Nigger

Nigger is a racist insult against black people. The word "nigga" is used in pop culture slang by black people. However, it is commonly used by those who believe that their people are better than black people.^[1]

The word came from a slang way to say "negro". That is the word for the color black and for black people in Spanish and Portuguese.^[2] Before 1865, most black people in the United States were slaves. During that time, the word "nigger" commonly meant a slave. Writers such as Joseph Conrad,^[3] Mark Twain,^[4] and Charles Dickens^[5] often used the word in their stories and their other writing.

However, in the late 20th century, the word was seen as a hurtful racial slur in English. It was called hate speech. "Nigger" was seen as very offensive to say or hear which caused many to not use the word at all. They instead called the word "The N-Word". It is said with a "hard R", because the word ends in 'er' instead of 'a', as in the word "nigga".

Later, the word started to become more popularized and less offensive to say since the "N-Word Pass" came to birth by Generation Z otherwise known as GenZ.^[6] More Non-African Americans started to say it. Since the "N-Word Pass" came to birth, the word has reemerged as a casual insult or in a "humorous" way by younger generations and is not seen as racist by the majority of youth.^[7]