Ok man, I’m not sure why you have quite such a bee in your bonnet about this, but this is an unhealthy number of replies to a single comment.

I’m not talking about what should be the case, I’m talking about what is the case. Black people’s fairly recent history of slavery makes many racial issues particularly fraught. The n-word has its root in this history which, I think m is one reason why it carries that but more weight.

I’m in no way trying to minimise the pain or racism suffered by other minorities. I’m still baffled how you’ve got that from anything I’ve said. This is about language, not suffering. It’s simply a question of how words are used. You might feel that “fool” should be considered just as offensive as “cunt”. Maybe you could even make a compelling argument. But if nobody feels that way, your opinion about how words should be treated is irrelevant.