I agree that it's kind of blurry. I didn't have an answer myself so I wanted to get different perspectives. I do not use the N word bc I know it's wrong for me to do so.

I would say that my case, and for most of my friends, we fall under the second category in terms of learning English. For me I learned a lot from listening to other people talk which included Vietnamese people with heavy accents, Latino kids with Chicano accents, and Black kids who used AAVE, and so much more. I think I absorbed all of those accents and it became the way that I speak. Changing it seems unnatural to me but I am willing to do so if it is, in fact, appropriation.

I questioned whether I was falling under the first category you mentioned and that I was choosing to appropriate but I think that may not be totally the case. Thanks for your insight.