Is it really politically incorrect to use the word "thug" now?
"Don't say that! You might insult the thugs!"
It really has a lot to do with what you mean by 'thug' and who you're describing. If Hassan Whiteside is a 'Thug' but Jusef Nurkic is 'scrappy and plays hard', yeah that's a party foul.
Its also related to the common parlance. Thug, in the context of our use of the word as a society over the last couple decades, has definite racial connotations. So when people use it, there is going to be some kind of reaction as if that was the intended or implied undertone.
You make good points. From a psycological view, it's actually quite intersting. I'd find it really worth investigating if I didn't find it so funny. Seemingly everything now has some sort of racial context that, fairly or unfairly, seems to impede the use of the word. The definition of punk is: (n) a worthless person. If someone is acting like a punk, that's the word I'm going to use. No one can tell me anything about racial double-intent that will make me go out of my way to circumnavigate my statement and wade through my lexicon for a phrase more or less synonymous with my original thoughts that is "more politically correct." The reason? I know I have no racist/prejudicial intent when I make a statement.
African-American, Caucasian, Asian, whatever someone is, if they are acting like a punk or a thug or a criminal, that's the word I'm going to use, no matter what people think my "ulterior motives/meanings" might be. I'm honestly just amazed that people are facing criticism for calling two people that are drunk out of their minds and fighting in a public venue punks. Sure, the actual denotation is a little harsh (especially when you bring in even more-controversial religious views), but the connotation, where I live, is generally someone making a donkey of himself/herself. That is pretty clearly what is going on in said video.
Back to the big picture, though, I'm wondering where all of this will end up. We as a society are in relatively uncharted waters in regards to racial equality, and I think many morals and commonplace phrases will be questioned over the next 50 or so years. Almost every phrase can be construed to seem "racist," so it'll be interesting to see where society draws the line.