  Nigger:  A word collection wongdongy:  if you want to know what some white people say behind closed doors Guinness AML:  we know.  but go ahead wongdongy:  that there are black people and then there are niggers wongdongy:
 black people are just that wongdongy:  people that are black wongdongy:  and niggers are drug dealers or whatever wongdongy:  oh,  but you probably already knew that wongdongy:  but yeah,
 that’ s what some peoples stance on the matter is Guinness AML:  Chris rock did a similar bit on the subject wongdongy:  ohh,  haha Guinness AML:  :
 wongdongy:  that’ s probably what its from Guinness AML:  Guinness AML:  they have no idea what they're talking about.  and don't know the meaning of the word Guinness AML:
 Nigger doesn't just mean " bad black person"  wongdongy:  I don’ t even know the origin Guinness AML:  Nigger means "
Not a person.  less than human"  really.  not directly -  but that's the sense of the word wongdongy:  hmm Guinness AML:
 nigger means " unworthy of any respect,  dignity,  or rights"  wongdongy:  so if I called a white child molestor a "
nigger"  would that be in the wrong context?  Guinness AML:  yes Guinness AML:  because the word has come to be assigned to blacks wongdongy:  so it means specifically black people Guinness AML:
 it sure does …  It’ s been over 15 years but I can still remember my first day of 3rd grade.  I went to predominantly white schools from 3rd grade on up.  Before then,  growing up in Hartford,
 CT’ s North End,  I rarely ever saw white people other than teachers and a few folk when I went downtown with my mother.  It goes without saying,  then,  that I had no white friends.
 In fact,  I hated white people.  Hated.  Then,  one evening,  my mom came over to me and my younger brother and told us that we were going to a new school.
 Just like that,  a new school.  I didn’ t have many friends in school,  anyway,  so leaving them wasn’
t all that big a deal.  My short lived ( and utterly useless)  protests came from the fact that it was a WHITE school.  White people,  white teachers,
 white nurses,  white music,  white everything…  it honestly terrified me.  Let me explain.  I believed the following to be true about white people:
 -  White people are rich…  all of them -  White people are snotty and talk funny.  -  White people eat weird food -
 white people food.  ( Swear to god)  -  White people are smart –  black people have to work twice as hard as white people.
 -  White people listen to disturbing music.  Because of it,  some white people worship the devil.  -  White people can’
t dance,  sing,  or play sports as well as black people.  and most importantly…  -  White people HATE black people.
 Period.  Even if they claim to be your friend,  they’ re lying.  They want something from you.  Black friends are valuable –
 they’ re evidence against racism –  “ I can’ t be racist –  look at my black (
nigger)  friend!  See?  It’ s also important to note that these things that I believed to be true about white people I never ever believed could be true about black people.  White people were pretty much evil and white people were certainly the enemy.
 So,  with all these prejudices,  I went to my first day of 3rd grade shaking like a leaf.  I thought that I’ d come back acting like a white kid after a few days of school.  I thought they’
d try to jump me.  I had to defend myself.  I had to stay black at all costs.  Walking down the hall to my classroom,  I felt white eyes on me constantly and was very uncomfortable.  Every pair of eyes said “
Who is that ( NIGGER!  kid?  Why is he in my school?  He doesn’ t belong here”
 I got to my first class and sat alone preparing for the inevitable introduction.  Sure enough,  I was brought to the front of the class and with my eyes on my cheap sneakers,  I gave my name.  Eyebrows curled and there were a few laughs because of my accent.  I blushed hard and made note of their laughter –
 evidence.  Then,  it happened.  “ He’ s from HARTFORD and he’
ll be joining our class by way of Project Concern*  my teacher chimed with a toothy white grin.  …  As far as I was concerned,  she may as well have said,  “
Be careful –  this one is a dangerous nigger –  HE doesn’ t belong here”  I sat down feeling even more alienated than ever.  School was easy for the first half of the day.
 I was in class with no more than 5 kids at a time most of the time so that worked out fine.  But I was still very uncomfortable being around all those white people.  Then lunch came and I freaked.  I had made zero friends that day which meant I either had to sit alone or sit with white people and try to make friends.  I sat alone.  I remember sitting with my left arm around my tray,
 eyeballing the cafeteria DARING anyone to sit near me.  I was so lonely and,  part of me really wanted someone to come over.  But I wasn’ t going to let them make me white.  So I did the easiest thing a black kid could do in that school.
 I looked intimidating.  Months passed,  seasons changed and I had made friends with the kids on my bus ( also from Hartford)  and a few kids in school.  They treated me like a visitor but it was ok.
 I had a few friends and that was better than eating alone.  I had a small group of friend to go on the swings with at recess.  Life wasn’ t all that bad.  ” Nigger!
 what?  I looked up from a game of Speedball and my new friend…  we’ ll call him Dick Spiffy -  was pointing at me.  He was pointing at me ?
 Was I a nigger?  I knew I was black and that black people were sometimes called niggers by white people.  But it was an entirely different thing to actually be called “ Nigger”  outright.  I was,
 to say the least,  a little confused.  Then,  it hit me.  It hit me light a lightning bolt and I took off after him.  I beat the crap out of him.
 In the principal’ s office,  I got nothing but sympathy.  It didn’ t go on my file or anything like that.  It was dropped and I went back to class.
 But something had changed in me that took years to fix.  The question lingered.  Nigger?  ME!  Am I a nigger?  I didn’
t know if it was true.  Until then,  I never had to ask myself if it was true …  and,  if it was true…  if I was a nigger…
 what did that mean?  Nigger was something they called slaves.  It was worse than a bad word…  it was a curse.  When Dick resurrected that word,  it felt worse than anything I had ever felt.
 I couldn’ t say why then but I think I knew.  Nigger meant “ You are nothing –  you are not one of us –  You will never be one of us –
 You are less…  low…  and worthy of contempt”  It was the embodiment of the evils of slavery.  In North America,  from the 1500s to 1865,
 “ Nigger”  connoted “ black slave”  but also “ Maroon (
A fugitive Black slave in the West Indies in the 17th and 18th centuries)  From then on,  “ Nigger”  connoted “ second-
class citizen”  as well as “ Maroon”  visitor…  outcast.  23 years later it meant the very same thing when Dick used it on me…
 “ Outcast!  –  Unclean!  Not one of you reading this needs the history of the word to know what it means.  We all know what it means.
 There’ s a definition beyond my words that we’ re all familiar with.  Nigger =  hate.  It’
s all but impossible to know how fucked up of a word it is until that hate is directed at you.  Then there came Wigger.  Wow…  Wigger?  Are you fucking kidding me?  WIGGER?
 For the slow ones,  “ Wigger”  is a clever combination of words –  “ White”
 and “ Nigger”  Astonishing.  Let me get this straight…  a wigger is a “ White Nigger”
 What does that mean,  exactly?  Some kid wears Fubu and listens to 50- cent and Biggie and…  well now he’ s a Nigger…
 but he can’ t be a nigger nigger because he’ s white…  so he’ s a white nigger…  a wigger…
 hahahaha!  _ that’ s clever…  that’ s funny!  Guinness AML:
 You know why I hate wigger more than nigger?  Guinness AML:  Amercian blacks were given the word nigger and told " This means you're nothing"  Guinness AML:  they took it and,
 over time,  changed it to mean " This means we're family"  -  it's an identifier.  a sacred word Guinness AML:
 which is why I can call a black person a nigger and you can't wongdongy:  wow Guinness AML:  Wigger is thievery wongdongy:  haha Guinness AML:  we were given shit and made it an heirloom Guinness AML:  and now it's being taken back?
 Guinness AML:  FUCK that Yes –  it is our word.  Your grandfathers gave it to us,  remember?  They made sure we knew that it belonged to us and only us.
 And it does.  Wigger isn’ t an outright attempt at reclaiming the word but…  well once black folk made nigger cool,  wigger pops up… this fucking generic bullshit word that manages to be more insulting than the first.
 How?  By downplaying the significance of the word “ nigger”  Chinese dude “ actin’  black”
 yo?  He’ s a chigga,  B.  Nigger doesn’ t mean black.
 Nigger IS black.  It’ s a black word.  It’ s a family curse that was converted to a blessing.  A password.
 A conduit through which we can acknowledge the one thing that we all share –  our victory over attempted dehumanization.  We were once believed to be a dead people –  less than animals.  And,  in many ways,
 we still live with the effects of the people who named us “ nigger”  That’ s why it’ s our word…  because it was given to us.
 There a number of things I want to say on this subject but I’ m gonna cut myself short this time…  no wrap up,  no summary…  none of that.  Hope this reaches reasonable ears…
 -  Dexter Otis Green * note:  Project Concern was a voluntary urban- to- suburban student transfer program.
 –  basically taking kids from the inner- city shitty schools and placing them in the better equipped suburban schools)  As an aside,  keep your eyes and ears open for Beer 'n Porn Radio .  coming soon 
