Originally Posted by PornMD

Truth be told, I don't think cracker does or ever will have anything close to the same effect as n-word. N-word brings up slavery etc. - cracker brings up...Ritz?

Sure, it can be said sometimes where it may be offensive or cause hate/fear, but in most of those circumstances you could replace it with piece of shit, bitch, motherfucker, cocksucker (which ironically is not seen as a hate word but when you think about it...), etc. and the reaction wouldn't be different - it's more of the situation, tone, etc. N-word on the other hand - you simply cannot say it if you're not black and you're among black people. Maybe with REALLY close friends and of course "nigga" rather than -er, but otherwise probably not, regardless of context.