yes i would be offended!
Why?
it's a WORD and your fellow black's use it to reference each other all the time.
it's no different than me saying "what's up my friend".
the blacks have made it into a term for "homie or dawg or Gee".
it doesn't mean "slave".
i'm not racist by any means but if you and your "brothers" can say it, so can i.
i've been called a redneck and a cracker, but just laughed about it. if i made an issue out of it "I" would be a racist. doesn't make sense does it?
