My understanding is that it just means black in Romanian, which is the refs nationality. If you type black into Google Translate, the returned word in Romanian is Negru. So why would Google Translate return a slur word as the first choice? It is clear to me it is just a pure translation into the word black. I think it is a bit arrogant that just because we speak English, other peoples languages should be changed to accommodate ours. I've said this many times and I will say it again. I think you should not look at what someone says, but the intent behind what they say. Otherwise, you will just ended up with a divided society with everybody pointing the finger. Oh wait, that is what is happening already! In fact, it has gone to the extremes. The more severely reprimanding people become on perceived insults, the more hate, division and fractured society has become. If we just stop to think a little, and encouraged a lot more tolerance of one another, the world would be a better place, in my dinosauric view.
I personally think what happened was that the Romanian guy spoke in his own language, this was overheard by the black guy, who then thought he was referring to him as the phonetic equivalent. Then he felt offended, which is understandable. But then, when he found out that the guy was just speaking his own language, he tried to pivot his argument towards a different angle, saying you shouldn't use race to describe someone. That is my view. It is like when you go berserk over something and then find you were wrong, it is embarrassing to back down. So, he tried to save face. Or even in the process of trying to save face, rationalising to oneself that indeed the different angle warrants a similar level of aggression. Then, everybody follows suit because people are scared of being labelled racist. So you end up with a with a consensus, forced on those by a kind of social oppression.
The consequence of not admitting your own errors in this type of situation can lead to a totalitarian society where speaking to someone of colour is a minefield. This creates division, in my view. If you want more integration, don't make it risky for innocent-mind people to create connections with those of a different race. A similar thing is happening with gender in America, where many men don't want to be in a room alone with a woman at any time, in case an accusation of sexual assault is thrown their way.
