explain to Atticus that it wasn’t so much what Francis said that had infuriated me as the way he had said it. It was like he’d said snot-nose or somethin’. 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