Nobody can give a word any more power than you give it, yourself.

You're playing a dangerous game, on this page. If we have any word 'banned' (I saw mwah arguing saying the word isn't banned, earlier. It seems clear to me that when we indiscriminately punish people for any small utterance of the word, it's effectively banned) because it might offend someone, where do we draw the line? Do we draw it at faggot? Cunt? Bitch? Fuck? You can't tell me that we use bitch any differently than nigger, because it simply isn't true (Hey, you fucking nigger! or Hey, you fucking bitch! or Hey, you hecking idiot!) It's rather clear that they all have a possibility to be used to that purpose. Instead of dealing with people having their feelings hurt, why don't we just issue a black and white ban on all of those? I don't think any of you have established that there is anything that separates these words (nor will you ever be able to, they all have the possibility to be used as an insult/offend someone), so until then either pick to ban all of them or allow them all under certain contexts.

Anyone who is worried about kids is just being stupid. I absolutely mean that. I do not know a single swear word now that I didn't learn on the bus in elementary school (8ish years old). That isn't hyperbole, either. I'm entirely serious. The thing is, the vast majority of kids already know these words. They also probably know that it's generally not OK for them to use these words. It isn't your job to parent everyone's kid, and I doubt they need your help(/censorship). The real world is much much harsher than the internet, I don't know why you people act like this is the sole place anyone will have exposure to curse words in general.

If it wasn't clear, I'm entirely for the unbanning of "nigger" in casual contexts. Obviously if someone is using the word to intentionally harass someone, then they deserve all kinds of punishment, but in a casual context I don't see a problem with the word.