White nigger
White nigger, sometimes shortened to
United States
Dating from the nineteenth-century United States, "white nigger" was a derogatory and offensive term for a "black person who defers to white people or accepts a role prescribed by them," or "a white person who does menial work."[1] It was later used as a slur against white activists involved in the civil rights movement such as Viola Liuzzo,[2] James Groppi,[3] Bill Baxley,[4] and Jonathan Daniels.[5]
The term "white niggers" was uttered twice by Democratic Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia in an interview on national television in 2001.[6] Byrd was a former member of the Ku Klux Klan.[7]
Italian immigrants
During all the 19th century until the early part of the 20th, Italian immigrants in the United States were often referred to as "white niggers".[8]
Irish immigrants
The term was applied to Irish immigrants and their descendants. Irish were also nicknamed "Negroes turned inside-out" (while African Americans would be referred to as "smoked Irish").[9]
Polish immigrants
Texas blacks referred to Polish immigrants as dem white niggahs or dem white niggas whom they hold in undisguised contempt but were apparently stunned by their high literacy rates.[10] Polish farmers commonly worked directly with southern blacks in east Texas, and they were commonly in direct competition for agricultural jobs. Blacks frequently picked up a few words of Polish, and Poles picked up some of the black English dialect in these areas during the late 19th century. R. L. Daniels in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine wrote a piece on "Polanders" in Texas in 1888, praising their industriousness and hard work ethic. He cited instances where Polish farmers called their landlords massa,[11] denoting a subordinate position on level with slavery, and, when asking a woman why she left Poland, she replied "Mudder haf much childs and 'Nough not to eat all".[12] Daniels found that Poles were efficient farmers and planted corn and cotton so close to their homes as not to leave even elbow room to the nearby buildings.[13]
Canada
In
England
"White Nigger" was a nickname given to the nineteenth-century English explorer Richard Burton by colleagues in the East India Company Army, who ostracized him because he immersed himself so completely into Indian culture, including language, dress, and relationships with locals.[15][16]
Northern Ireland
"White nigger" was sometimes used to refer to
In May 2016, Irish politician
Haiti
Haiti's first Head of state
About 160 years later, in the mid-20th century, François Duvalier, the president of Haiti who was known for his black nationalist and Pan-African views, used the same concept of "European white Negroes" while referring to Polish people and glorifying their patriotism.[24]
See also
- Cultural appropriation
- Nigger
- White ethnic
- White trash
- Wigger
- "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" (John Lennon song)
References
- ISBN 978-0-19-954370-0.
- ^ https://www.eastvillagemagazine.org/2023/04/10/remembering-viola-liuzzo-murdered-58-years-ago-in-the-cause-of-voting-rights-a-personal-reflection/
- ^ Frank A. Aukofer, City with a Chance: A Case History of Civil Rights Revolution, 2nd edn (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2007), 114.
- ^ https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/young_paige_e_200308_ma.pdf
- ^ https://www.salon.com/2015/08/23/something_happened_to_me_in_selma_50_years_ago_a_young_white_seminary_student_risked_everything_for_the_call_of_civil_rights/
- ^ Andrew D. Todd, What Is a "White Nigger" Anyway?, History News Network (20 March 2001).
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
- ^ How Italians Became ‘White’, New York Times
- ^ McKenna, Patrick (12 February 2013). "When the Irish became white: immigrants in mid-19th century US". Generation Emigration. The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- OCLC 656599432. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ^ Daniels 1883, p. 299.
- ^ Daniels 1883, p. 297.
- ^ Baker, T. Lindsay (1982). The Polish Texans. San Antonio: The University of Texas Institute of Texas Cultures-San Antonio. p. 86.
- ^ DePalma, Anthony (26 December 1998). "Pierre Vallieres, 60, Angry Voice of Quebec Separatism, Dies". New York Times. New York. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
- ^ David Shribman, "'That Devil Burton,' the Great Adventurer", The Wall Street Journal (6 June 1990), A14.
- ISBN 978-1-59797-287-1.
- ^ The IRA 12th impression, Tim Pat Coogan, page 448, William Collins, Sons & Co., Glasgow, 1987
- ^ "The Elvis Costello Home Page". Elviscostello.info. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
- ^ Mallon, Charlie (26 January 2003). "Irish Times' Major McDowell called his editor a 'white nigger'". Irish Independent. Retrieved 25 January 2010.[dead link]
- ^ Fanning, Ronan (2 February 2003). "'White nigger' denial poses a real dilemma". Irish Independent. Retrieved 25 January 2010.[dead link]
- ^ McDonald, Henry (2 May 2016). "Gerry Adams defends N-word tweet". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-8229-7334-8.
- ISBN 9781468301601. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-7432-1197-0.