It appears most do already!

some would say that it takes away the "power" associated with it. Wish the folks at Hallmark would have gotten the memo.

...some got the memo

Paula Deen and Quinton Tarantino are apples and oranges. To compare them would be like comparing a murderer to a director who makes a murder movie.

As an aside, I didn't follow the Paula Deen thing, but Tracy Morgan's comment rings true to me.

The whole issue looks overblown to me.

I think much of the "power" is removed as it is. Fifty years ago this was the ultimate insult as it referred to nothing but negative about a person. When anyone was called by such a term it implied they had nothing to offer and were among the most useless of people. If you were a member of this group you knew this was nonsense, and you could not help but be insulted by the constant reminder that at one time you and yours were considered 3/5ths of a population and not to be counted as a whole.

I think much of this memory has faded, hence the renewed used of the term among younger people.

But that is just my ignorant opinion. It would be interesting to see what insights others here might have, and I will be the first to admit that as a White skinned person I am on the outside looking in on this subject.

So words can change meaning over time? Do we still get to have some words mean two different things based on skin color alone when viewed by observers- and then the observer's skin color comes into play as well?

I offer up as an excellent example the very word under discussion.

I agree. I don't think black people a hundred years ago called each other nigga as a term of friendship. Is it possible for whites to use it as such?