History of the N Word

The n-word derives from the Latin word "niger," which means black. In his book The N-Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn't, and Why (2007), journalist Jabari Asim writes that the word dates back to at least 1619, when John Rolfe, an early British colonist of what would eventually become the U.S., wrote a diary entry in which he discussed the arrival of African slaves to the New World. Rolfe wrote that "twenty negars" had recently come to Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, located in present-day Virginia. (The unusual spelling reflected a general lack of uniform literacy standards in the 17th century.)

The practice of using Africans and their U.S.-born descendants as slaves persisted in many parts of the U.S. for nearly a century after the nation won its independence from Great Britain. During those years, the n-word was frequently directed at blacks, and always with cruel intentions. According to David Pilgrim, a sociology professor at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., white Americans in the 19th century established a racist "hierarchy" designed to suppress the advancement of African Americans. Pilgrim writes that ministers of the era preached that God was white, teachers taught their white students that blacks were less evolved than whites, and some scientists even offered "proof" that the black race was inherently inferior. The n-word, Pilgrim writes, was often deployed in order to dehumanize both free Northern blacks and enslaved Southern blacks.

As early as the 1820s, blacks began adopting racist slurs such as the n-word to refer to each other. An editorial in Freedom's Journal--a short-lived New York City-based publication that is widely regarded as the first black newspaper in U.S. history--lamented the "adoption of racist epithets by blacks themselves."

In the mid-19th century, the ongoing debate over slavery eventually boiled over into a civil war between Northern and Southern states (1861-65). Shortly after the war ended, the U.S. ratified three amendments to the U.S. Constitution which are collectively referred to as the Reconstruction Amendments. The 13th Amendment (1865) abolished slavery; the 14th (1868) granted U.S. citizenship to all native-born Americans, including former slaves; and the 15th (1870) said that the right--of male citizens--to vote could not be denied for any reason, including race.

Many white Americans resented the newfound freedom of African Americans, however. During the late 19th century, the n-word became an increasingly common way for whites to express their outrage. Because blacks remained culturally marginal, the n-word began to seep into mainstream white society, even appearing on consumer goods. A brand of pouch tobacco was called "NiggerHair," while a line of canned seafood was sold under the name "Nigger Head."

In the early 20th century, the use of the n-word became slightly less prevalent, as some whites chose to replace it with the less-offensive term "Negro," historians say. However, the n-word still prevailed in many parts of the U.S.

During the first half of the 20th century, the n-word was a common pet name for darkly colored dogs and cats, Pilgrim writes. Also, the prevalence of blackface performances--in which white musicians and comedians darkened their faces with make-up and sang vaudeville-style songs in an exaggerated manner--contributed greatly to the use of the n-word in popular culture, as many blackface performers used the word frequently in their acts. The British mystery writer Agatha Christie named a 1939 novel Ten Little Niggers. (Today it is sold under the title And Then There Were None and is one of her most famous books.) Pilgrim notes that some U.S. towns had the n-word in their names, such as Nigger Run Fork, Va.

Beginning in the 1960s, however, many African Americans made a concerted effort to "take back" the n-word. Radical black poets such as Amiri Baraka and Gil Scott-Heron made provocative use of the n-word in their poetry, while comedians such as Richard Pryor and Dick Gregory frequently employed the word in their acts. Gregory even titled his 1964 autobiography Nigger. He dedicated the book to his deceased mother, writing, "If you ever hear the word 'nigger' again, remember, they're advertising my book."

Some black artists eventually expressed regret for their frequent use of the n-word, however. Pryor, for example, returned from a visit to Africa in the late 1970s vowing never to use the word again. He said he changed his mind after seeing black Africans running governments and owning businesses; he said that none of those hard-working people deserved to be called the n-word.

The rapidly growing popularity of rap music in the early 1980s forced many Americans to re-confront the n-word. Many notable rappers used the word frequently in their music, particularly during the rise of "gangsta" rap in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, rappers said that the word they used most often in their rhymes, "nigga," was different from the actual n-word. Their version of the word had a more positive connotation, they argued; it was simultaneously an empowering expression of black pride and a personal term of endearment. Also, they maintained, by repeating the word over and over, rappers can rob it of its power to inflict pain, eventually making it seem like just another word. "In another 5 to 10 years, you're going to see youth in elementary school spelling it out in their vocabulary tests," predicted the rapper KRS-One in 1993. "It's going to be that accepted by the society."

Countless rap songs use the n-word, often in a positive context. In a 1991 song celebrating his African-American roots, Ice-T rapped, "I'm a nigga in America, and that much I flaunt." Meanwhile, the late Tupac Shakur once told an interviewer that he viewed the word "nigga" as an acronym for "never ignorant, getting goals accomplished."