“Thugs” is really exactly the same thing as calling them the N word. I think you can call a person a thug if that person is in fact a physical enforcer whose job it is to bully and intimidate people or a “soldier” for some kind of criminal outfit, but it’s rarely used that way. Usually used to refer to black teenagers to marginalize them and call them criminals, even with no evidence that they are.

There’s a cool Common lyric that goes:

Slavery’s still alive, check Amendment 13
Not whips and chains, all subliminal
Instead of nigger, they use the word criminal