By now we are all probably aware of the media flash-mob that has erupted over presidential candidate Rick Perry’s badly named hunting ranch leased plot near Haskell, Texas. There’s quite a story in the New York Times about it here.
Seeing the word used today, it reminded me of an odd experience in west Texas earlier this year where I heard the term used before. I had forgotten all about it until today. I hadn’t intended to write a story on this at all, but curiosity about that event led me down an interesting set of rabbit holes, so I thought I’d share what I learned about this ugly and offensive term and how surprising the wide and varied use of it is.
In the spring, I was at a conference/tradeshow in Oklahoma and Dallas where I showed some of our weather equipment. Reader may recall I blogged about the Japan earthquake and Tsunami while in a hotel room in Oklahoma City. The next week I was in Dallas. Shortly after the conference closed, I had the misfortune of driving along a stretch of lonely highway 82 between Dallas and Lubbock. I had to go through Lubbock because I needed to go to Muleshoe, TX, where there was an unsurveyed USHCN station I wanted to add to the surfacestations.org station database, and Muleshoe (only to discover later that Juan Slayton had added it already) was so that had to be my route so I could connect to Highway 388 which goes NW from Lubbock to Muleshoe, and then on to Fort Sumner NM where I wanted to verify a Google street view on an MMTS. My GPS, as GPS’s sometimes do had me going on some backroads, including Munday, TX which I thought had an odd name and I got turned around for a bit and found myself headed south on 277 to Haskell. Got that solved and headed west on 222 to connect to 82.
I found myself in a pickle when I reached Guthrie, TX because I was getting low on gas, and I hadn’t seen any gas stations. From the 82 bypass around Guthrie I spotted what looked to be a gas station, so I double back, took the exit and went into town. It was a gas station alright, long since closed and there was nothing else in town. I was afraid I’d find myself stranded in Guthrie. I was struck by the fact that I was in the middle of one of the biggest oil producing states, and there was not a drop of gasoline to be found. There was no cell service that would support web browsing on my phone either, so I couldn’t search for one.
So I drove around just a bit in Guthrie, until I spotted somebody I could ask. It was like a ghost town, but I finally found someone (actually they found me because parked and waited and he rode by on a bike) and I flagged the guy down and asked where I might find some gas. He thought a moment and said “There’s no gas here, nearest is either Ralls or Crosbyton”. I asked where those towns were and he said: “on 82 (pointing west) out past the niggerheads, and then past Dickens”. I said “What? Niggerhead? Is that a town? and he looked at me like I was from another planet (I didn’t tell him I was from California) and he said “no that’s the hills, you’ll see em, and then ya go through Dickens, and Crosbyton, and then Ralls. One of ‘em should have gas.”
I did find gas in Crosbyton, after driving west on 82 through the hills the man described which you can see here in Google maps.
The term “niggerheads” was puzzling and odd, but I figured it was just some local colloquialism, and I didn’t give it another thought…until today.
So after being bombarded with all the news stories about how offensive this term is, and noting that some of the same people doing reporting lambasting Perry over the name of a ranch called “niggerhead” have absolutely no trouble at all calling people like me and the readers of WUWT “deniers” (Think Progress, Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, among others) which is also an ugly and offensive term due to the connection to “holocaust deniers”.
So, I thought I’d see what I could find on it. I figured if it was some sort of local colloquial term when I heard it in Texas last spring, I’d find it in older books and maps.
So in my first Google search, amongst all the news stories about Perry, I found my first clue as to why I heard the term, in Wikipedia:
The term was once widely used for all sorts of things, including products such as soap and chewing tobacco, but most often for geographic features such as hills and rocks.[citation needed] In the U.S., more than hundred “Niggerheads” and other place names now considered racially offensive were changed in 1962 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, but many local names remained unchanged.[1]
So that explained why the fellow I asked directions from used the term for the hills I’d drive through. The NYT article I cited above also mentions this.
I can understand how it is offensive, and I can certainly see removing it. But I think removing it is going to be a much bigger job than the bloodhounds in the mainstream media thinks. Just look at all the references to the word in science and engineering and geography:
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Nigger Head, an island in North Queensland, Australia
United States. Bureau of Fisheries – 1921 – Free Google eBook – Read
NIGGERHEAD GROUP. The shells of the niggerhead group distinguish themselves from all others of the Quadrula class by combining a … In buying mussels for button manufacture the price is often based upon the percentage of niggerheads.
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen – 1911 – Free Google eBook – Read
One chamber casting (acting as a nigger head), is bolted centrally to the dry pipe in such a manner as to have the fingers … As the throttle is opened, steam is admitted through the dry pipe to the header which acts as a nigger head.
The vegetation of New Zealand – Page 157
books.google.com Leonard Cockayne – 1921 – 456 pages – Free Google eBook – Read
3- Niggerhead (Carex secta)-association. Here shock-headed masses of C. secta are dominant raised above the water on … Niggerhead -swamp contains many of the ordinary swamp-plants and many transitions occur between it and Phormium-
License my roving hands: poems and stories – Page 19
books.google.comJuanita Tobin – 2000 – 57 pages – Preview
NIGGERHEAD ROAD The squeaky, old doors have closed forever on a school, a drug store and train station with a telegraph office where matrimonial ads and baseball games were transmitted as well as business on the stock exchange and a …
International Association of Bridge, Structural, and Ornamental Iron Workers – 1905 – Free Google eBook – Read
THE MAN ON THE NIGGER HEAD. His legs are poor, he can’t go aloft, In the “bull” gang he is dead; But should the boss throw a line across He is first to the ” nigger head.” He keeps the line coiled neat and trim, But I have often heard it…
In the Alaskan wilderness – Google Books Result
books.google.com/books?id=BHUtAAAAYAAJ…George Byron Gordon – 1917 – Alaska – 247 pages
This is what is called nigger- head and muskeg in the language of the North. … on any map of Alaska), and prepared to do all the portaging ourselves. …
Highway to Alaska
books.google.com Herbert Charles Lanks – 1944 – 200 pages – Snippet view
16 Niggerhead and Horse Camp Lakes The next day I decided to explore ahead on foot, for there was no one in camp who seemed to know the condition of the road. They said that the last vehicle had got through way back in April, …
The Pennsylvania barn: its origin, evolution, and distribution in … – Page 263
books.google.com Robert F. Ensminger – 2003 – 348 pages – Preview
The development of the nigger head in central Pennsylvania was examined under ” Tying Joints and Bent Raisings” (see … The emergence of the nigger head may also result from a simplification of the double tie beam, which is commonly …
Journal of conchology: Volume 11 – Page 214
books.google.com Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland – 1906 – Free Google eBook – Read
Moreover the growth of the shells is very slow, the time required for a “nigger- head” to reach a size of three … The standard is the “niggerhead.” In 1897 the market value of this species in Muscatine ranged from 40 to 62 cents per …
The mineral resources of New South Wales – Page 402
books.google.com Geological Survey of New South Wales, Edward Fisher Pittman – 1901 – 487 pages – Free Google eBook – Read
There is another peculiar form common on the field, known as a nigger head. These nigger heads are usually oval or spherical masses of more or less opal- impregnated, fine grained silica ; they are of all sizes from 1 lb. to 1 cwt.,
California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current … – Page 258
books.google.com Erwin G. Gudde, William Bright – 2004 – 460 pages – Preview
and Niggerhead Mountain [Los Angeles Co. ] (which probably reflect the now obsolete term “niggerhead” in the sense of … Note that the term “Niggerhead” in place names may refer not to the head of a Negro, but rather to a flanged drum …
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So clearly, the offensive term is well established in literature and placenames. It will take time and effort to remove it.
Remember the photo at the top of this story? Guess what the name of it was up until about a year ago.
Even politically correct California suffered (until recently) from a place called “Niggerhead Mountain” of which you can get an interactive map of right here at this link: http://californiamaps.org/place.php?county=Los+Angeles&feature=Niggerhead+Mountain
And while it still shows up in map databases, it too has recently been renamed:
History professor works to rename mountain in Los Angeles
Thanks to the work of a Moorpark College history professor, a Southern California mountain will be renamed to honor the man who first settled in the area and erase the original racial slur.
Good for him, it is the right thing to do. But it just goes to demonstrate that the current inhabitants of a place often get stuck with unfortunate names of the past, and that doesn’t necessarily make somebody who lives by that mountain in Los Angeles county a racist.
It also doesn’t make the people of Queensland, Australia, who have an island named “niggerhead”, racist. Wikipedia says:
Nigger Head is a small island in the Northern part of Shelburne Bay in far north Queensland, Australia about 30km North of Cape Grenville, Cape York Peninsula in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Queensland, Australia.[1] It is so named because it is an isolated coral outcrop; such outcrops were previously known as Niggerheads by British sailors.
And here it is, currently in the Australian Government Geoscience page:
I wonder if any Australian political candidates ever go fishing or diving near that island? Wow, wouldn’t that be a bombshell?
So clearly, with all the citations of “niggerhead” I found in books, maps, placenames, and professional journals, there’s a lot of work to do to erase the ugly and insensitive term. There’s also a lot of places where the term is used and there’s no outrage (yet).
In light of this, I think we all should cut Rick Perry some slack, because the one presidential candidate who would be the most offended by the term, Herman Cain, isn’t. From CBS News:
Cain said he is “done with that issue,” making the following comment in response to reporters’ questions: “Was I satisfied with Governor Perry’s explanation about the name of the ranch where he went hunting? And I said, ‘Yes I am. Next question.”
I suspect Perry told him some of the same things I learned about placenames and geography.
Now if we can just get those same reporters in the MSM to stop labeling skeptics with another ugly and offensive term “deniers” like Andy Revkin’s recent NYT story where he even goes so far as to promote a map, “A Map of Organized Climate Change Denial“, I and many others will feel far less offended.
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Note to commenters and moderators – I will NOT tolerate anything offensive related to this story in comments. All such responses will be deleted. – Anthony
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Muleshoe? Fort Sumner? Sheesh…! We could’ve met for lunch. One question though-is that your car in the two Ardmore pictures?
REPLY: No that’s a city of Ardmore vehicle in it’s designated parking space. BTW the MMTS in Fort Sumner we saw on Google street view is verified, and the observer at Muleshoe made no mention you had been there. – Anthony
The great (and much missed) George Carlin said everything sane and sensible about the use of the word “nigger” that need be said. I urge everyone to hunt for the piece on You Tube. In fact, I’ll do that myself when I get a moment, and paste the location here.
Carlin at his finest. And we all know how fine that could be.
Back in the Seventies, at the University of Minnesota, I was in a dormitory lounge with friends talking about all topics concerning fishing. I was covering the physical changes to some species of salmon and trout during spawning, when the jaws distort. The term is “kype”. A leftist snot busybody nearby launched into an attack about my anti-semitic word. I was confused for a moment, until I realized that he was referring to an old slur starting with “k”. I tried to explain his mistake, but his anger grew. One of my friends, a Jewish girl, tried to bring the guy to his senses, but he just turned on her, accusing her of knuckling under to racist monsters. The lunatic wasn’t Jewish himself. I will never back down to ignorant jerks on PC matters.
Mod: Can’t find the Carlin piece on You Tube. Obviously not permitted. A very great pity. But funny too, in an ironic way. The Carlin rant was precisely against such censorship.
Neil Jones : Same in France. Here, the pastry you mentionned is still called “tête de nègre”.
Nègre/negro is certainly an offensive word in North America and Europe. Is it also the case in other countries / territories or other cultural contexts ? Not necessary.
For example, a current of the french litterature is called “négritude”. The concept of “négritude” was invented in the 30’s by a famous black writer native of the french Antilles, Aimé Césaire (and notably re-used by the african intellectual / leader Léopold Sédar Senghor). The term “négritude” has clearly a strong positive meaning.
It is an interesting post Anthony. I must say though that the term is horrendously offensive in the same way as the term denier. There many sites who have used the term freely in the past, and now moderate and mention of it. It is not the word, it is as you rightly point out, the association. The word you refer to is also redolent of how inhumanly we have treated our fellow man. How we abused and killed them and saw them as subhuman.However we learned , we changed, we now hopefully understand the crimes that were committed. But just because some places still carry echoes of those terrible times does not make the name any less offensive and I believe they should be changed. After all, Would we be happy with names like Belsen road, Treblinka avenue or Ravensbruck hills? Like the word denier, these words carry an enormous power to hurt and offend . I would hope the local people would understand this and rename these places of their own volition without any need for legislation.
You may well have done a great service in raising this issue.
I was completely unaware of all the references to rocks, fish, etc. cited here in the comments.
Here is a one I seem to recall (very vaguely) from my youth. Wasn’t the term used for a variety of summer squash? . Perhaps. There seems to be no such usage now.
Some things are best left not to be commented on.
Point made Anthony.
@neil Jones (October 3, 2011 at 10:41 pm) http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/10/03/surprising-things-and-places-in-science-engineering-and-geography-named-niggerhead/#comment-758730
“Here in Switzerland (and in Germany) we have Mohrenkopf – Moor’s Head – (…) and there is no embarrassment at all with this traditional name.”
I’m not so sure about that. German “Negerküsse” (sometimes “Mohrenköpfe”) have become “Schokoküsse” or “Schaumküsse”, French “Têtes de nègre” are now “Bisous de Mousse”, English “Negro kisses” were renamed “Angel Kisses” and Finnish “Neekerin suukot” have become “Brunberg suukot”.
In the Netherlands “Negerzoenen” were recently renamed “Buys Zoenen”, or simply “Zoenen”. See here, where the term has been removed rather awkwardly.
Note that, in all those languages, the term does not have the same racist overtone as its English equivalent, probably because there is not such a strong connotation with slavery.
Here in Flanders we can still call’em “Negerinnentetten” (yes, that’s “N’s tits” (!)), which makes more sense, come to think of it.
Anyway, even if you call them “chocolate-coated marshmallow treats“, they taste the same.
the australian slang term ‘Jewfish’ (for the mulloway) is a contraction of jewelfish which is a reference the the large colourful scale on these fishes heads. You havent lived till you have caught a big ‘jewie’ of the beach at night
If Americans are offended by such a name, they should check out some Portuguese locality names…
😉
Ecotretas
Of course things change their mreaning over time, but the offensive word is directly derived from the latin ‘nigra’ or black which is still commonly used in the plant world.
As such the word was a practical description rather than the offensive word it has become
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigra
Tonyb
Soon everything will be grey and boring and our lobotomised brains will be pre-filled with an approved PC word-set which will be edited as necessary during our annual service so we can fulfill our pre-defined roles in society… The pen will no longer be mightier than the sword and a lot of us won’t want to live any more…
This article is another step along the way… What is it for?
In 1962 I was at a very liberal small college in Vermont. Every other week or so a hiking club there posted notices on the bulletin board about its next upcoming excursion. One of them, posted without comment, was to “Niggerhead Peak.” I went on that hike, as I had done on a couple previously to other destinations.
Later, my black roommate asked me what I’d done on the weekend. I said I went on a hike up a hill. Recognizing my embarrassment and guessing its cause, he made a wry face and laughingly said, “Oh, the one up Afro-American Nose.” I was surprised that he took it so lightly, but I figured that this matter would have been low on the list of things blacks had to worry about at the time.
I am deeply offended by political correctness. Please rectify this immediately.
First take control of the language. Delete terms that are unsuitable introduce terms that are suitable.
Then re-write history. Delete events that are not appropriate and emphasize events that support the cause.
Destroy artefacts and evidence of previous civilizations or cultures or any objects regarded as sacred or significant.
Be careful how you respond to my comments…I have a thin skin and I am very easily offended.
Be careful how you react to my actions…we are well armed and we will exterminate you.
History 101
Neil Jones says:
October 3, 2011 at 10:41 pm
“Here in Switzerland (and in Germany) we have Mohrenkopf – Moor’s Head – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate-coated_marshmallow_treats , and there is no embarrassment at all with this traditional name.”
Here in Germany these have been renamed to “Schokoküsse” (Chocolate kisses – before that they were called Negerküsse – Negroe’s Kiss). Totally PC. Similarly, a chocolate-covered wafer sold as “Togo-Brot” (Togo Bread) sells now, obviously, as “Schoko something”.
Nothing remarkable; but Germany is extremely PC in this regard.
The anecdotes about “black market” and “kype” are in the same vein as the documented hysteria by the illiterate over “niggardly.”. Facts don’t matter to some people, they must have their self-righteous moment. And too often the relevant authority fails to check the nonsense. They’d rather capitulate to end the tantrum.
Great post, Anthony. I’ve never been anywhere near Muleshoe TX but I could almost see and feel the scene from your story.
Also add an Australian rainforest tree called “niggerhead beech” to the list. Just change it to negrohead and the meaning should still be there without any offence.
This smacks of the left wing PC media trying to get a presidential hopeful a bad name. Perry must strike back ASAP.
I also recall the term being used in the 1950s relating to boulders in farmers fields. Reading the citations and comments makes me wonder which use came first.
An interesting connundrum.
One can see the offence that these names can cause today, but the overly sensitive nature (as demonstrated by the objection to the use of “Black” virtually anywhere), has diluted the message, if not drawn it into disrepute.
There’s a type of seed, much loved by our Goldfinches, originally called “Niger Seed”, now often renamed “Nyjer Seed”.
That possibly is more of a comment on the standards of literacy amongst some of the UK population, than of political correctness.
Personally I have troubles understanding this American obsession with PC.
The term “nigger” was offensive from the start as far as I’m aware.
Then the word “negro” became questionable and was replaced with “black”.
Then the word “black” became questionable and was replaced with “afroamerican”.
Now I wonder, just how long do we have to wait until “afroamerican” becomes questionable too? Probably not too long, my estimate would be a decade from now.
This leaves just one impression for those outside: that the American society does have a big ethnic problem (and probably more than one), but doesn’t have the guts to speak about it, and is trying to find refuge in word-games. 🙁
“Niger” in Latin means “black”. There is nothing more offensive in “black” hills than there is in brown or ochre.
Australian geologists used a dictionary of place names, the “BOM Gazetteer”. I’ve just searched for it to see it still has the location of Dripping Mickey Waterhole. Could not find it. Re reef structures still named niggerheads, one really has to see the verified origin of the word before calling foul. It’s quite possible it arose from “niggardly” meaning “recalcitrant”. In my school days in Australia in the 1940s there was no stigma associated with “nigger” because it was seldom heard around where I lived, though there were children from many countries in the classes. There were stainless steel cleaning pads called “Nigger Boy” and there was a type of sweet with licorice called “Nigger Boys”. I could go on and on, but the term was not meant to be offensive, so there is no reason for do-gooders to change it.
I once sat next to our Federeal Minister for Aboriginal Affairs while he berated me for calling an employee “Sambo”. I had little choice, because that was his baptismal name and he chose to have it used. The Minister said it was degrading. I said it was his name, period.
Just imaging what could be done with the snooker game “Pot Black”. Or the detergent advertised to give “The whitest white”. It’s about as relevant.
The dominant principle below this is that while you can make jokes about these matters, you have a healty relationship. When the jokes are used by others to impute evil, then you have a festering sore. There should be no legislation about “race”. We are all of the human race.