Sorry to break it to you, but it has ALWAYS been considered low-class to say the N-word. Not to say cruel and rude. I can remember my Mama smacking me when I was 6 for using it, which taught me a useful lesson. That didn't stop a lot of people from saying it, though, but there always were a lot of white trash in the South. But, you know, funny thing, I can remember it being said about as often when I lived up North. And not by blacks, either.
Some even made it to the Office of the President in 1992, and the Senate in 2000!