I know that Russians find all this debate about race etc a bit silly, and like to call people what they are.... I actualy find this sympathetic and I think racism lies in how you treat people, not in which word you use.
But this is no joke in Western Europe - you absolutely cannot say "negro" about a black person at work, or you'd be in serious trouble. People are prosecuted for calling someone "nigger". This happens quite a lot in the metro in London where many employees are black, from the Caribbean. People get angry because there is some problem in the metro, they fight with the staff and eventually a customer says something racist to the staff member at which point he can be sued.]

In Sweden, there is a very popular snack sold in cafes that has the word "neger" (negro) in it. It has gone by the same name for 50 years or so. But recently the dessert had to officially change name, because the old name was unacceptable! I did not know this, because I had been in the UK and the cafeteria staff member was totally shocked because I accidentally used the old name.



The snack that had to change names