Just to be clear (Why you sound like an asshole when you whine about not being able to say the "N" word)

 The reason white people can't use the n word is because it is terribly offensive. I tend to make a cross reference to the word queer when talking about this. 50 years ago the word queer was terribly offensive, but over much work and dedication, the LGBTQ community has reclaimed the word as their own, even dedicating fields to "queer studies" and pins that defiantly say "queer as fuck" which I love. When a community reclaims a word that used to be used against them, it makes the word lose power. A similar reclamation has happened with the n word in African American communities. By calling each other it as a way of saying bro or homie, it makes the word lose it's sting. We as white people sound fundamentally stupid using the n word for a variety of reasons. 1, there is nothing cool about white people using a word that relates to a legacy of slavery and slave violence to people who's great grandparents endured years of terrible indentured servitude. Us calling people the n word just makes us sound like assholes, and rightly so. Moreover, we cannot even pretend that we relate to black culture enough to use the n word in a 'hood' way. White people are fundamentally ignorant to what it means to grow up black, and trying to pretend like we understand and that we vibe with their culture, again, just makes us look like assholes. It's not that you can't say the word, you can, you'll just look like an asshole. It's actually kind of due diligence for black people to remind us just how much of assholes we will look like if we use it.