Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US black) an aggressive, tough black man who rejects the constraints and humiliation of the role the white authorities have selected for him.

1954		(con. 1920s–30s) J.O. Killens Youngblood (1956) 23: He heard a loud-mouthed cracker say — ‘Here’s that baaad nigger. We git through with him his pee gon be like water. We sure got what it takes for a bad-ass nigger’. [Ibid.] 37: Joe looked down into Mr. Pete’s fat face. Where had he heard those words before? Bad ass nigger. Smart ass nigger— [...] Control yourself Joe. Don’t get in no trouble with white folks.
1973		Andrews & Owens Black Lang. 24: Ass has three or more distinct meanings in the phrases A Good Ass, The Bad Ass Nigger, The Big Ass Man, and The Fine Ass Broad.
1976		Coombs & Fry Socialization in Drug Abuse 118: Negroes may refer to him as ‘a bad-ass nigger.’ And Italians call him ‘a guy with a pair of balls.’ But across the boards, he is a stand-up cat.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 228: bad-ass(ed) nigger 1. Troublemaker. 2. Fighter. 3. Hot-tempered person. 4. General reference to a male who mistreats or demeans another, especially a female.
1989		J. Lansdale By Bizarre Hands 15: Here I’m still the nigger, but I’m THE NIGGER, the bad ass nigger, and no matter what these peckerwoods call me, they know it.
1994		R.P. McNamara Times Square Hustler 39: Oak is a badass nigger who looks like a fuckin’ oak tree.
2003		‘Ed McBain’ Eight Black Horses 3: It’s the bad-ass nigger you gotta watch out for.