Wigger
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Wigger (alternatively spelled wigga, whigger or whigga) is a pejorative slang term for a person of European descent who allophilically emulates mannerisms, slang, and fashions stereotypically associated with urban African Americans, especially in relation to hip hop culture.[1]
The term most likely stems from a portmanteau of the word white and the derogatory term nigger. The word is considered offensive by some because of its similarity to nigger in addition to reflecting stereotypical notions about urban blacks.
The phenomenon of white people adopting stereotypical black mannerisms, slang, and apparel has appeared in several generations since slavery was abolished in the western world. The concept has been documented in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and other white-majority countries. An early form of this was the white negro in the jazz and swing music scenes of the 1920s and 1930s; as examined in the Norman Mailer essay, "The White Negro: Superficial Reflections on the Hipster"." It was later seen in the Zoot suiter of the 1930s and 1940s; the hipster of the 1940s; and the beatnik and rock and roller of the 1950s.
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References in popular culture
- The satirical newspaper The Onion sometimes features an accountant/wigger columnist, Herbert Kornfeld, whose columns are written in Black English slang remarkably similar to that of the Staten Island, New York rap group, Wu-Tang Clan.
- Hardcore/thrash crossover band M.O.D. has a song called "Whigga".
- In his song "The Way I Am", Eminem lashes out at the "cocky Caucasians who think I'm some wigger who just tries to be black 'cause I talk with an accent and grab on my balls."
- The film Malibu's Most Wanted is about a well-to-do teenage boy who emulates stereotypical elements of Hip hop culture.
- Chicago rapper Marz, who is of Croatian descent, is a self-proclaimed wigger. One of his common lyrical sayings is "I'm a wigger with an attitude". He has an Internet-released single called "Wigger Crown", which features lyrics such as: "If 50 Cent can go after Jigga and Nas/ I'ma go after the wigger crown/ y'all gone feel me now".
- British rapper Lady Sovereign has performed a song called "I'm a Whigga".
- The song Pretty Fly (for a White Guy), by The Offspring details how a wigger tries too hard.
- Wigger (1995) ISBN 1-55152-020-6 is a novel by Lawrence Ytzhak Braithwaite set in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It explores the class struggle, poverty, prostitution, exploitation of youth, desolation and absence of solidarity in a period of new negrophilia.
Footnotes
- ^ Bernstein, Nell: "Goin' Gangsta, Choosin' Cholita", Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers, 5th ed. 605
