Yeah. Words are just words and have no meaning untill you give them one. I wish people would be less serious where I lived.
I'm not racist or a bigot (other then when joking), and I totally agree with you. Words have no power unless you give them power. As someone who's white and has no oppression in my family (well not for maybe 5 generations going back to when my Irish ancestors came over here), it's easy for me to sit and say this next bit, but I believe it's true:
If people weren't offended by the N word, people would stop using it to offend people. I was taught growing up that you need to "consider the source". If someone is talking shit to you, they're someone you don't respect. If you don't respect someone, why would you care what they have to say about you?