To my Hispanic ears, “n—o” sounds like an Anglophone saying “black”. Even when used derogatorily, my immediate first thought is that they pronounced it incorrectly, then the rest of the associated matters kick in and I realize what they are really saying.

Imagine if in the Hispanosphere , the word “black” was almost synonymous with the n-word.

But yeah, don’t use n—o in English to refer to or describe anyone.