Reddit

CW: metalinguistic usage of slurs. Also, bear in mind I'm not black, I'm just some random nobody.

Unless you're using a slur metalinguistically¹, or quoting someone who used it², you probably won't be able to erase its negative associations; they're there by default, you'd need to actively erase/contradict them.

And that's not what you did. In fact, your comment only works because of that negative connotation; note how silly it would sound like, if you said instead something like "Granted. Your username is now /u/bananapotato", or "/u/ninjapiratezombierobot", or whatever.

It would be different, for example, if you were using the word ⟨nigger⟩³ as African-American Vernacular English speakers do; because then the meaning being conveyed is not "a black person, implied to be inferior to other people"; it's more like "mate, bro, chap", specially in a positive context.

Same deal with the words ⟨fag⟩ — I don't think it should be treated as a slur if you're clearly referring to a cigarette.

So. While I typically criticise Reddit moderation (from mods and admins) as insane, and coming from people and systems with the reading comprehension of a green potato, in this specific case, I think they acted correctly.

Just my two cents.

1. Language being used to talk about language; e.g. if I say "the word «orange» replaced «yellowred»", I'm using the word "orange" metalinguistically.
2. Even then it gets tricky, as you need to ensure your quoting doesn't endorse what the negative connotations in the quote.
3. This is an example of metalinguistic usage. I'm talking about the word.