''Wigger'', or ''wigga'', is a term for a white person of European ethnic origin, who emulates the perceived mannerisms,
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
African-American culture
African-American culture refers to the contributions of African Americans to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from mainstream American culture. The culture is both distinct and enormously influential on Ame ...
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsnigger''.
One dictionary defines the term as a slang, derogatory reference to "...a white youth who adopts black youth culture by adopting its speech, wearing its clothes, and listening to its music." Another dictionary defines the term as "offensive slang" referring to a "...white person, usually a teenager or young adult, who adopts the fashions, the tastes, and often the mannerisms considered typical of urban black youth."
The term is generally considered derogatory, reflecting stereotypes of
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
,
black British
Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent.Gadsby, Meredith (2006), ''Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 76–7 ...
, and white culture (when used as a synonym of
white trash
White trash is a derogatory racial and class-related slur used in American English to refer to poor white people, especially in the rural southern United States. The label signifies a social class inside the white population and especially a d ...
). The '' wannabe'' connotation may be used pejoratively. It is also sometimes used in a
racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
manner by some non-black persons, not only belittling the person perceived as "acting black", but also demeaning black people and culture, by extension.
Phenomenon
The phenomenon of white people adopting stereotypical black mannerisms, speech, music taste, and apparel has appeared in several generations since slavery was abolished in the
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.
. The concept has been documented in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and other countries with a significant white population. An early form of this was the ''white negro'' in the
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
and
swing music
Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...
scenes of the 1920s and 1930s; as examined in the 1957
Norman Mailer
Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...
essay ''
The White Negro
''The White Negro: Superficial Reflections on the Hipster,'' a 9,000-word essay by Norman Mailer, connects the "psychic havoc" wrought by the Holocaust and atomic bomb to the aftermath of slavery in America in the figuration of the Hipster, or t ...
''. It was later seen in the zoot suiter of the 1930s and 1940s, the hipster of the 1940s, the
beatnik
Beatniks were members of a social movement in the 1950s that subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle.
History
In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the undergr ...
of the 1950s-1960s, the fascination with Jamaican
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul (also called white soul) is rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music performed by white artists. The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly-black Motown and Stax ...
of the 1970s (
soul music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...
sung by white singers), and the hip hop done by white rappers in the 1980s and 1990s.
Bakari Kitwana, "a culture critic who's been tracking American hip hop for years," has written ''Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, and the New Reality of Race in America.'' In 1993, an article in the UK newspaper ''The Independent'' described the phenomenon of white, middle-class kids who were "wannabe Blacks".
The African-American hip hop artist Azealia Banks has criticized white rapper Iggy Azalea "...for failing to comment on 'black issues' despite capitalising on the appropriation of African American culture in her music." Banks has called Azalea a "wigger" and there have been "...accusations of racism against Azalea" focused on her "...insensitivity to the complexities of
race relations
Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in the ...
and
cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...
."
Robert A. Clift's documentary, "Blacking Up: Hip-Hop's Remix of Race and Identity," questions white enthusiasts of black hip-hop culture. The
term of art
Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The context is usually a particu ...
''wigger'' "...is used both proudly and derisively to describe white enthusiasts of black hip-hop culture." Clift's documentary examines "...racial and cultural ownership and authenticity -- a path that begins with the stolen blackness seen in the success of Stephen Foster, Al Jolson,
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing".
From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...
,
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
, the
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
—all the way up to
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...
,
Vanilla Ice
Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Born in South Dallas, and raised in Texas and South Florida, Ice released his debut album, ''Hooked'', ...
(popular music's ur-wigger) and
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
." A review of the documentary refers to the wiggers as "white
poseur
A poseur is someone who poses for effect, or behaves affectedly, who affects a particular attitude, character or manner to impress others, or who pretends to belong to a particular group.
s."
One of the earliest examples of a wigger is to be found in the fictional character of Felix in
Harry Crews
Harry Eugene Crews (June 7, 1935 – March 28, 2012) was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. He often made use of violent, grotesque characters and set them in regions of the Deep South.
Life
Harry Crews was born June 7, 1 ...
' book ''All We Need of Hell''. Felix is the son of white parents who, as the narrative develops, begins to adopt the mannerisms, speech, and sensibilities of a black Southerner athlete he spends time with. Although the book was published in 1987, it was actually written in the 1970s. The character of Ed Wuncler III on the television series ''
The Boondocks
Boondocks are remote, usually brushy areas.
Boondocks may also refer to:
* The Boondocks (band), an Estonian rock band
* ''The Boondocks'' (comic strip), a comic strip by Aaron McGruder
** ''The Boondocks'' (2005 TV series), the television ser ...
'' is another example of a fictional wigger.
Lawsuit
A 2011 class-action lawsuit in the
United States District Court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...
for
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
alleged that the administration at a predominantly white high school showed a "deliberate indifference" in allowing a group of students to hold a homecoming event called "Wigger Day" or "Wangsta Day" since at least 2008. A plaintiff named Quera Pruitt sought declaratory judgment and $75,000 in punitive damages from the defendants for creating a racially hostile environment. On July 24, 2012, the parties settled out of court, with Pruitt awarded $90,000.Sarah Gorvin "Wangster Suit Settled for $90k", Red Wing Republican Eagle, 4 August 2012 /ref>
See also
*
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person.
In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...
Chav
"Chav" (), also "charver", "scally" and "roadman" in parts of England, is a British term, usually used in a pejorative way. The term is used to describe an anti-social lower-class youth dressed in sportswear.
*
*
*
* "Chavette" is a related te ...
*
Cultural cringe
Cultural cringe, in cultural studies and social anthropology, is an internalized inferiority complex that causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries.
It is closely related to the concept ...
*
Multicultural London English
Multicultural London English (abbreviated MLE) is a sociolect of English that emerged in the late 20th century. It is spoken mainly by young, working-class people in multicultural parts of London.
As the label suggests, speakers of MLE come fro ...
*
Negermusik
''Negermusik'' ("Negro music") was a derogatory term used by the Nazi Party during the Nazi Germany, Third Reich to demonize musical styles that had been invented by black people such as swing music, swing and jazz. The Nazi Party viewed these m ...
Negrophilia
The word ''negrophilia'' is derived from the French ''négrophilie'' that means ''love of the negro''. It was a term that avant-garde artists used amongst themselves to describe their fetishization of Black culture. Its origins were concurrent w ...
Jim Carrey
James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy te ...