--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nigger, you sure ought to be glad it was…" description: "\"“Nigger, you sure ought to be glad it was us you talked to that way. You’re a lucky bastard, ’cause if you’d said that to some other white man, you mig..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/richard-wright-4088_saturday-night_nigger-you-sure-ought-to-be-glad-it-was_968483.jpg" --- # Nigger, you sure ought to be glad it was us you talked to… ![“Nigger, you sure ought to be glad it was us you talked to that way. You’re a lucky bastard, ’cause if you’d said that to some other white man, you might’ve been a dead nigger now.” I was learning rapidly how to watch white people, to observe their every move, every fleeting expression, how to…” quote by Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/richard-wright-4088_saturday-night_nigger-you-sure-ought-to-be-glad-it-was_968483.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/richard-wright-4088_saturday-night_nigger-you-sure-ought-to-be-glad-it-was_968483.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/richard-wright-4088_saturday-night_nigger-you-sure-ought-to-be-glad-it-was_968483.jpg) > ““Nigger, you sure ought to be glad it was us you talked to that way. You’re a lucky bastard, ’cause if you’d said that to some other white man, you might’ve been a dead nigger now.” I was learning rapidly how to watch white people, to observe their every move, every fleeting expression, how to interpret what was said and what left unsaid. Late one Saturday night I made some deliveries in a white neighborhood. I was pedaling my bicycle back to the store as fast as I could when a police car, swerving toward me, jammed me into the curbing. “Get down, nigger, and put up your hands!” they ordered. I did. They climbed out of the car, guns drawn, faces set, and advanced slowly. “Keep still!” they ordered. I reached my hands higher. They searched my pockets and packages. They seemed dissatisfied when they could find nothing incriminating. Finally, one of them said: “Boy, tell your boss not to send you out in white neighborhoods at this time of”” [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrative recounts a harrowing encounter with police racism, highlighting the speaker’s learned vigilance and the danger of being a Black person in a white neighborhood. **In simple terms:** Racist police aggression forces constant vigilance. Key Takeaway Stay aware and seek justice. Themes racism police brutality survival Mood angry defiant Type social personal historical When to use this quote - urban cycling - night work - racial tension Key Concepts social injustice racial profiling Questions to Reflect On - How does systemic racism shape daily life? - What steps can reduce such violence? A Different Perspective The account may generalize experiences and lacks broader context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Curbing Nigger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curbing-nigger-1843547/) [Dead Nigger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-nigger-1843549/) [Nigger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nigger/) [Nigger Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nigger-hands-1843548/) [Nigger Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nigger-learning-1843546/) [Saturday night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saturday-night/) [White people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-people/) ## Related quotes > [“Unlike a snake or a bear, a dead nigger could not be skinned for profit and was not worth his own dead weight in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/unlike-a-snake-or-a-bear-a-dead-nigger-could-not-be-skinned-for/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Humnnn,” he grunted, then laughed. “A dog bite can’t hurt a nigger.” “It’s swelling and it hurts,” I said. “If it bothers you, let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/humnnn-he-grunted-then-laughed-a-dog-bite-can-t-hurt-a-nigger-it-s/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [MINSTREL, adj. Formerly a poet, singer or musician; now a nigger with a color less than skin deep and a humor more than flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/minstrel-adj-formerly-a-poet-singer-or-musician-now-a-nigger-with-a/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“This is just a nigger talkin', an' a busted-back nigger. So it don't mean nothing, see? You couldn't remember it anyways. I seen it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/this-is-just-a-nigger-talkin-an-a-busted-back-nigger-so-it-don-t-mean/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“it was worth half-cent to kill a "nigger", and a half-cent to bury one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/it-was-worth-half-cent-to-kill-a-nigger-and-a-half-cent-to-bury-one/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“I Ain't Got No Quarrel With The VietCong...No VietCong Ever Called Me Nigger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/i-ain-t-got-no-quarrel-with-the-vietcong-no-vietcong-ever-called-me/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [“Beloved, there is something black folk fear, whether you can see it or not, whether some of us black folk will say it or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/beloved-there-is-something-black-folk-fear-whether-you-can-see-it-or/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [“Nigger-eye Berries cast dark Hooks -- Black sweet blood mouthfuls, Shadows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/nigger-eye-berries-cast-dark-hooks-black-sweet-blood-mouthfuls-shadows/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Stagolee was, undoubtedly and without question, the baddest nigger that ever lived. Stagolee was so bad that the flies wouldn't even fly around his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-lester/stagolee-was-undoubtedly-and-without-question-the-baddest-nigger-that/) [Julius Lester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-lester/) > [“Both Richard and I sat silent and watched Jennifer Lee . She came across the room and over to us and swept our chess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-brown/both-richard-and-i-sat-silent-and-watched-jennifer-lee-she-came/) [Cecil Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-brown/) > [“Dear Momma―Wherever you are, if ever you hear the word "nigger" again, remember they are advertising my book.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-gregory/dear-momma-wherever-you-are-if-ever-you-hear-the-word-nigger-again/) [Dick Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-gregory/) > [“Why was "nigger" bleeped out? I mean, "nigger" is a word that exists. People use it. It is part of America. It has caused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/why-was-nigger-bleeped-out-i-mean-nigger-is-a-word-that-exists-people/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“He never denied it. He never did anything. He never acted like either a nigger or a white man. That was it. That was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/he-never-denied-it-he-never-did-anything-he-never-acted-like-either-a/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“Brian darling, I’m really not such an idiot that I don’t realize that if a man calls me a nigger it’s his fault the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/brian-darling-i-m-really-not-such-an-idiot-that-i-don-t-realize-that/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [Nigger Money talks trust me I know what I'm saying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trunxbeats/nigger-money-talks-trust-me-i-know-what-i-m-saying/) [Trunxbeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trunxbeats/) ## More by Richard Wright > [“My days and nights were one long, quiet, continuously contained dream of teror, tension, and anxiety. I wondered how long I could bear it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/my-days-and-nights-were-one-long-quiet-continuously-contained-dream/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [It made me love talk that sought answers to questions that could help nobody, that could only keep alive in me that enthralling sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/it-made-me-love-talk-that-sought-answers-to-questions-that-could-help/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“Having been thrust out of the world because of my race, I had accepted my destiny by not being curious about what shaped it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/having-been-thrust-out-of-the-world-because-of-my-race-i-had-accepted/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [He had lived and acted on the assumption that he was alone, and now he saw that he had not been. 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The novels created moods in which I lived for days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/reading-was-like-a-drug-a-dope-the-novels-created-moods-in-which-i/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [It would have been impossible for me to have told anyone what I derived from these novels, for it was nothing less than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/it-would-have-been-impossible-for-me-to-have-told-anyone-what-i/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“If you've a notion of what man's heart is, wouldn't you say that maybe the whole effort of man on earth to build a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/if-you-ve-a-notion-of-what-man-s-heart-is-wouldn-t-you-say-that-maybe/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“From far beyond the horizons that bound this bleak plantation there had come to me through my living the knowledge that my father was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/from-far-beyond-the-horizons-that-bound-this-bleak-plantation-there/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“Color hate defined the place of black life as below that of white life; and the black man, responding to the same dreams as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/color-hate-defined-the-place-of-black-life-as-below-that-of-white/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“These fantasies were no longer a reflection of my reaction to the white people, they were a part of my living, of my emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/these-fantasies-were-no-longer-a-reflection-of-my-reaction-to-the/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“Their constant outward-looking, their mania for radios, cars, and a thousand other trinkets made them dream and fix their eyes upon the trash of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/their-constant-outward-looking-their-mania-for-radios-cars-and-a/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“absolute power is corrupting”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/absolute-power-is-corrupting/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“In me was shaping a yearning for a kind of consciousness, a mode of being that the way of life about me had said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/in-me-was-shaping-a-yearning-for-a-kind-of-consciousness-a-mode-of/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [The impulse to dream was slowly beaten out of me by experience. Now it surged up again and I hungered for books, new ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/the-impulse-to-dream-was-slowly-beaten-out-of-me-by-experience-now-it/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“..when I tried to talk to him I realized that, though ties of blood made us kin, though I could see a shadow of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/when-i-tried-to-talk-to-him-i-realized-that-though-ties-of-blood-made/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) [Explore all 116 Richard Wright quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) ## More Nigger quotes > [Nigger Money talks trust me I know what I'm saying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trunxbeats/nigger-money-talks-trust-me-i-know-what-i-m-saying/) [Trunxbeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trunxbeats/) > [“Brian darling, I’m really not such an idiot that I don’t realize that if a man calls me a nigger it’s his fault the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/brian-darling-i-m-really-not-such-an-idiot-that-i-don-t-realize-that/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“He never denied it. He never did anything. He never acted like either a nigger or a white man. That was it. That was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/he-never-denied-it-he-never-did-anything-he-never-acted-like-either-a/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“Why was "nigger" bleeped out? I mean, "nigger" is a word that exists. People use it. It is part of America. It has caused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/why-was-nigger-bleeped-out-i-mean-nigger-is-a-word-that-exists-people/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“Dear Momma―Wherever you are, if ever you hear the word "nigger" again, remember they are advertising my book.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-gregory/dear-momma-wherever-you-are-if-ever-you-hear-the-word-nigger-again/) [Dick Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-gregory/) > [“Both Richard and I sat silent and watched Jennifer Lee . She came across the room and over to us and swept our chess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-brown/both-richard-and-i-sat-silent-and-watched-jennifer-lee-she-came/) [Cecil Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-brown/) > [“Stagolee was, undoubtedly and without question, the baddest nigger that ever lived. Stagolee was so bad that the flies wouldn't even fly around his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-lester/stagolee-was-undoubtedly-and-without-question-the-baddest-nigger-that/) [Julius Lester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-lester/) > [“Nigger-eye Berries cast dark Hooks -- Black sweet blood mouthfuls, Shadows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/nigger-eye-berries-cast-dark-hooks-black-sweet-blood-mouthfuls-shadows/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Beloved, there is something black folk fear, whether you can see it or not, whether some of us black folk will say it or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/beloved-there-is-something-black-folk-fear-whether-you-can-see-it-or/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [“I Ain't Got No Quarrel With The VietCong...No VietCong Ever Called Me Nigger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/i-ain-t-got-no-quarrel-with-the-vietcong-no-vietcong-ever-called-me/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [“it was worth half-cent to kill a "nigger", and a half-cent to bury one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/it-was-worth-half-cent-to-kill-a-nigger-and-a-half-cent-to-bury-one/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“This is just a nigger talkin', an' a busted-back nigger. So it don't mean nothing, see? You couldn't remember it anyways. I seen it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/this-is-just-a-nigger-talkin-an-a-busted-back-nigger-so-it-don-t-mean/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [MINSTREL, adj. Formerly a poet, singer or musician; now a nigger with a color less than skin deep and a humor more than flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/minstrel-adj-formerly-a-poet-singer-or-musician-now-a-nigger-with-a/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“The art of rap is deceptive. It seems so straightforward and personal and real that people read it completely literally, as raw testimony or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/the-art-of-rap-is-deceptive-it-seems-so-straightforward-and-personal/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) > [Wait a minute motherfucker! You gotta twerk a little It didn't work to me, Now turn back and make a try Now pick it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wait-a-minute-motherfucker-you-gotta-twerk-a-little-it-didn-t-work-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 87 Nigger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nigger/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Nigger, you sure ought to be glad it was us you talked to that way. You’re a lucky bastard, ’cause if you’d said that to some other white man, you might’ve been a dead nigger now.” I was learning rapidly how to watch white people, to observe their every move, every fleeting expression, how to interpret what was said and what left unsaid. Late one Saturday night I made some deliveries in a white neighborhood. I was pedaling my bicycle back to the store as fast as I could when a police car, swerving toward me, jammed me into the curbing. “Get down, nigger, and put up your hands!” they ordered. I did. They climbed out of the car, guns drawn, faces set, and advanced slowly. “Keep still!” they ordered. I reached my hands higher. They searched my pockets and packages. They seemed dissatisfied when they could find nothing incriminating. 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