I don't think I can explain this without saying something politically incorrect, but here goes. The black community has reclaimed the word and re-purposed it as a cultural identifier and acknowledgment of history and hardship. I had a black companion who was from an upper-middle class family, and his use of it was unacceptable, given that he had no concept of hardship in his upbringing whatsoever. It's not about race so much as class standing, I suppose.
This is what I learned from discussions about a class taken on the matter, mind you. I definitely don't know anything first hand, and I can't pretend to either.
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