In several English-speaking countries, ''niggerhead'' or ''nigger head'' is a former name for several things thought to resemble the head of a black person (cf. "

nigger In the English language, the word ''nigger'' is an ethnic slur used against black people, especially African Americans. Starting in the late 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been progressively replaced by the euphemism , notably in cases ...

"). The name is now taboo in normal usage. The term was once widely used for all sorts of things, including nautical

bollard A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. It now also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to prevent automotive v ...

s and consumer products including soap,

chewing tobacco Chewing tobacco is a type of smokeless tobacco product that is placed between the cheek and lower gum to draw out its flavor. Some users chew it, others do not. It consists of coarsely chopped aged tobacco that is flavored and often sweetened; ...

, stove polish, canned oysters and shrimp, golf tees, and toy cap pistols, among others. It was often used for geographic features such as hills and rocks and geological objects such as

geode A geode (; ) is a geological secondary formation within sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Geodes are hollow, vaguely spherical rocks, in which masses of mineral matter (which may include crystals) are secluded. The crystals are formed by the fill ...

s. The term appears in several US patents for mechanical devices prior to about 1950. Languages other than English have used similar terms to describe

chocolate-coated marshmallow treats Chocolate-coated marshmallow treats also known as Chocolate teacakes are confections consisting of a biscuit base topped with marshmallow-like filling and then coated in a hard shell of chocolate. They were invented in Denmark in the 19th centu ...

. In 1955, the Aughinbaugh Canning Company of

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

renamed its "Nigger Head Brand" oysters to "

Negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

Head Brand" following pressure from the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

. More than a hundred "Niggerheads", and other place names now considered racially offensive, were changed in 1962 by the

U.S. Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

, but many local names remained unchanged. In October 2011, while

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republica ...

was running for president of the United States, controversial reports that his family leased a hunting camp once called "Niggerhead" caused his record on racial issues to be scrutinized. In August 2021, a large boulder at

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

was removed after protests by students. The

Black Student Union In higher education in the United States, a Black Student Union (BSU) is an organization of Black students, generally with a focus on protest. Historically functioning as a Black counterpart to the largely white organization Students for a Democrat ...

petitioned the university to remove the rock because it had once been described in a 1925

Wisconsin State Journal The ''Wisconsin State Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin. As of September ...

article as a "niggerhead."

References

External links

*{{Wiktionary-inline, niggerhead, nigger head English toponyms English words Anti-African and anti-black slurs

See also

References

External links