Dr. Laura's N-Word Rant: Radio Host Apologizes For Offensive Language

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Source: Huffington Post

Dr. Laura Schlessinger has apologized after a shocking rant on her radio show this week during which she said the n-word 10 times over the course of five minutes.

In conversation Tuesday with a black female caller who was complaining about her white husband's racist friends and their use of the word, Schlessinger said:

Black guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO and listen to a black comic, and all you hear is n****, n*****, n*****. 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. It's very confusing.

After a break, the caller said she was appalled by Schlessinger's use of the word.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/12/dr-lauras-n-word-rant-rad_n_680680.html

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Didn't she learn anything from Mel Gibson?

[jobycom]

1. Well, that's mighty white of her. nt

[Orrex]

2. "They use it" is a standard racist defense

Schlessinger is an asshole.

[marshall]

29. Other folks' constant use of the word doesn't excuse her use of it

I never used the word when I was teaching in a largely African American inner city school, in spite of the fact that almost everyone around me used the word all the time. Teachers, students, parents, even the principal used the word in normal conversation, in anger, and in jest. But I never felt comfortable using it myself.

[Arctic Dave]

3. Dr. Laura, its with an "ah", not an "er"

[Ken Burch]

5. Isn't that a line from an "Upright Citizens Brigade" show?

n/t.

[Arctic Dave]

7. I heard from a comedian.

[Ken Burch]

9. Kind of an update of the old Lenny Bruce line

about Lyndon Johnson's staffers having to teach him to say "negro".

[notadmblnd]

6. +1

[joshcryer]

40. "Dats my nigga Charles." "My nigger Charles?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty3SArUjgvQ

[Pirate Smile]

4. GD thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8936554

[Ken Burch]

8. Wouldn't it have been great if Michael Richards had been the caller?

n/t.

[Ian David]

10. "Doctor Laura" should always be in quotes and never abbreviated as "Dr."

She's not a real doctor.

[greymattermom]

18. Ph.D in physiology

She's entitled to call herself Dr.

[shanti]

19. and?

what gives her the authority to be a "counselor"? anyone who listens to her or takes her advice is a fool.

[Tanuki]

31. It's misleading, as people assume she is a psychiatrist or psychologist.

She is certainly "entitled" to identify herself with the credentials she has earned, but she should include a disclaimer in each and every broadcast stating that her doctorate did not involve training or experience in psychology, psychiatry, counseling, mental health issues, etc.

[LostinVA]

33. Even that ethics violator Dr. Phil has a Ph.D. in Psychology

She is not an M.D., nor even a Ph.D. in Psych or Social Work, an MSW, etc. And, of course that is what she's implying. Again, even that hack Dr. Phil will state he's not a medical doctor.

[MrMickeysMom]

24. She's a real doctor...

... and a real waste of that university's resources

[Warpy]

11. Clueless baggage does damage control

let's hope it doesn't work any better for her than it did for Limbaugh.

She really needs to be taken off the air and replaced by somebody who is actually in the counseling field. She's a menace.

[tabasco]

12. Dr. Cooter went off the deep end!

Because her cooter's all over the internet!

[madrchsod]

13. she is a very ugly woman

[riverwalker]

14. Remember when her mother died?

alone and destitute and undiscovered. "Dr." Laura is another RW sociopath.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/police-probe-death-dr-lauras-mom

[Supersedeas]

32. And yet Right Wing Kooks get a free pass from the Big Corp Media types

[athenasatanjesus]

15. I guess it fits for right wingers to compare themselves to comedians.

Tho I take the words of comedians a lot more seriously.

[Mz Pip]

16. Too little, too late

She's always been a judgmental shrew. This really isn't new. She just used the words outright rather than hedge her bigotry in pop psychology.

So she's sorry. Big fucking deal. The only thing she's sorry for is that she couldn't suppress her anti-anybodylikeher venom.

Her true self shown through. Big surprise.

[TPaine7]

17. By Dr. Laura's "Logic"

it would be fair to call her a sorry b*tch and a dried up old c*nt.

After all, I've heard such language on HBO. And women comedians talk like that. So it must be OK to talk like that (about Dr. Laura, of course).

I actually agree that black people calling each other n*****s is stupid and low classed, but that doesn't justify white people using the term. If I used women who called each other b*tches, wh*res and c*nts to justify my use of those terms, it would only prove that I wanted to use that language anyway.

It would be insane for me to feel slighted because I can't go over to my neighbor's house and use such language in front of his wife. If only the good "Dr." could reason well enough to see that.

[russspeakeasy]

22. TPaine7....you nailed it...

[roguevalley]

26. i grew up hearing it as a normal flow of conversation (never my parents) and I remember

even as a little kid that hearing it was like getting slapped. I don't care what color of skin you have, THAT WORD MUST DIE! The people who got harmed and died for civil rights didn't do it so a bunch of dumbass kids and comedians could revive it. Slave owners called their slaves that word. It has no redemption, it has no place, it has no safe or cute or familiar nice conotation. That is a total bullshit thing, this word reviving. I don't care who uses it or how, IT HAS TO DIE!

[skypilot]

35. "...it would only prove that I wanted to use that language anyway."

This is the crux of the matter for me. Whenever I hear people in any way trying to justify use of the word or asking why it's OK for black people to use it I just wonder what their ultimate goal is. Sounds to me as though they are simply trying to find some infallible rational for using the word so that they can have at it. My question to them is "Do you really want to use the word that badly? And why?"

[joshcryer]

41. They don't call each other n*****s they call each other n****s.

Count the asterisks.

[TPaine7]

42. Being black doesn't make me an authority on this, but I think I have some

perspective. Especially when you consider that I grew up in the South.

My take: "gga" (or "ggah") is just a stylized rendering of "gger". Slippin' n slidin' has a slightly different feel than "slipping and sliding" too; the former has a certain cachet in certain contexts. But the phrases have the same core meaning.

I also understand reapproprating ANY word for private use. If a man calls his wife a b*tch, c*nt or wh*re in the bedroom--AND SHE APPROVES (or even requests it)--all is well. Ditto for her calling him a worthless bastard or graphically describing his sexual inadequacy. If they're ok, I'm ok. But doing so in public is using me as a pawn in their little game. It's offensive and provocative.

A public airing of such private talk would be, at the very least, uncouth. Getting a charge out of intentionally edgy language is fine, as long as everyone is in on the joke. That isn't the case in public.

[joshcryer]

45. They do *not* under *any* circumstances "have the same core meaning."

"ger" is overtly offensive and disrespectful. I have heard blacks call other blacks "ger" and it was *only* used in a derogatory context. Black people are not stupid, they use the word "nigga" in a very specific way.

This is basically white people *pretending* that there's no difference between the word because "that's how blacks pronounce their 'ger's". "burgla vs burgler, eag-a vs eager, etc"

Overtly racist to not understand that the word 'nigga' is explicitly different from 'nigger.'

[TPaine7]

47. They have reappropriated the word, but there is no doubt as to it's evolutionary

origin--or the core meaning.

There may even be a differentiation now based on sound--one means "fellow survivor of hardship and oppression" and the other means "I am looking down my nose at you because you embody negative stereotypes." But the meanings arise from the same core meaning.

Neither is appropriate in public. "F*ck me you nasty b*tch" may be appropriate as a man's wife rides him in private. In public it's stupid and obscene. And if someone else called her a nasty b*tch in a restaurant or on the street, it could easily start a fight.

[joshcryer]

46. Clarification, not talking about you, talking about people like Laura.

People are quick to say "but they pronounce words differently, 'nigga' is really just how they say 'nigger.'" Not in my experience it ain't.

[MadMaddie]

20. Is this a case where we can file complaints to the FCC?

This is unacceptable.

She looks like she sounds a horrible nasty person.

[howaboutme]

27. Will the media stir the pot

or will it allow the pot to cool and mellow, and not mention the issue again? When it comes to racist comments, it all kind of depends upon who says what about whom.

When Helen Thomas made her famous statement the media went into a multi-day frenzy and even enhanced it by adding their own words to it to make it sound worse.

[Quantess]

28. I'm betting that "Dr." Laura would be happy if the media stirs the pot.

She may have noticed that the more obnoxious commentators (Rush, Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, etc) get all the attention. This will probably just increase the size of her audience, unfortunately.

[Digit]

21. Take her off the air already

She knows or should have known better.
If quoting the caller, she could have said "n word" without saying the whole thing out loud or just said "offensive term".

Why anyone would be listening to her in the first place is beyond me.
Taking her advice is WAY beyond me.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

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[K8-EEE]

30. Is she so fucking clueless she can't tell the difference between

The lady's white RACIST husband using that word with his RACIST friends and a black comedian using it on HBO in a comedy bit....why do people put up with this dumbass AT ALL much less listen to her show or take her advice?

[LostinVA]

34. Her dissertation was: "Effects of Insulin on 3-0-Methylglucose Transport in Isolated Rat Adipocytes"

Basically, she majored in Biology. Why is she giving out counseling advice?

Again, even though Dr. Phil is repulsive, even though his license was yanked on an ethics charge and he can't practice anywhere, even though he is an opportunist of the worst type, even though he ripped off his old business partner and is a sexist Freeper in many ways, AT LEAST HE HAS A DEGREE IN PSYCHOLOGY! And practiced as one until he slept with a patient and made her an unpaid secretary. And would never, ever say that to someone on his show.

When Phil McGraw is held up to you as an example, you know you're pretty bad.

[BrklynLiberal]

36. You are 100% correct. They are both dispicable frauds. They just have different degrees.

[U4ikLefty]

44. Damn, that was good.

[Doctor_J]

37. Who knew she was still alive

"It's very confusing" - only to you, you stupid, adulterous, right-wing hag.

[golfguru]

38. How can she have a high rated radio talk show program?

Goes to show you the mentality of American population.
Blame the education system.

[Renew Deal]

39. 300% racist

Geez. She could have made 15 different points even in a mildly racist way and still sounded reasonable. This was so overtly and obnoxiously racist on every single point that she sounds like she's wearing a white sheet while broadcasting. She's a racist pig.

[western mass]

43. making a right-wing nutbag apologize for being racist

is like making a fish apologize for breathing underwater.

What's the point?