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Nigger

It also mean Ignorant according to Websters. Which I belive needs to be added to this page to give it neutrality.

Many people from the U.S. use the word "nigger" to describe anyone (regardless of skin color) who is an ignorant, disrespectful, or a disadvantaged person.

Many people have adopted this term because they believe it puts the word to use in a less racist way. People who use the word "nigger" referring all races are generally of a younger generation that has not lived through slavery or segregation. They do not wish to hold grudges for something that happened before their life time, so they've recycled an old, commonly used word and put it to a better, less racist use. GlitterVixen865 (talk) 06:35, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Al Sharpton

Why is al sharpton not mentioned once in this article? You people disgust me. 71.161.83.187 (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 05:15, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Ligger

"In other words - the term "ligger" evolved as a derivative of the other words rooted in the word "lig" and NOT as a variant of "nigger". However - the fact that it is a "near-homophone" of the word "nigger" has led to it being less used." This is nonsense. Add evidence that usage has decreased for this reason or remove the assertion. 86.153.9.140 20:18, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Popular Culture

I don't really understand why this section was removed? It thought it was a good section, and people are going to constantly attempt to add references in films, music, books ... (as has already happened!) I think it should be restored IMHO. --LookingYourBest 15:43, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

The section was a horrible mess, but it did contain some important stuff about the evolution and application of the word over time. Deletion of such a large chunk of text normally requires discussion. Will reinstate it - subject to editors pitching in to clean it up and retain the significant bits. --mervyn 21:13, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

I think it needs to be redone entirely to belong in the article. A section on the evolution of the word in popular culture would definitely be nice, but as it stands (just a list of uses of "nigger" in popular culture with no real context), it's useless and unencyclopedic. -Elmer Clark 22:34, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

No editor worth his salt is going to claim that mess was salvageable. If someone here is volunteering to take the precious little useful information from the chunk I deleted and spin it into readable, relevant prose, I will bow to that editor. Failing that, I can't see how its removal is in anyway controversial (other than to trivia hounds who enjoy contributing to the section's bloated-ness.)--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back 23:35, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

I think there is some massivly important information in there. The stuff about the UK Big Brother this year was a huge event circling around the use of this word. Without reference to this event I feel it's being ignored, which it definately shouldn't be! --LookingYourBest 09:10, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Spin it into encyclopedic prose (independent of that rambling list), source it, and you'll be improving the article.--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back 09:18, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

"The N-word"

What does it mean by it saying that "S-word" became the "S-word". It doesn't make sense.

Etymology

Negro is BOTH a portuguese/spanish word for the same meaning. not only the last one, as in the article states.

This is a really problematic statement: "Charles Dickens, and Joseph Conrad (who published The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' in 1897) used the word without racist intent." First, on what basis are speculations about the intentions of these writers made? It's not hard to find passages in either writer that don't use the word "nigger" but almost anyone would consider racist. Second, just what does "racist intent" mean? Just because the word isn't used as a direct insult to a particular person doesn't mean there's not racism behind it. And where does the idea that racism is primarily a matter of intention come from anyway? Exitr 15:29, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

As Racism states, "Racism is a belief or concept that inherent differences between people (such as those upon which the concept of race is based) determine cultural or individual achievement, and may involve the idea that one's own 'race' is superior." "Intent" clearly plays in in a big way there: if you're simply saying "nigger" because that's the term in use in your era and not to disparage black people, that's not racist. Your other complaints are valid enough though; there should be a source regarding their "intents." -Elmer Clark 01:27, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

NIGGER WAS ORIGINALLY A TERM USED TO DEGRADE PEOPLE WHO WER ILLITERATE, IGNORANT, AND LAZY NOT JUST USED TO DEMEAN THA BLACK RACE I DONT PERSONALLY LIKE THE WORD BUT IT WASNT JUST BLACK PEOPLE THAT COULD BE CALLED A NIGGER ANYONE CAN BE IGNORANT ILLITERATE AND LAZY SO THEREFORE THE STUPID WHIT SLAVE OWNERS WHO KEPT THIER SLAVES IG NORANT LAZY AND ILLITERATE CALLED THEM THAT BECAUSER THEY WERE NIGGERS FOR MAKING SOME NOT LEARN HOW TO READ AND THEN CALL THEM SOMETHING CUZ THEY WERE STUPID NOT TO TEACH EM -68.186.149.111 13:43, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

(I just dragged the above comment out of the middle of a paragraph above ... hope I'm not breaking any protocols? LookingYourBest 06:11, 12 September 2007 (UTC) )

GNAA

Should these guys have anything to do with this page?

Yes. --RucasHost 08:47, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

Go back to ED you unfunny morons —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.41.6.23 (talk) 02:18, August 26, 2007 (UTC)

References -- formatting

I've added some new info, and the reference format needs cleaning up. I don't have the time (or the patience) to get it right, so it'd be great if someone so inclined would do so. Thanks. deeceevoice 23:45, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

Pacific Northwest

California is not the pacific northwest. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Dr seth l (talk • contribs).

I agree. I've lived in Washington State all my life, and I haven't generally heard of Northern California as being part of the Pacific Northwest. Each of those four references to the PNW in the article are about places in California, so wouldn't it be better to use the name California instead?Klassica 02:39, 24 October 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Klassica (talk • contribs)

Protection

Why aren't there any buttons to edit the actual page itself? That hardly seems fair. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.135.184.9 (talk • contribs) 05:53, 24 August 2007

The page is currently protected due to ongoing problems with vandalism. --Muchness 05:59, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I tried to edit the article but could not, so I came here. I think the first paragraph should make it clear that we use it among ourselves and in that case it is not pejorative. Though some of us think it should not be used EVER, even by ourselves. Me, I use it. Birfday 14:25, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

The lead section needs to be expanded anyway - it's too short. I'm well aware that some African-Americans use "nigger" to refer to each other. This information should be included in the lead.-h i s _{r e s e a r c h} 18:48, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Problem with Non-human uses section

I'm not sure that nigger was used to mean a defect, more like a hot coal or something. 'nigger was sometimes used as a synonym for "defect."' 'For example'...'‘a nigger’ would get into the armature, and burn it so as to destroy its service."'

Removed tag

I removed the tag {{Wikify|date=July 2007}} from the references section. Since that section is generated automatically by the {{reflist}} template, the tag serves no purpose on the section even if further wikification is desired elsewhere. - Smerdis of Tlön 16:14, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

Canada

Please edit the section that describes the "nigger brown" sofa in Canada. The paragrahp is written in a way that implies that it's a canaidan policy to have lables that include nigger; this is entirely false.

Kimb00 00:59, 9 October 2007 (UTC)User:kimb00 18:57, October 8th, 2007

You're welcome to fix it yourself, you know. -GTBacchus 01:01, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

Be Bold! the_undertow 01:30, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

Tricky when the page is semi-protected and it's a new account :) Anyway, the paragraph doesn't imply that at all. It does imply that it's a common descriptor for a shade of brown in China, but nothing about its use being common on Canadian labels. — Matt Eason 15:42, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

Lead

I discovered that this source references Answers.com, which of course references Misplaced Pages, but there's some great info on the page in the other sections. Specifically, I added it because it provides a secondary account of the Oprah episode where they discussed "the N-word" in addition to other discussion of the word's connotation. It seemed like an injustice not to at least mention other uses of the word given how prevalent the word is (like it or not). Nualran 21:50, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

MY FRIEND SEZ

"Nigger" isn't only a slander to 'blacks' you know. Germans called Ukrainians (used to anyway) Niggers. Just look up the meaning.

I DONT KNOW IF THATS TRUE OR NOT. BUT I LOOKED INTO IT AND IT DOESNT SEEM TO BE ON THIS PAGE. IF ANY YALL LOOK UP THE MEANING AND THE HISTORY AND FIND THATS TRUE ADD THAT IF NOT THEN HE IS A FUCKING LIAR. User:24.188.17.249:24.188.17.249 12:31, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

It does actually mention this fact (not specifically the German thing though) more than once throughout the article. LookingYourBest 14:40, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

That sounds like a really deprecated use, I lived in Germany for two years and never heard anyone use the term Nigger in relation to anything but black people, and then it isn't considered offensive. Even among black Germans, of which there are a reasonable number in the Rhine area. 130.71.96.19 (talk) 23:02, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

The word nigga as a pronoun

When I search the web for "nigga pronoun", the first Google hit is:

http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:_yNtYBsPq0MJ:www.engl.niu.edu/rthompson/nigga.ppt+nigga+pronoun&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a

This appears to be a serious scholarly attempt to examine the linguistics and usage of the n-word. --Uncle Ed 18:07, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

wrong/fault/less documentation on page

Nigger is also a country name...!!! but there reported just as criminal word. its just effectively criminal.and hawe different meanings for some different peoples. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.176.71.96 (talk) 18:50, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Erm ... do you mean Niger?? Only one "g" in that there word fella!

LookingYourBest 20:27, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

lol, but actually there is a point, the Nigerien and Nigerian country names also mean black and obviously have a similar etymology. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.6.179.150 (talk) 22:20, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:BossNiggerPoster.jpg

Image:BossNiggerPoster.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Misplaced Pages article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Misplaced Pages:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Misplaced Pages policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 08:19, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

DELETION vs WIKIALITY

I am not an editor but I think that this section should be deleted and replaced with a simple definition entry because this word should be consigned to history; to be left unused and obsolete. To have a whole article on a pejorative on a site such as this, which is used by so many people, is just advertisement in its use. Besides there has been a general drive, of late, to delete all pejorative articles and replace them with single dictionary entries. However, and I apologise for the trolling, I think the main failure for Misplaced Pages is that article prevalence, importance and content only comes down to a consensus in belief or Wikiality, the truth is what the majority of us says it is. This article should go the way of all slur-words and racial epithets on Misplaced Pages and be deleted down to a single one-line definition. In that way, it's noted but not promoted. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.130.123.20 (talk) 10:03, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages is not a dictionary and is not censored. Contrary to what Stephen Colbert believes, we're here to document verifiable information, not create our own truths by consensus, and it's not our place to encourage or discourage the use of any word - pejorative or not. — Matt Eason 10:44, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the reply. I have mentioned that I believe that there is a problem (that there are a substantial number of pejorative articles on this site - posing as fact) should be seen as a positive - not a negative. This article stays because enough people say it should but in recent times many U.K. swear words have been deleted (into dictionary form) by editors from America, Asia and Australia.

And so it will go on, philosophically Misplaced Pages should either be a encyclopedia that is wholly based in the physical world (i.e. only containing dry, scientifically verifiable, measurable facts) or it opens its doors and lets anybody express their views on the world in a free, open domain. Misplaced Pages rules create belief in a system, a belief in a system creates interpretation of that system and the interpretation of that system is down to a person's own opinion (see Hobbes). The more individuals who agree on the same opinion - the more Wikiality you get!! It's only time or a radically different perspective that ultimately alters things.

Yours with regards Philip James

PS I would still like this onerous page to be deleted down to a single line entry because in that way

it's not our place to encourage or discourage the use of any word - pejorative or not.

• This article is not about the denotation of 'nigger' but so much more. An encyclopedia will often delve into the historical significance of colloquial terms and 'nigger' is a word that has such a history that one line will not do at all. This article is the history and usage - not an interpretation. I think you are thinking of it as a swear word, but it's really not. It was a common term used to describe an entire race of people which transcended into something entirely different. I think of fuck as a swear word, as it is used when 'swearing.' Nigger is not an expletive, but it is a racial slur. Ignoring its history in American usage is like brushing information under the carpet - which is not our job. It's an inherent bad thing, but its exploration belongs here, as long as it adheres to NPOV and is well sourced. the_undertow 01:06, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

China

"Nigger" may be a descriptor for brown in China (although I would not say common), but only because of the translation programs they use. Practically all Chinese in China speak English as a second language, so it doesn't make sense to judge this language usage based on a few famous examples of mistranslation.

http://digg.com/world_news/Chinese_translation_error_blamed_for_slur_on_sofa_label

Kingsoft Corp (famous for its program "Kingsoft Powerword", a free Chinese-English translation program) was blamed for this error.

I believe that this part is fine to be left in, but it should be noted that it is due to mistranslation, as is most English/Engrish in East Asia. 72.138.231.199 02:54, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Why does "long face" redirect here?

Why does "long face" redirect here??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Horncomposer (talk • contribs) 07:28, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

I fixed the vandalism... it's been that way for several months, thanks for pointing it out.--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back 10:37, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

General John "Black Jack" Pershing

Pershing, a white man, was nicknamed "Nigger Jack" at West Point because he had served with the all-black 10th Calvary (Patton: A Genius For War, Carlo D'Este, ISBN 0-06-016455-7, p.157) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.253.139.38 (talk) 03:05, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Australian entry

The addition of an Australian section on this topic is not relevant because:

a) Comparisons are only made with reference to the United States use of the word covered elsewhere in the article.

b) The discussion is tangential and refers more to other derogatory terms, not on topic.

c) There is no evidence, reference citation or factual basis included for any of the section.

The section should therefore be flagged for removal. --Andmark 15:34, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

The new use of an old word

Many people from certain areas of the U.S. use the word "nigger" to describe anyone who is an ignorant, disrespectful, or disadvantaged person. This modern use does not refer to just to the black people alone. It refers to everyone - Black, White, Red, Yellow, or Olive. The use of the word "nigger" in this manner usually comes from areas of the United States where many races interact on non-racial basis.

Many people have adopted this term because they believe it makes the use of the word less racist. Many people who use the word "nigger" for all races are of a younger generation that has not lived through slavery or segregation. They don't wish to hold grudges, so they recycled an old, commonly used word and put it to a better, less racist use.

GlitterVixen865 (talk) 05:28, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Please bring some reliable sources here to verify your claim. Thanks, SqueakBox 05:30, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Neeger

In Estonia the word "neeger" is used for black people. But it isn't pejorative, it is a neutral word. – 87.119.191.183 (talk) 12:41, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

The situation is similiar in most countries that aren't exposed to massive black immigration. For instance, Poland, Russia, Serbia, etc. --Humanophage (talk) 12:06, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

POV / vandalism?

This part clearly shows POV:

In "Non-human uses"

It is also used to describe something undesirable or bad. In rapper Ice Cube's first album; "Amerikkka's Most Wanted", he said "Paybacks a muthafuckin' NIGGER".

In his album Loyal to the Game, rapper 2pac uses nigga as an acrynom in the title of his song N.I.G.G.A which stands for Never Ignorant about Gettin' Goals Accomplished.

Does a rapper using an expression automatically make it a fact? Or is it just some fanboy putting their interpretation in wikipedia and presenting it as fact? I think it's the latter, I will remove this garbage as it is clearly based on POV. Presenting lyrics as the basis for an argument is actually so stupid I'd almost suspect vandalism (at least in the case of the Ice Cube quote which on its own makes no sense at all)

I've removed these lines, see page history. UltimateEnd (talk) 15:58, 23 December 2007 (UTC)UltimateEnd

Literary Uses

Factually Incorrect The statement under Literary Uses that "Ian Fleming makes use of the term in his novel Live and Let Die. One of the chapters is called "Nigger Heaven" and two of the main characters, James Bond and Felix Leiter, make regular use of the word." is factually incorrect. There is indeed a chapter called "Nigger Heaven", but this is only 1 of 2 instances of the word in the book. The other is by the character Solitair when she states, "I've been shut up with him and his nigger gangsters for nearly a year."

From the text it is obvious that Bond and Leiter believe in racist stereo-types, but unless the text has been changed, those are the only 2 instances of the usage of the word in the book. 76.103.28.57 (talk)billvaxman —Preceding comment was added at 08:55, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Wigger

As well as being a portmanteau of "white" and "nigger" as stated in the article, "wigger" is often considered a portmanteau of "wanabe" and "nigger. DamianLu (talk) 21:06, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

South Asian Usage

Unless it can be referenced, delete the section about "Nigger" refering to South Asians in the UK. In the mainstream `Paki' is used to identify South Asians. Italians have been called Nigger as well in U.S. history and they are usually classed as "white" by most census definitions. Pakistanis are mostly Caucasoid not Negroid. We shouldn't let one off incidents of dark skinned people being called Nigger the rule! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.187.212.41 (talk) 21:29, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

Redirect

I think nigger should redirect to black people.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Soldior60 (talk • contribs)

un, no. This article is about the term, and its usage, not black people themselves. Yahel Guhan 05:21, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Nigger

It is a derogatory term, although not originally, referred to black people. It is now referred to indolent, immoral, or violent people (whether black or white). I have never heard it used as a term referred to people of brown or darker skinned people. Never heard it used for Indian people (after checking all the sources). Please remove the phrase, "anyone with brown or darker skin, such as an Indian". It is not used for an Indian. All the other derogatory terms for Indians listed there are true, but not this one. PLEASE REMOVE IT IMMEDIATELY!!

Something's wrong

For whatever reason, the article only covers the word. Shouldn't it actually be about niggers? Sphantom (talk) 16:53, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

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