Why The Use Of The Word Nigger?

(I hope no one has posted on this, _{don't want to look like a fool})                     

When I hear the word nigger, as a Nigerian who wasn't brought up with slavery mentality- it doesn't affect me in anyway neither does it make me less of a human being. I never knew the word was derogatory, never knew it had an  attachment of hatred.
African Americans and some Africans in  nairaland say the word without knowing the history and degradation  the word comes with. But when a white man uses/says it, we are ready to scream at the top of our lungs Racist!!! I don't see why black people use the word among themselves and would not allow other races to make use of it.

I wouldn't have come across the word nigger if I never listened to rap/hiphop which is a black dominated industry.

If you hate it why use it?

My problem is, why do black people use the word among themselves?

Toshman, I'm in the U.S

  :)I get your point but Mugu (meaning stupid) can be used to define anyone, it's not specific to a race. When the N word is in reference it's specific to the black race. It wasn't blacks that came up with the word, was it? I won't have any problem with it if we came up with the word ourselves.

I don't knowoo  .

ok

Nas said the same thing, then released an album titled 'Nigga' right after!

Because African-American law has ordained that neither Nigger nor Nigga is be uttered out a white person mouth in the presence of blacks. That's why. Simple as that.  Some Hispanic groups get a pass on the word since many of them are partially black and or fully so, and we've grown up in the same neighborhoods and went through many of the same experiences in life her in America. Some particular types of Asians get a pass as well. 

That word "nigger" is a word I do not understand what the hype is all about.  It is just a word and means a lot to some people.  I wonder why.  Maybe because it may ring true to their ears.  Personally, it means nothing to me but just a set of sounds coming out of someone's mouth with absolutely no meaning whatsover.



Your mates are going to the moon and finding cure for illnesses around the world and you are here typing rubbish here about your "nonsensical Nation of Farakhan" laws!  Please begone!

Quit feeling important and thank your lucky stars that Slavery was abolished. You would not be on Nairaland typing all your rubbish.  You should have gone to Liberia when you were offered the chance.  You definitely are making the "abolition of Slavery" sound like a mistake!   Yeye boy!

Nigga was derived out of Nigger.
Nigger was derived out of Niger (pronounced naija)
Niger pronounced in German language is Nigger. (English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers and Roman auxiliary troops from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the Northern Netherlands)

It was used by the slave masters to address the slaves that were stolen or sold into slavery because the originated from the Niger Basin. The reddish pink men (whites) had no way of identifying where each slave had been captured from but knowing that most have been captured around the Niger-Delta and the Niger basin, they decided to call them Niggers. It became derogatory when the free borns sold into slavery despised the name because not all were from the Niger Basin (some were from Senegal). It's just like the middle belt (Benue,Niger,Kogi) in Nigeria hate been referred to as Hausa's but that hasn't stopped the South or Western Nigerians (Ibo's and Yoruba's) from calling them Hausa's.
The name Nigger stuck to the slaves thus denying them their identity and with time the names of the countries where they came from was lost and forgotten. New names were given to them and they were stripped of anything that would remind them of exactly where they were from.

A.A hate been referred to as Niggers because it reminds them of slavery and what their ancestors went through.

We have never experienced slavery or lived in a racist society (Nigerians born and bred at home) lets not judge our brothers.

However I agree with you the should not be using it at all not even on themselves. They instead should have also formed a word that is derogatory too like we Nigerians use 'Oyinbo pepper' on them.

Word

@ blackcat
The blacks did come up with derogatory words for white, i.e; red neck, crackers. But they really didn't have time to come up with derogatory words, they were too busy, unlike their white counterparts who had all the time in the world, as slaves did all of the work.

Nas album was originally titled Nigger and not Nigga.

@ topic

That does not make sense to me. Nigger and Nigga to me are one and the same; one is just a derivative of the other. I think it is a matter of who is using the word and who it is addressed to. Even when used amongst the blacks, it does not always connote homie or friend like chiogo mentioned. When somebody says in his music "I ma shoot that Nigga" obviously he is not talking about shooting his homie  So there seems to be a contextual meaning to it too.

My personal take on the matter is that most of the AA communities  are just confused on the identity they want to be known by. In an attempt to sound cool , they imbibe words that are meant to be derogatory into thier lexicon and when someone else uses it they pretend to be affronted.

If Nigger is a derogatory word used by the whites against the blacks and Nigga is a cool word used by the blacks for the blacks, what about bitches? I have rappers a la other black folks refer to thier girlfriends as thier bitches. And U know what, some of the girls were cool with that. Is the white man responsible for that also?

   

I dont have a problem with an artiste going by the moniker Nigga-raw just like I dont have a problem with Nasir Jones decision to choose Nigger as the title of his album. The word actually has no meaning to me as a person. U call me a Nigger I call U cracker. The only problem I have is when some group of people uses the word and think that there is an unsaid law that prevents a particular group of people from saying it.

I saw a comedy clip the other day and the black comedian was giving out reasons why he would wanna marry a black girl. One of his reasons was that he would want to have a wife who who would look at him in the eye (when he does something stupid) and say "Nigga, please!!!!!! He said and I quote "A white wife uses that on me , then somebody is about to get knocked the fcuk out!!!  

I know it is just comedy but I think it passes some kind of message there.

the word Negroes came from the word Niger

Which the Whites turned into Nigger.

Which they made it into a NASTY, SUBSUBSERVIENT, LESS-THAN, BARBARIC, SAVAGE term.

It was a way of mistreating people of color.

**************************************

some Blacks in America, like the blacks in Africa - began kissing the White man's ass and began using it derogatorily against each other.  (usually the intellectual elites)

today,

you have blacks that (think) they have devalued the word and use is casually.

No matter how much you blend, they call you nigger behind your back.   Please believe.