Now there is a larger conversation about our uses of the N word, B word, etc. and whether the targeted minority (or others) can use the words that's pretty interesting and thought provoking.  I have really progressive female friends who embrace the word slut and the b__ word just as a large cross section of the black people I know let an N word slip out every once in a while. And it would not, IMHO, be incorrect or inappropriate to argue that the government is being downright niggardly (look it up) with stimulus funds, but we have a strange relationship with these words of offense these days. We've lost all ability to see them in any sort of context. Good topic but I don't think this is the forum for it. I have a hard enough time trying to get traction on good debates about economic policy.  No need to further inflame.

My all time favorite comedian right now, Louis CK, uses it regularly and I think it is hilarious. Is that OK?

Two kids down the street, a black one and a white one, call each other the N word because they've known each other since birth and that's just the way they have grown up together. Is that OK if it is OK between them?

In various neighborhoods in Atlanta where I live, rap music (and its frequent use of the word) is so dominant that white kids call each other the word with affection without even thinking about or seeing a black person.  They have taken it as a term completely separate from its roots.  You can go on youtube and find thousands of white people using it that way. Is that OK?

As a black person who would be almost ready to fight if a white person said the N word to me in a bar in anger, I still think the answer is yes. All of the situations above are OK with me despite the fact that in certain contexts, I hate the word more than anything.

It's the reason I think it is silly to outlaw words under all situations.  Why give the word that power.  What matters most is the intent.