Today, the implied racism of the term is so strong that the use of nigger in most situations is a social taboo in English-speaking countries.
Many American magazines and newspapers will not even print the word in full, instead using n*gg*r, n**ger, n——, or simply “the N-word.” A Washington Post article on Strom Thurmond’s 1948 candidacy for President of the United States went so far as to replace it with the periphrasis “the less-refined word for black people.”
The word was also completely excised from the Microsoft Encarta dictionary, despite its common usage. The shock effect of the word can also be used to deliberately cause offense. Several activists, such as Dick Gregory, have said the use of “N-word” instead of “Nigger” throughout modern English vernacular robs younger generations of the full history of black people in America. For example, using “the N-word” in place of “Nazi”, which was also a pejorative term, would rob younger generations of the full gravity of the Holocaust.
So there you have it, the word should be replaced by either :-
n*gg*r, n**ger, n——, the N-word or or simply “the less-refined word for black people.”
Gibson, “send out the less-refined code word for black people for breaching the dam” 🙂
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