Lately, it’s on my mind the slanderous things people say that aren’t rooted in truth, and therefore don’t mean anything. So it was with great delight that I just came across the following passage in the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird:
“Scout,” said Atticus, “n*****-lover is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything — like snot-nose. It’s hard to explain — ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody’s favoring Negroes over and above themselves. It’s slipped into usage when some people like ourselves, when they want a common, ugly term to label somebody.”
“You aren’t really a n*****-lover, then, are you?”
“I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody…I’m hard out, sometimes — baby, it’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn’t hurt you. So don’t let Mrs. Dubose get you down. She has enough troubles of her own.”