What adult is ignorant of the history of the N-word?
Looks like malakos already touched on it. Outside of America, hardly any. I’ve heard kids in other countries spouting off the n-word right and left, completely innocently of course. And when I asked them where they’ve heard of it, it was always “from music” oddly enough. Surely they typically grow up bit knowing the full history of the word—and who can fault them, really.
Meanwhile, inside America, there are a ton of people who know that it’s an offensive word. And they probably even have a rough idea of WHY it’s offensive, and what it relates to. But given education in America, I doubt most Americans who use the word REALLY know how much of a punch that word packs when it is used around the wrong people.
I would wager if you were to ask the average American about the impact of the word, the answer they’d give you would be something very simple... probably along the lines of “well it was used during times of slavery and segregation and it was just a word they used back then when referring to black people.”
Those who know better obviously know it isn’t “just a word”
remember back when Justin Bieber was under fire for the video that came out of him telling a joke as a kid that had the n-word in it? He was probably like 12 at the time the video was made. I can guarantee you, at that age, kids have a rough idea of American history—maybe not the details, but they know slavery and segregation was a think. I bet when he made that joke, he thought he was saying nothing more offensive than a swear word... like “fuck” or “shit.” Nonetheless, I highly doubt him using the word highlighted any particular hatred he had for black people in general—he was just ignorant.
Edit: just looked it up. Beiber was 15 at the time. So of course he had a rudimentary understanding of American history at that time, yet still used the word ignorantly