# Do you consider "wigger" a racial slur? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 30, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761 "2006-05-30T17:36:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/1 "2006-05-30T17:36:59Z")
Millions, I casually threw out the slang “wigger” while referring to a high school aged white kid wearing a FUBU shirt the other day and a particularly…sensitive acquintance of mine lambasted me for it, claiming it was an inherently racist word. Certainly, it stems from a noun I’d never type let alone say, but I’m pretty sure that using it’s tongue-in-cheek equivalent is alright. I’m curious as to your thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/2 "2006-05-30T17:41:25Z")
I thought it was a word that wiggers used for themselves, but then I’m out of touch. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/3 "2006-05-30T17:41:30Z")
Yes. I know some people don’t intend it to be when they use it though. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/4 "2006-05-30T17:45:46Z")
Yes. If you have to ask, it’s usually a word that is better to avoid. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/5 "2006-05-30T17:47:46Z")
I always thought it was another word for “booger”. “What does an elephant have up his trunk? (dum-dum-dum-dum) An eight-foot wigger.” It was a little song I heard when Kid Kalhoun was a little tyke. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/6 "2006-05-30T17:48:43Z")
> [@even sven](#): > > Yes. If you have to ask, it’s usually a word that is better to avoid. Good rule. I just never felt the need to ask before I used it. I’ve had many, many arguments with this particular woman and we hardly ever agree. She tends to be overly PC but sometimes (this time, it seems), she can be damn right. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/7 "2006-05-30T17:55:41Z")
Well, considering that in the context in which I understand the word, it is meant to mean “white \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_”, i.e., one who wishes to affect the stereotypical behavior of young african american males. And given that it is usually used in a negative or derisivie way, I would say that it violates the rules of good taste. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/8 "2006-05-30T18:07:20Z")
Yeah it manages to be offensive in about 3 different ways, no mean feat. (Offending the original targets of the racial slur, offending people by comparing them to the original targets of the slur, and offending them by implying they do a _bad job_ of emulating them.) ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/9 "2006-05-30T18:14:10Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Yeah it manages to be offensive in about 3 different ways, no mean feat. (Offending the original targets of the racial slur, offending people by comparing them to the original targets of the slur, and offending them by implying they do a _bad job_ of emulating them.) Right. However, on the your second point here, I think the gentleman in question would’ve taken that as a compliment. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/10 "2006-05-30T18:14:20Z")
Lame-ass white kids trying badly to imitate black street lingo and mannerisms is more offensive than the word “wigger” by a factor of about 1000. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/11 "2006-05-30T18:21:17Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Lame-ass white kids trying badly to imitate black street lingo and mannerisms is more offensive than the word “wigger” by a factor of about 1000. Word. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/12 "2006-05-30T18:27:42Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Yeah it manages to be offensive in about 3 different ways, no mean feat. (Offending the original targets of the racial slur, offending people by comparing them to the original targets of the slur, and offending them by implying they do a _bad job_ of emulating them.) Agreed, bad word all around. ---
**Author:** ![Merhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/13 "2006-05-30T18:31:47Z")
> [@Evil One](#): > > Well, considering that in the context in which I understand the word, it is meant to mean “white \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_”, i.e., one who wishes to affect the stereotypical behavior of young african american males. Wow, I never realized what a sheltered life I’ve lead. I was sitting here trying to figure out WTF that word meant. :smack: Thanks for enlightening me. I think! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/14 "2006-05-30T18:31:53Z")
Phew. I was beginning to think nobody saw it from an alternative perspective. Not that **Diogenes** said it wasn’t racist, per se, but he did make a point I felt needed to be made. Namely: those kids make me sad. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/15 "2006-05-30T18:32:13Z")
Saying the word “wigger” is racist, cheapens the struggle of racism’s real victims, IMO. That kid chose to awkwardly force himself into another culture–it’s always awkwardly IME, as I’ve never seen a white kid pull it off (I tried back in high school, too)–he wasn’t born wearing bling-bling and a sideways baseball cap. If he doesn’t like the fact that he can’t get respect, he can easily change his appearance to fit the exact archetype that’s most desired in business. People who are really subject to racism don’t have that option. > [@Birdmonster](#): > > but sometimes (this time, it seems), she can be damn right. Bullshit. Do you know what racism is? Does she? I’ve been discriminated against because of my race–in elementary school, granted, and by other kids rather than by The System as I am white but I was by far the minority (like 5%) race in my school and Jewish to top it off. It is a damn sight far from whatever imagined suffering poor Tim-izzle deals with when he’s trying to get black girls’ phone numbers. It’s not about old people shaking their heads when you walk by–it’s about feeling like you can never find acceptance, like you’re doomed to be beat up physically and emotionally every day for the rest of your life by a majority who will throw you down on the ground and kick you and laugh like you’re some kind of blow-up clown instead of a real person, like you can’t turn any corner without the fear of running into someone who will taunt you at best and kick the living shit out of you at worst. It’s about feeling useless and unwanted, like you’ll never be OK, like you’re swimming upstream and you just want to be accepted but there is _nothing you can possibly do_ to turn back around and go with the crowd because no matter how hard you try to fit in people sneer and spit in your face until you run home weeping. It’s about being inhumanly polite and nice to people who get their rocks off beating you up and calling you names because you know that if you try to stand up for yourself it’s only going to get worse. It’s about feeling like a cockroach in a Terminix office, except instead of ending your misery by killing you right then and there each exterminator looks down at you and points and laughs and crushes one of your legs out of spite when you scuttle past them with your head down trying not to be noticed. _That’s_ racism. Your “be-nice-to-the-wigger” friend can fuck off. The little teenage boy can dress up and be treated like royalty whenever he feels like it. The people that _real_ racism affects don’t have that choice. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/16 "2006-05-30T18:40:24Z")
> [@Birdmonster](#): > > those kids make me sad. Watch it homey, o I might busta cap in yo ass. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/17 "2006-05-30T18:56:38Z")
**fetus** : The question is whether the word “wigger” is a racial slur, which, to me, isn’t the same thing as racism. For example, take it’s beginning-with-n equivalent: a racial slur, racist when whites use it, yet, some black folks trade it between themselves. In other words, it’s contextual. I think most people can agree with that. And I think there might be a small disconnect. I wasn’t saying that me calling FUBUboy a wigger was racially insensitive towards _him_ (on that point, I agree with you—he’s still a white kid in a costume and can change his clothes & affected personality freely) but was more worried about how it saying the word perceived by other people. What’s alright in one circle isn’t okay in another (getting back to that whole contextual issue). So, basically, this is an informal poll to see if anyone did think the word was a racial slur. And there are several already who do. For the record (and to address **fetus** ’s other point), I believe a racist act implies or insists on the superiority of one race over another. I don’t believe that the word “wigger” does either and was operating on that assumption. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/18 "2006-05-30T18:57:35Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > Saying the word “wigger” is racist, cheapens the struggle of racism’s real victims, IMO. That kid chose to awkwardly force himself into another culture–it’s always awkwardly IME, as I’ve never seen a white kid pull it off (I tried back in high school, too)–he wasn’t born wearing bling-bling and a sideways baseball cap. If he doesn’t like the fact that he can’t get respect, he can easily change his appearance to fit the exact archetype that’s most desired in business. People who are really subject to racism don’t have that option. As a “real victim of racism” I disagree. It’s not a good word because it often means "Look at the white kid lowering himself and acting lke one of those nigger boys. No one is saying “Tim-izzle” is getting discriminated against. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/19 "2006-05-30T19:00:19Z")
> [@Omega Glory](#): > > As a “real victim of racism” I disagree. It’s not a good word because it often means "Look at the white kid lowering himself and acting lke one of those nigger boys. No one is saying “Tim-izzle” is getting discriminated against. Fair enough. I personally wouldn’t interpret the word that way but I can see how other people would, and that it could be offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761/20 "2006-05-30T19:01:42Z")
> [@Omega Glory](#): > > As a “real victim of racism” I disagree. It’s not a good word because it often means "Look at the white kid lowering himself and acting lke one of those nigger boys. No one is saying “Tim-izzle” is getting discriminated against. Bingo. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-wigger-a-racial-slur/358761.md?page=2)