Nigger’s meaning may differ from one person to another and in the context that one uses the word. People have different opinions on the use of the word nigger and various groups may have different meaning for the same word. Nigger is either used for ill intentions or for positive intentions depending on the context and the people using it. This paper focuses on bring to understanding of the word nigger from different contexts.
The real meaning a nigger is a name used to refer to black people. Its origin can be retrieved back during the time of colonial period when the Africans were used as slaves. An outstanding example is John Rofle who used the word to describe African Slaves who were shipped to the Virginia colony during the Colonial America of 1619. As a result, their emerged African-American people to whom the whites used to call them niggers. The whites and other non-blacks used it to refer to blacks but they did not have any ill intentions. It was used as an ethnic slur that meant the Africans from the Sub-Saharan Africa feel detached from their fellow whites (Worth 461).
On the other hand, the African-Americans have another definition of the word depending on the way they think about their people. Just as every ethnic group has norms and customs, African-Americans have the same and they refer to any person who violated their norms, customs and believes as a nigger.
Furthermore, the word nigger is used to demean someone after doing something that does not please another. In most cases, many students and youths in general make use this word to cause harm to the others. For instance, a student may wrong another student. The student wronged may call the other student a nigger making it to appear abusive making him or her feel pain (Kennedy 28).
Besides, the word nigger is also used for fun and this is usually common among the musicians and youths. Many youths when carrying out informal activities especially games, they use the word nigger for fun. For instance, when playing a game like basket, one may refer his friend as nigger just for fun. In actual sense, friends make use the word as a means of describing their friendship or bond. Another example may be “John, you are my nigger”, clearly this indicates that the two individuals are friends and the user of the word show the bond between him and his friend John.
Moreover, the some of the societies of the world and more particularly the U.S. uses the word nigger to refer to an ignorant, uneducated and a foolish individual. In this case, the people using the word do not consider the race, sexual orientation or the religion of the person being referred to as a nigger. The society in which that word is used has a belief that it is not a good word rather it is a word that refers to something that is bad. As a result, the use of the word towards another would make him or her feel as an outcast of the society due to his or her foolishness.
In conclusion, the word nigger in many instances is used to refer to people who do not measure among the others in the society. Its origin has a strong and profound aspect of racism against the blacks. As a result, almost all the other meanings of the word as used in this paper clearly revolve its origin and focus more on causing pain to people.
Works Cited
Kennedy, Randall. Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. New York: Pantheon Books, 2002. Print
Worth, Robert. "Nigger Heaven and the Harlem Renaissance". African American Review 29 (3). 1995: 461–473. Print
