Why do so many white people want to use the "N" word?

[Moostache]

20. Semantics can be offensive to rational people.

Words are just a vessel for conveying emotion.
Emotion, when captured in symbols - be they words or gestures or facial expressions - convey information to another person.
This is essentially what separates humans from the rest of the animal world...we are able to share information on a scale and with a subtly that escapes most other life on this planet. That ability has allowed us to share history and skills beyond the immediate family or clan and it is suspected to be a possible difference between Homo Sapiens and Homo Neanderthal that allowed us to be here at all!

Is it really THAT big of a mystery why someone would direct the word "nigger" at another person?
What emotion is evinced in YOU when you hear it?

If it is revulsion or anger, then maybe that's exactly the point...maybe that is what the person using it intended.
If it is indifference or even affection, then once again that's the entire point - maybe they use it within the context of their own "in-group" and its offense is limited to you as a member of the "out-group".

This obsessive need to control the way other people communicate their emotions or intents is a colossal waste of time. You might as well scream at the skies to stop the rain or howl at the moon with the local canines.

Words are MEANINGLESS without the person hearing or reading them assigning the meaning and the impact. If the word on the page or in your inner ear, translated from electrical signals by YOUR brain is somehow "offensive", well then it might just be your problem and not the rest of the species'....