I think what ioan is saying is why do Black people call each other that term? Ok, most of my black friends use it among themselves, almost synonymous with the word brother, but when some one who is not black uses it (In a NON-offensive way, as in the term meaning brother), some of them get offended. The people who don't get offended are the people who know the guy calling them that, usually. Also, people here don't just use the "n-word" for black people. Indian, Asian, White, Latino, are all called it. As I said, its not a derogatory term here for the most part, but more like "Hey nigga" = "Hey Brother"....