Did you know that the word "thug" is racially charged? [Details]?

Sorry the link is audio.

I have been thinking about this for the past few hours and it still makes no sense to me.

When blacks say ‘thug’, it’s the same as them saying ‘nigga’?
When whites say ‘thug’, it’s the same as them saying ‘nigg*r’?
When the religious right says ‘thug’, isn’t it assumed they’re talking about jackbooted whites?

Until today I thought a thug was a heavy handed bully. Now I know that “The word “thug” has been used so many times by the same sort of people about the same sort of thing that it’s no longer even accurate to call it code—it’s really more of a shorthand. It means a black guy who makes white folks a little more uncomfortable than they prefer.”