Richard Pryor and his 'niggers'

I am sure I will offend someone with this title. This is the power of words - curiously, more than to insult, it sometimes has power to elicit a 'cringe response' in the readers. I guess the response depends on what concerns the reader more: political correctness or racism.
Anyway, that is not the point.
Richard Pryor died recently. I had seen some of his films, but I was no great fan - he swore too much for my liking. I watched a documentary on him a few days ago. He lead a colourful life, to say the least. The documentary was followed by one of his stand up performances from the 70s. As I watched him, I realised that he was a very talented man and the swearing was just part of his character. There are comedians who bank on a vocabulary of filth to get a laugh. He seemed different - I am sure even if all his swear words were bleeped out, you would still find his jokes funny.
He had this reputation for calling african americans 'niggers'. Now, this is something black men might get away with, but not something a different race could use without repercussions. He in fact called his first stand up album 'that nigger is crazy'.
Anyway, the way he used this word, it seemed as if it was not derogatory, well, if it was, he didn't seem to mind and neither did his fans.
In one of his acts, he describes a trip he made to Africa. The significance of what he said struck me, I could empathise with his feelings when he said this:
'Man, I went to Africa recently. It was amazing, it blows your mind. All around me I saw black men, from the sweeper to the president. As I sat in the hotel lobby and looked around, a voice in my head said to me - Richard, do you see black people all around you? - to which I replied - yeah, man, black all around, I have never seen so many black people in my life. Then the voice said - Richard, do you see any niggers around you? I looked around again and said - no man, I don't see any niggers, only black people'.
I think I know exactly what he means. It is the dignity that a person is entitled to among his countrymen, something that eludes most people who live abroad. Of course most of those who live abroad do so of their own volition, no one has forced them to do it. Yet, there is a constant feeling of 'not being at home'. There are daily reminders of your differences, starting from when you look in the mirror in the morning.
Each person deals with this as best as he/she can. Most get by without thinking about this unless a personal experience forces them to acknowledge it. Work, worries, commitments, goals, targets, family, hopes, fears - well, life in general, carries them forward so that there is hardly any time to waste on whether people think you are a 'nigger' (or a 'paki' in my case - yes, in the UK, there is no distinction between Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Srilankans when it comes to racism - we are all 'pakis').
Nonetheless, there are occasions, for instance after you have just returned from a holiday back home, when Richard's words have a special meaning:
'In Africa, there are no niggers, only Black people'