I'm not arguing that it isn't a derogatory word, because it is. I'm arguing that the word isn't any different from other derogatory words. Nigger isn't magically worse than the other words, and citing it's origin because of it is stupid.
Nigger, just like Fag and Retard, were not created to be derogatory words, I don't care how you phrase it.

Originally Posted by
Wikipedia
In the United States, the word nigger was not always considered derogatory, but was instead used by many as merely denotative of black skin, as it was in other parts of the English-speaking world.
Northern abolitionists used the word too, and not to be racist assholes obviously. It was just the term to call black people to them, whereas for the southerners it was a racially charged word which was derogatory.
I'd argue the term is more derogatory today simply because everyone thinks it was solely used to make slaves feel like shit, which is wrong.