History of The ''N'' Word

Answer 1

The word originated as a neutral term referring to black people, as a variation of the Spanish/Portuguese noun Negro, a descendant of the Latin adjective Niger ("color black"). Often used slightingly, by the mid-20th century, particularly in the United States, it suggested that its target is extremely unsophisticated. Its usage had become unambiguously pejorative, a common ethnic slur usually directed at blacks of Sub-Saharan African descent.