Niggerness

Now if this scourge, this blues, this niggerness is so terrible; if it has been inflicted upon us for all these years; if it has infected the whole social and political body of this country and damaged its soul in the process, and if we have survived because we were “too damn mean to cry,”—not only because we “got good religion,” but because we “got good bread,” then we shouldn't even forget the experience, because it is a part of our uniqueness. We shouldn't ever forget the experiences of niggerness—the whole range of it.

The new millennium brings a new appreciation of niggerness not as resistance but collective embrace. Moreover, much like the Pet Rock or Pokémon fads that have captivated commercialized America, Dela declares that blackface has a craze that sweeps the nation.

Because to them it was only as if you were hiding your long black snake-writhing niggerness under your clothes while showing another color in your face, camouflaging yourself like a lizard. Nor did anything seem to confirm their their suspicions about the snake rubbery blackness of your hidden niggerness more convincingly than the sight of you dancing.