Do we know who he was referring to and why? If it is okay for black people to use the word and he was using it in the same way, why should it be considered worse?

I was thinking about how it is said people are reclaiming a word (like the n-word or "queer") or taking away its power to hurt by using it. Perhaps it is the altered definition of the word (thanks to the adoption of many blacks) that Cooper was using. I hear young black guys using it constantly.

My thought is that nobody should be using it, that the usage of the word by many blacks is simply wallowing in its negativity. Leaving permissible usage only for those who were historical targets of a word is a sort of sociological impediment.

If we are really going to neuter or reclaim the word, whites should be using it, prolifically. We should use it against whites and blacks. We could use it in a friendly or a disparaging manner.

I think Cooper really is only upset because he is white and got caught. I don't have evidence he is a racist, any more than the blacks who use the word. The n-word has taken on a broader meaning and I wouldn't be surprised if that is the sense in which he used it. It's pathetic he can't be more honest about it.