I worked in the oilfields, coon ass was acceptable in a jocular fashion among the roustabouts from Louisiana, a term called redbone would, quite possible, get you killed.
Those that know, will agree. Et toi?
Moi, I might agree, my ownself, since I have never used the term derogatorily. However, I'm not Cajun, so perhaps there are some who do find it offensive. None who have ever come into my circle have found it to be, either, so I've used it affectionately, or so I thought.
Here are some different viewpoints about it. As far as the other term, all I know about it is that it's Leon's last name and I have a lot of his CDs cause I like him a lot.
Here ya go - some discussions of the term "coonass" and also "coonie" in some places:
http://www.coonass.com/whycoon.htm
http://www.cajunculture.com/Other/coonass.htm
WARNING: Explicit language
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20000815
WARNING: Explicit language
http://www.asteur.org/issue-coonass.html
http://www.geocities.com/bourbonstreet/3076/racoon.htm