nig

“This book was titled homie because I don’t want non-Black people to say my nig out loud,” writes Smith in an introductory note.

“This book is really titled my nig.”

Unlike Skeet, who was wont to shove her nose under Thornton’s hand and nudge and nudge till petted, or Nig, who would stalk up and rest his great head on Thornton’s knee, Buck was content to adore at a distance.

Skeet and Nig were too good-natured for quarrelling,—besides, they belonged to John Thornton; but the strange dog, no matter what the breed or valor, swiftly acknowledged Buck’s supremacy or found himself struggling for life with a terrible antagonist.

But still, it was always just under the same surface that our Marine saw “nig”-ness through.