
Thuh thinkuh.
Time says that the word "guido" is as offensive to Italians as "the N word among African-Americans, the F word among gays, the C word among Chinese-Americans." Really??? I don't think so. I don't see Italians being kept down and discriminated against, so perhaps that is why their word doesn't seem as big of a deal to me (or to most of them, Alyssa Milano be damned, I'd bet).
Also, I would guess the N word is offensive to more than just black people, and the C word (not the one women sometimes loathe) is used indiscriminately to slur all Asians, not just Chinese. The F word, like the N word but in a much, much broader way, has more leeway when it's used by gay people and their supporters to describe themselves.
But guido? I guess living in NYC and hearing it so often I thought it was more like JAP—it could ruffle some feathers, particularly of those it's used to describe, but it's often embraced for humorous or even explicitly descriptive purposes.
To me, it's perfectly descriptive of one type of Italian guy, in the way gangsta conjures up an image of a certain kind of black character or JAP describes the princess. There are other versions of this inoffensive sort of categorization—WASP comes to mind, or queen (not faggot) for a certain kind of gay person. All could be totally offensive in context, but none are, IMHO, inherently offensive.
Not that I'd ever watch the show, but I bet a chunk of its audience are the people its critics claim it's offending.