Posted on 08/13/2010 8:24:20 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
Former San Diego radio personality Dr. Laura Schlessinger finds herself in yet another pot of hot water. Yesterday on her national radio program, the outspoken host made what many are labeling racist remarks, and repeatedly used the “n”-word.
Her words: "Black guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO and listen to a black comic, and all you hear is nigger, nigger, nigger. I don't get it. If anybody without enough melanin says it, it's a horrible thing. But when black people say it, it's affectionate."
Later, the on-air discussion with a caller identified as a black woman went like this:CALLER: “Is it OK to say that word? Is it ever OK to say that word?”
DR. LAURA: “It depends how it's said. Black guys talking to each other seem to think it's okay.”
CALLER: “But you're not black, they're not black, my husband is white.”
DR. LAURA: “Oh, I see, so a word is restricted to race. Got it. Can't do much about that.”
(Excerpt) Read more at sandiego.com ...
“Lenny Bruce (forget his politics for a moment) said that by prohibiting the utterance of an offensive word, we give that word undeserved POWER.”
He was right. The word under discussion has power precisely because some people are allowed to use it and others aren’t. The power is conveyed to those who are allowed to use the word and is wielded against those who are not allowed to.
What's this we chit "cracker?"
I suggest you don't have enough information either if you just parse only ONE of the three or four pieces of supporting evidence that I mentioned.
Even so, I can decide whatever I want to. This is America and I'm a decider..
I must have missed something in your original post. What I read in your post was about finding her mother dead in a crappy apartment not far from her luxurious Beverly Hills. I still contend that’s not enough information to condemn her for her relationship to her mother.
I wasn’t listening to the show, you apparently WERE listening. Please explain the context of the previous callers and the specific caller to whom Laura was speaking.
That way I can know exactly what Laura was talking about and the issue she was addressing.
She is right and the hypocrisy is mind-boggling. Wish she would have said just that.
The woman called saying she is black and is married to a white man. Evidently this was a marriage of long standing from what I gathered. Her marriage has been troubled of recent and she says her husband has begun to address her in a racist manner. He also has friends over and allows them to make racist comments in her presence and does nothing to correct the situation. She called Dr, Laura asking how to best speak to her husband about this. The woman said nothing about the “N” word but referred to other racist statements. It was Dr, Laura who brought it up and repeated it over and over. Instead of talking about what exact problems were in the marriage, Dr. Laura attacked the woman about the use of the “N” word in currently American society.
I am sure that if Dr. Laura were in a mixed marriage and her husband starting calling her racist Jewish names she might feel more than a little hurt. I think that she would feel as upset if this same husband egged his friend on to do the likewise. The question was not about race sensitivity, the woman was looking for advice on her marriage. Dr. Laura is, in theory at least, there to give advice on personal and relationship issues. She was grossly insensitive to the caller especially at the end of the call. It was grotesque. Dr. Laura was throwing sound the “N” word and the caller said she did not like that, so Dr. Laura said it several times more in a row before hanging up on her. There was no reason for that and her behavior was appalling.
I see. Were the calls before this lady and the tone of the show before this particular call related in any way to the current culture of language and/or societal behaviors and attitudes?
Thanks, it is good to hear from someone who was listening to the show first hand so they can provide the full context of what was happening on the show that day.
After all, context is everything.
I agree context is everything.
So can you provide context for the show? Or were you not listening?
I was listening and it was the usual mix of people calling in telling their troubles. The theme of the program was not race,the “N” word or otherwise. This woman called up and Dr. Laura just went on and on about the use of the “N” word as opposed to dealing with the marriage problem she called about. The whole incident was unexpected and distasteful
One can only shake one's head in amazement at this *logic*.
Thanks. I may bookmark this thread, it’ll be interesting to see/hear if others heard it the same way as you.
Wait..she did WHAT?
Never, ever compromise. Homosexuality is wrong. Period. When you give them any kind of concession, you lose.
...her mistake was that she did not address the caller’s concern AND that she used the word over and over, which showed a lack of respect and lack of sensitivity to the young lady who was coming to her for advice. I have always thought Dr. Laura was a wise woman, but now I’m not so sure. I am a black woman who has been married for many years to my lovely white husband. My advice would have been to directly confront those “friends” and to put that lilly-livered husband of hers on notice that if he couldn’t demand respect from his friends and family that she should walk. One cannot be a weakling and be married outside of one’s race, it takes intestinal fortitude to put up with peoples bullsh*t (black people and white people bullsh*t).
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