It's the CONTEXT that matters. Many black folks use the N word amongst themselves as a term of endearment. I was trying to disagree with Rad when he says that it's offensive in ANY context. That is just not true.

For example, I sang "Congo River" once with a black friend in the audience and he loved the song and wasn't at all offended by the term "Black Sheep". But I'm sure that I could have used that very same term in an offensive manner if I had wanted to.

I also had another black friend refer to me as 'A Honky' one time. I wasn't offended because I knew that it was just a part of his speech and that he didn't intend to offend me.

Bert.