[Dixielandjazz] Just an Alabama...

[James Kashishian]

Dan asked, and Jim B. answered........

 Dan, I don't beleive that 'Nigger' was necessarily a deragatory term
years
ago.  It was in early usage simply a word to denote people of dark skin.
The same goes for 'darkie.'

And, I add......

My Mother married a St. Pete, Florida fella (a native of Florida) who
used those terms all the time, but with no particular meaning to them as
far as I could gather.  They certainly weren't used in a derogatory
manner by him.  

My kids today are shocked that I refer to "blacks" as Negroes....as
being of the Negroid race.  
That was the term used when I used to live in the States.  Each era
seems to have its own proper terms that should be used.  And, of course,
my "phrases" are somewhat stuck in the 1950's.

Jim