

Mark Twain wrote a book called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In this book he says the word “nigger” 219 times. People that are reading this book are getting offended and saying high school students shouldn't have to hear that word so much. They want him to go back through the whole book and change the word “nigger” to “Slave” . I think it should stay in the book.

“The Word “Nigga” Is Only for Slaves and Sambos” was written by Rob Nelson and first published in a university newspaper in North Carolina. Later on, the article was so meaningful that it was re-published in the academic journal, the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. In the article “The Word “Nigga” is only for Slaves and Sambos”, Rob Nelson uses ethos, logos, and especially skillful pathos appeals based on the history of slavery and the illustration about the future of African American, to prove why he thinks the “N-word” is not acceptable. By using ethical argument and those clever appeals, Rob Nelson definitely persuades his young African American audience.

Does the N-word remind people about slavery? In English-speaking lands, this term can be misunderstood as an insult without people’s consent, especially in today’s society. The word “ nigger” is one of the most controversial factors in the Black and White communities. Nigger is an infamous term in American culture. The meaning of nigger is extended to “an ignorant person” (Nigger, 2018). Many people like to be polite, and they prefer to call it as “the N- word. Besides that, the Entomologists online dictionary also shows readers that “nigger” originated from an English word “neger” and later reformed to “Negro,” the Spanish term for blacks (Kenny, 2004). In the early 1780, the terms “nigger” has created criticism and disrespect for Blacks.

This fictional, satirical follow-up to to Mark Twain’s 1876 novel is just as popular, although for most it’s for different reasons. The amount of times that the “n-word” is used is between 160 and 213 [2]. Since the 1950s, black parents and some white sympathizers have called this book out as being racist. As for my opinion on this, I never got why this was bad. Sure, it may seem racist to us, but in the context of it’s time, there’s really nothing wrong. That was the controversy of it, as for the story itself, it’s a classic in it’s own right.

“Even a cursory glance at the historical record will show that Twain’s use of the reprehensive word was an accurate reflection of that era” (Pitt). Many people take the word to offence and do not like to talk about it or say it infront of people because racism is a touchy topic. Dealing with the talks about racism and how it affects kids is part of the lesson of the book and how it should be dealt with, expressed by Nora Wise. “It makes sense to bring up the hard emotions, it comes with it” (Nora Wise). The word itself can help explain some of the points in the book to and how people were affected by the word then and now. “Nigger was what made slavery possible” (David Bradley). David explains how the word made the word slavery different and into a new meaning and how it affected slavery itself. The word is just the beginning of the slavery talk and can lead you into a new direction to talk about how it affects the things around us. People should embrace the word into a new discussion over the meaning and how it affects people then and