This racial slur was commonly employed by white Americans by the nineteenth century to refer derogatorily to people of African descent. Black Americans strongly objected to the use of the term. The Church Historian’s Press also condemns the use of this word but retains it in document transcripts to accurately present the historical record and to illuminate the oppressive racial landscape faced by Black Americans. (Easton, Treatise on the Intellectual Character, and Civil and Political Condition of the Colored People of the U. States, 40–41.)
Easton, Hosea. A Treatise on the Intellectual Character, and Civil and Political Condition of the Colored People of the U. States; and the Prejudice Exercised towards Them: With a Sermon on the Duty of the Church to Them. Boston: Isaac Knapp, 1837.