“Atticus,” I said one evening, “what exactly is a nigger-lover?”
“Scout,” said Atticus, “nigger-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
with some people like ourselves, when they want a common, ugly term to label
somebody.”
“You aren’t really a nigger-lover, then, are you?”
“I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody… I’m hard put, 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.”