" He asked the group of young men he was talking to - also of Yoruba origin - to
imagine themselves as ‘black youts’ and tell him what associations went with
being a ‘black youth He then asked them to see themselves as ‘Yoruba men’ and
asked them what associations went with that identity. The images they associated
with each identity were diametrically opposed. When he asked them if they
could see ‘Yoruba men’ going to prison for selling crack or stabbing each other
they said no; when he asked if they could see a black yout doing those things
they all answered yes. Obviously Yoruba men are perfectly capable of any
number of behaviours in reality, but the automatic associations are nonetheless
interesting. If ‘black yout’ can carry such connotations for black youth
themselves, how much more severe would the word ‘nigger’ be? And how much
worse might the perceptions of people that are not black youth themselves be? "

― Akala , Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire