>>106686742"Nigger" is an insult now that the shared understanding of the word is that it's dehumanizing and hateful, but in the past it was just a diminutive thing you could call a pet affectionately in the same way you might call your pet or your spouse something like "doll," "baby," "monkey," "my sweet," etc. Something that's kind of endearing because it's silly and beneath you but you own it.
It sound even worse to say "No, it wasn't hateful, it was more like it was all in cute fun to say 'oh you're my sweet little nigger boy,' don't you see?" But at the time it literally was in line with what was understood and accepted without really making Lovecraft a stand-out example of a hyper racist dick just for that.
