Editing Nigger (section)

===Intra-group versus intergroup usage===
{{Main|Nigga}}
{{See also|Ingroups and outgroups}}

Black listeners often react to the term differently, depending on whether it is used by white speakers or by black speakers. In the former case, it is regularly understood as insensitive or insulting; in the latter, it may carry notes of in-group disparagement, or it may be understood as neutral or affectionate, a possible instance of [[reappropriation]].<ref name="Brontsema">{{Cite journal|last=Brontsema|first=Robin|date=June 1, 2004|title=A Queer Revolution: Reconceptualizing the Debate Over Linguistic Reclamation|journal=Colorado Research in Linguistics|volume=17|issue=1|doi=10.25810/dky3-zq57|issn=1937-7029|quote=Linguistic reclamation, also known as linguistic resignification or reappropriation, refers to the appropriation of a pejorative epithet by its target(s).}}</ref>

In the black community, ''nigger'' is often rendered as ''[[nigga]]''. This usage has been popularized by the [[rap]] and [[hip-hop]] music cultures and is used as part of an in-group lexicon and speech. It is not necessarily derogatory and is often used to mean ''homie'' or ''friend''.<ref name="usage-alert">{{cite dictionary |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nigga |title=''Nigga'' Usage Alert |dictionary=[[Dictionary.com]] |access-date=July 23, 2015}}</ref>

Acceptance of intra-group usage of the word ''nigga'' is still debated,<ref name="usage-alert" /> although it has established a foothold amongst younger generations. The [[NAACP]] denounces the use of both ''nigga'' and ''nigger''. Usage of ''nigga'' by mixed-race individuals is still largely considered taboo,{{Efn|Whether this usage is considered acceptable may depend on a sense of the speaker's in-group belonging, as judged by the speaker him- or herself, the listener(s), or others.}} albeit not as inflammatory as ''nigger''. As of 2001, trends indicated that usage of the term in intragroup settings is increasing even amongst white youth, due to the popularity of rap and hip hop culture.<ref name="ENQ">{{cite news |last1=Aldridge |first1=Kevin |last2=Thompson |first2=Richelle |last3=Winston |first3=Earnest |url=http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/08/05/loc_1the_n-word.html |title=The evolving N-word |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |date=August 5, 2001 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130110202405/http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/08/05/loc_1the_n-word.html |archive-date=January 10, 2013 |url-status=dead |access-date=October 14, 2011 }}</ref> Linguist [[Keith Allan (linguist)|Keith Allan]] rejects the view that ''nigger'' is always a slur, arguing that it is also used as a marker of camaraderie and friendship, comparable to the British and Australian term "mate" or the American "buddy".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Allan|first=Keith |title=When is a slur not a slur? The use of nigger in 'Pulp Fiction'|journal=Language Sciences |volume=52 |date=November 2015|pages=187–199|doi=10.1016/j.langsci.2015.03.001}}</ref>

According to Arthur K. Spears in ''Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 2006'':
{{blockquote|In many African-American neighborhoods, nigga is simply the most common term used to refer to any male, of any race or ethnicity. Increasingly, the term has been applied to any person, male or female. "Where y'all niggas goin?" is said with no self-consciousness or animosity to a group of women, for the routine purpose of obtaining information. The point: ''nigga'' is evaluatively neutral in terms of its inherent meaning; it may express positive, neutral, or negative attitudes;<ref>{{cite journal |title=Perspectives: A View of the 'N-Word' from Sociolinguistics |url=http://diverseeducation.com/article/6114/ |last=Spears |first=Arthur K. |journal=Diverse Issues in Higher Education |date=July 12, 2006 |access-date=July 13, 2013 |archive-date=September 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140927014836/http://diverseeducation.com/article/6114/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Kevin Cato, meanwhile, observes:
{{blockquote|For instance, a show on [[Black Entertainment Television]], a cable network aimed at a Black audience, described the word nigger as a "[[term of endearment]]". "In the African American community, the word ''nigga'' (not ''nigger'') brings out feelings of pride." (Davis{{nbs}}1.) Here the word evokes a sense of community and oneness among Black people. Many teens I interviewed felt the word had no power when used amongst friends, but when used among white people the word took on a completely different meaning. In fact, comedian Alex Thomas on BET stated, "I still better not hear no white boy say that to me{{nbs}}... I hear a white boy say that to me, it means 'White boy, you gonna get your ass beat.{{'"}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wrt-intertext.syr.edu/XI/Nigger.html |title=Nigger: Language, History, and Modern Day Discourse |work=Intertext |publisher=Syracuse University |access-date=January 23, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517143530/http://wrt-intertext.syr.edu/XI/Nigger.html |archive-date=May 17, 2011}}</ref>}}

Addressing the use of ''nigger'' by black people, philosopher and public intellectual [[Cornel West]] said in 2007:
{{blockquote|There's a certain rhythmic seduction to the word. If you speak in a sentence, and you have to say ''cat'', ''companion'', or ''friend'', as opposed to ''nigger'', then the rhythmic presentation is off. That rhythmic language is a form of historical memory for Black people{{nbs}}... When [[Richard Pryor]] came back from Africa, and decided to stop using the word onstage, he would sometimes start to slip up, because he was so used to speaking that way. It was the right word at the moment to keep the rhythm together in his sentence making.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mohr |first=Tim |author-link=Tim Mohr |title=Cornel West Talks Rhymes and Race |magazine=[[Playboy]] |volume=54 |issue=11 |page=44 |date=November 2007}}</ref>}}

====2010s: Increase in use and controversy====
In the 2010s, "nigger" in its various forms saw use with increasing frequency by African Americans amongst themselves or in self-expression, the most common swear word in hip hop music lyrics.<ref name="freq">{{cite news |last1=Sheinin |first1=Dave |last2=Thompson |first2=Krissah |author-link2=Krissah Thompson |title=Redefining the Word |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2014/11/09/the-n-word-an-entrenched-racial-slur-now-more-prevalent-than-ever/ |access-date=May 24, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 9, 2014 |archive-date=May 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512104225/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2014/11/09/the-n-word-an-entrenched-racial-slur-now-more-prevalent-than-ever/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="wapo">{{cite news |title=Profanity in lyrics: most used swear words and their usage by popular genres |work=Musixmatch |url=https://blog.musixmatch.com/profanity-in-lyrics-most-used-swear-words-and-their-usage-by-popular-genres-d8a12c776713 |access-date=May 24, 2019 |date=December 16, 2015}}</ref> [[Ta-Nehisi Coates]] suggested that it continues to be unacceptable for non-blacks to utter while singing or rapping along to hip-hop, and that by being so restrained it gives white Americans (specifically) an impression of what it is like to not be entitled to "do anything they please, anywhere". A concern often raised is whether frequent exposure will inevitably lead to a dilution of the extremely negative perception of the word among the majority of non-black Americans who currently consider its use unacceptable and shocking.<ref name="coates">{{cite news |last1=Bain |first1=Marc |title=Ta-Nehisi Coates Gently Explains Why White People Can't Rap the N-Word |url=https://qz.com/quartzy/1127824/ta-nehisi-coates-explains-why-white-hip-hop-fans-cant-use-the-n-word/ |access-date=May 24, 2019 |work=Quartz |date=November 13, 2017 |archive-date=May 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524183923/https://qz.com/quartzy/1127824/ta-nehisi-coates-explains-why-white-hip-hop-fans-cant-use-the-n-word/ |url-status=live }}</ref>