Nigeria, and also Niger, got their names from the river Niger that flows through both of them. We'd have to find out whether or not that river was named by the colonialists....
Sorry, but these are terms I've had thrown at me since primary school. To me it's kind of important that they're put in historical context....
the thing is about derogitary term such as "******" or even "****" terms which are seen to be incredibly bad ... they are no more worse than any other word.... so many words are seen to be worse than others... itsall down to how you percieve it. Some people round my area call me a "Grunger" to try and upset me..... its odd because for a while it did... but whats odder is before that i dreamt of being accepted as a "grunger". Its odd how peoples perceptions of words change through history. The word Slut for example, i found in an old childrens poem in a book JC bought me a line refuring to a loose lady who was a slut. It shocked me to see it in a childs poem.
All I could find was a brief reference on this site: http://www.dawodu.com/barrack8.htm Now if niger means black it could be for loads of reasons and nothing to do with race/ethnicity. Maybe the origin is lost and therefore open to speculation. Still it removes the British colonials from the equation but they played a huge role in the slave trade in that region, so it could have still possibly had a combined influence on the word "******" and its derogatory meanings. (speculation here)
I wouldn't put ****** in the same catergory as fuck or ****. The reason being that the latter two, whilst crude and course, don't have the same historical connotations of slavery, segregation and racism. To me, those things, as the brutal suppression of human beings, are a lot more offensive than sex, or a vagina. As for gunger, well people have used hippy to put me down. That doesn't offend. Social categorisations are things you can slip into or out of. And with no one making reference to Michael Jackson (look I did it so it's out of the way) you can't change the colour of your skin....
Just got to pick you up there - the British joined in a pre-existing trade that was already centuries old, as did most of the other sea-faring European nations from the 16th Century onwards and assisted in giving it the filip it needed for the Americans to turn it into a "modern" trade in the late 18th/ early 19th. The Bight of Benin was seen by the British as the White Man's graveyard, and permanent settlements were left pretty much to the Arab traders, the Spanish and the Portugese. The acquisition of many of the West African states as colonies is something that post-dated the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. I'm just quibbling the huge. I'm only bothering to be this boring because to me its another example of Political Correctness. By the standards of the day, the British were no better or worse than the other players - yet somehow if by accident of birth you are born now in these isles we are supposed to feel guilty about it. Yes it was wrong, no it doesn't look too good on the CV of the human race, I regret that fortunes were made out of exploiting human misery in this way. But many of the same merchants exploited workers here in the UK in equally barbarous conditions, and had not dissimilar powers of life and death - many of those who promoted early trade unionism were shipped off to the West Indies to work on the sugar plantations alongside the African slaves on trumped up charges. London at the start of the 18th century was the sex trade capital of the world while Britain was still only a fledgling world power - again fortunes were made by the massive exploitation of human misery. The posh Georgian townhouses of London were mainly built on an industrial scale to cater for the bedspace needed. So for me the balance has been lost for the sake of Political Correctness. I think what I probably dislike most about political correctness is that it may stop people saying the words, it may even change the way they act in public but it takes a great deal longer to change the way they think. Which isn't to say that things haven't changed over the 44 years of my life. Coming from a family of Norfolk builders and publicans, I can still remember all women being address as "Darling", of standing on the football terraces with men weeing up the corrugated tin walls, of men-only bars and clubs,of staying with an uncle in London and seeing the guest house signs - "No Niggers, No Irish, No Pets", of "aliens" having to report daily to the Police station.In the playground games the enemy was the Krauts, the Nips, the Eyties, the Frogs and for some reason the Paki's and the Fuzzy-wuzzies. The only good Indjun was a Dead Indjun.Most of the houses had a big leather belt hung on the back of the kitchen door. Those that didn't had a cane. Coming from a council estate in the sixties meant a lot of kids couldn't sit down after tea-time on a Friday night because of those belts - and sometimes they could barely walk. Yes there are some things you don't miss. But sometimes it can go too far. After years of working outside as a builder's labourer in the remoter parts of Norfolk, I took a Civil Service job in 1984. After a couple of week's I was called in to the Manager's Office and given an official caution which would "stay on my file indefinately and may serve as a blot to career advancement". My misdemeanour - poor time-keeping, bad work, attitude - no. My crime was that I had addressed two female members of staff as m'dear, on one occasion while holding the door open - even as I write it down it still rankles.:$ So now I hold the door open for both genders, and no, I'm not admiring your chest, I'm checking your name badge for name and title so that I can best address you in a non-sexual way, (and the rebel in my head is saying - so is that alright with you then darling! - Damn - must have a head transplant)
Fair comment. It isn't something that I know a great deal about but I always thought that the biggest players were the British and the Portuguese. I stand corrected. However I do know that the black slave trade was not just a matter of white exploitation, there were black slave traders too and also white slaves, how that came about I don't know, I just remember reading some stuff somewhere. I'm also too tired to go looking stuff up properly right now but I've just found this article: http://www.hoffman-info.com/forgottenslaves.html. Not sure on its accuracy (or whether the author has any political agenda) but it shows how the working class were abused and enslaved, regardless of race.
I got kicked off the Kerrang forum for starting a thread called "Racist AIDS-Raping is funnier when you do it to crippled lesbians", and secretly mocking a user's girlfriend's ME in a thread about how funny it was when that guy knifed that skateboarder. It's PC gone mad. Rock'n'roll my anus. I had a gollywog when I was a kid, and I never made the connection, I just thought it was another soft toy. My parents also own a copy of Mein Kampf, because we don't believe in hiding from the past and book burning. There's a line of common sense which you can't really see, but when something's crossed it, you know it. You get this with PC, it's hard to describe, but some things are just obviously PC gone mad, by any standard.
But what i was trying to say is words loose their conotations over time. Most people use words and teminolagy without even knowing what the words mean, i didnt know what the word Twat was untill i was 14. Im just trying to say that remember wen most people use to term i can almost certainly confirm most arent thinking about the historical sence of the word. Im not saying this is a good thing im just pointing it out.
Hmmm personally (and I stress personally) I have found that many people in the so-called 'PC brigade' are akin to some new sort of crypto-fascist thought police. What gives them up is that they have no sense of humour. All the great compassionate and enlightened beings laugh. I truly believe that laughter is a necessary vibration or frequency without which the universe would not function properly. Acting behind the mask of 'tolerance' they seek to steal our laughter. Laughter that (if allowed) could heal any wounds and bridge any divides. Ever seen a really destructive and hateful person, whether a PC thug or religious fundamentalist, neither of them smile, neither of them tell or laugh at jokes.
