I hope this doesn't descend into anything bad because this is a genuinely interesting question.
Personally, I feel that due to the historic precidents of racism/slavery etc any racial insult will always carry more weight/controversy then a personal insult. I am however from a generation/background that has never felt or expressed any racism directly and I have often asked the question, If I get called a "white b*stard" is that racist or just an observation based on my current behaviour and obvious ethnicity?
Obviously though, past oppression and historic trends make that point moot. But I hope we are getting to the point eventually where race is genuinely not an issue. It is happening, but very slowly.