Nobody, black, white, or whatever, should ever use 'the n word' when they're talking about people using the word nigger. They should just say nigger. Everyone knows what you mean, there's no point in covering it up and going 'tee hee I almost said it but I didn't'. All that does is whitewash over the ugly language involved. If you're going to talk about people using ugly language, or about the ugly language itself, you need to confront the ugly, not shuffle it under the rug.

On the other hand, no white person should use the word nigger in a public forum for any other reason than to comment on the word itself and it's usage. Ironic, unironic, whatever. It's just a bad idea.