As a white person, it infuriates me when people can't see why it's okay for a black person to use the word, but not a white person.

One of the most frustrating arguments usually goes something like, '...yeah, well black people use it in rap songs and call their friends it, so why can't I use it too?'.

I've had to explain several times to people WHY some people use the word. Taking a word that's been used against you in a derogatory way and then using it yourself takes away the power of the word. But that only works if the word has/can be used against you in this manner.

Non-black individuals using the word tends to comes from a variety of unacceptable places: racism, vindictiveness, trolling, but the worst for me is ignorance. If people stopped to think about it, they'd hopefully realise how dumb it is to say.