When I worked at Fry's there was and still is a black woman named Myrna that worked the customer service desk.  She really was a nice gal and I liked her and talked with her a lot; but she was race 
conscious.  One time a gal came into the store (white) and  I said, "Boy, I haven't seen her in a coon's age", 
and Myrna said, "That's racist!". I said, "Oh, I didn't know that."  I asked the other customer service gal Sue (white) later if she knew it and she said she didn't know it either. I guess, I found out later, that blacks have been called 'coons' at some time in the past.  So, you never know what you are going to learn....