re: Coon Ass
It's better to be safe than sorry. Minority sensitivities approach those of nitroglycerin, and many politicians have found out that it doesn't take much of a jostle.
I make an effort to use the word "raccoon" when discussing the critters in my back yard, although the shorter term was in use where I grew up. Just doesn't pay to have something on the internet that could be seized on by those who make a career of seizing on things. Heck, where I grew up in the Midwest, a "beaner" was a fart.
As with all such terms, they can be legitimately used by members of the appropriate group, but woe to anyone else who uses it.
Some history on "Coonass," which may actually be a corrupted French insult, here.