There was a long time before that when we , as a nation, were not so squeamish about ethnic stereotyping, and every ethnic group had some sort of quasi-derogatory nickname.
When I was in the Navy back in the '60s, people often got nicknamed by ethnicity, with no malicious intent intended. I've known plenty of guys called "Polack" or "Guinea", or "Wop" and things like that.
We called the black guys in the crew "the brothers", the black guys often referred to each other as "my niggah" (and so did we, as a sign of camaraderie).
The black guys who didn't especially care for white people called us "honkies", "whitey", and "blue-eyed devils". And you have to understand something. We did this to one anothers' face, and it was rarely provocation for a fight. We didn't sweat that kind of name calling any more than you got really upset at the things your brothers called you at home.
We understood that when you mix different groups of people together, ethnic differences and rivalries will occur. Remember, many of these men were from small towns and had never met so many people that weren't like them. But there was a big difference in how men handled their personal relations at that time.
There was no such thing as liberal "political correctness", and nobody had any particular qualms about this vaunted "N" word.
If you used it as a direct insult to another man, it was fighting words, we all understood that, and that rarely happened.
But since us enlisted guys were all at the bottom of the ship's hierachy, we all spoke openly about us being the "[substitute N word here, for the sake of gentle sensitivities] of the ship.
Perhaps that was because as part of the crew of a destroyer, we all considered ourselves as brothers. We really were like this big family group. And since there's nowhere to run on a destroyer when the sh*t hits the fan, you need to be able to rely on your brothers, all of them, because they might have to put their lives at risk if you get in a jam. And you have to be able to be assured that they will do that without a second thought.
But all this seems to indicate to me is that you are probably young guys and I'm an old fart.
It used to be that only people raised to be "ladies" or "gentlemen" didn't use that kind of language. I was raised to believe that "nigger" was an impolite word that nice people didn't use. My mother washed my mouth out with soap for that kind of language. But aside from that, it was in very common usage.
It wasn't until the tenured radicals from the '60s took over education that the word evolved from mere rough language to the status of mortal insult, something we have to describe with a letter only, so that the wrath of the Gods of PC don't descend on us with fire and brimstone.
But as a final piece of advice; if you don't talk like that, then it speaks well on your behalf. Judging people as a monolithic group entity is stupid, and a practice that just doesn't work when you deal with other people as individuals. And if you are smart enough to deal with others as individuals, you are already way of many of the generations that have come before you.
Sounds like I'm younger than you, but not by a whole lot. And I'm certainly not as young as you're thinking. I'm 51.