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A word originated during slavery by white slaveowners to call slaves. Because they heard slaveowners use the word, Blacks took to calling themselves nigger because that is how they heard themselves described. With African language and rituals forbidden, their only frame of reference was the slaveowners' language and rituals. After slavery, the word began to lose its bad connotations when used among Black people as way to take ownership of the word. In more recent years, the word shortened to the familiar nigga.
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