Is 'thug' a racial slur?

Has “thug” become the new and slightly more acceptable N-word?

President Obama and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake both used the term to describe mostly African-American looters in Baltimore. Other black politicians, plus some linguists, poets and other experts, say many people are now using “thug” as a pejorative term to demean a whole class of black Americans.

Others are not so sure, arguing that “thug” is still a race-neutral term that refers to all sorts of people, from 1930s Mafia leg-breakers to Nazi brownshirts to anyone who takes something from others through violence or intimidation.