warp & woof,

[Terrance]

More: 

>From the Alternative Dictionary: 

nigger (noun) 
    ++  black person  This is probably the most explosive
and volatile word in
    the English language, even more so than "mother fucker."
It is commonly
    used by Blacks amongst themselves, as in, "Hey!..little
nigga..wazzzup?"
    However, it is a VERY, VERY strong word when used by any
non-black
    person toward any black person. For more on the subject
of "Black English,"
    see The Totally Unofficial Rap Dictionary also provided
by Hans-Christian
    Holm. 


"Furthermore, the "nigger" of   hip-hop has qualities which
transcend any particular ethnicity or racial barrier."

http://www.revolutionaryjudo.com/newniggas.shtml

While this is indeed the case, that racial and ethnic
barriers  do not proscribe the use of the hip-hop sense of
the word, the history of transcending these barriers is
older than hip-hop and is not even exclusive to the minority
communities, Latinos, Native Americans, Asians, but is and
has been in common use in white America and other groups as
well. 



http://www.whydoblacks.com/

http://www.daveyd.com/nword.html

http://www.salon.com/books/it/1999/11/08/nword/