"Next thing you know they'll be demanding that Nigeria changes its name, because it sounds too much like the 'N' word."

You think you're kidding? You're closer to the truth than you think, John. For example, the word "Niggardly":

On January 15, 1999, David Howard, a white aide to Anthony A. Williams, the black mayor of Washington, D.C., used the word [niggardly]in reference to a budget. This apparently upset one of his black colleagues, who interpreted it as a racial slur and lodged a complaint.

In late January or early February 2002, a white fourth-grade teacher in Wilmington, North Carolina was formally reprimanded for teaching the word and told to attend sensitivity training.[7] The teacher, Stephanie Bell, said she used "niggardly" during a discussion about literary characters. Parent Akwana Walker, who is black, protested the use of the word, saying it offended her because it sounds similar to a racial slur.

In 1995 The Economist magazine used the word "niggardly" in an article about the impact of computers and productivity. The Economist later pointed out with amusement that it received a letter from a reader in Boston who thought the word "niggardly" was inappropriate. "Why do we get such letters only from America?" the British magazine commented.[9] [!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????]

"Niggardly" (noun: "niggard") is an adjective meaning "stingy" or "miserly", perhaps related to the Old Norse verb nigla = "to fuss about small matters". It is cognate with "niggling", meaning "petty" or "unimportant", as in "the niggling details".

The definition and examples are all excerpted from Wikipedia, and I remember hearing of a couple of them contemporaneously.