It's too bad some people are so sensitive. I am called "dago" all the time. I call myself dago. This is supposed to be an offensive term for us Italians. I am not offended at all. I have even been called a dumb dago many times, which is even more offensive. I am proud to be a dumb dago.
A couple of years ago, I decided to apply for vanity plates when I renewed my vehicle registration. I asked for HEYDAGO. The BMV rejected my request saying it was too offensive and might provoke road rage. They may be right. Looking back on it, the way things are today, it was probably a good thing it was rejected
When my father worked for the SEC back in the 70s/80s/90s he had a group of guys in his teams that were all his buddies. He never picked them for skill, just for friendship. I guess they must have done decent work, no idea really.
They were black, Jewish (my dad), Polish and Italian. They would call each other the most hideous racist names and laugh about it. I think you would be fired today if someone every heard about it. They were all at my Bar-Mitzvah party. It wasn't about hate, they loved each other. When I would come to the office - they would all tell me racist jokes about their own ethnicities.
I will tell you one particular joke my Dad made that got him in trouble once. Towards the end of his career in the 90s, he was honored for diversity in always including the black person in his team. His response was 'He always takes him along because he needs his shoes shined in the morning.'. He got spoken to about it, but nothing really happened because the target of the joke defended him.
