My son when he was in High School (a know-it-all white kid) said “It’s okay if you use the word ‘niggah’ that’s pretty much like ‘bro’ - but not nigger.”
I told him he better watch himself if he thought saying that was okay! Or ‘bro’ for that matter to a stranger. (I was reminded of that scene in “Gran Torino” with the wannabe white boy talking to the black guys harassing the Asian gal.)
Yeah, the situaton of a half-century ago don’t apply now.
But ethics never change...