Dr. Laura SchlessingerOh, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, you did it this time, didn't you?
Frankly, I have never been much of a fan of Dr. Laura or other right-wing (she may not necessarily think of herself in this way) radio talk show hosts.
Dr. Laura really stepped in it and will probably hear the name "Jade" in her head for a long time as she also hears "nigger, nigger, nigger" repeated in her head for a long time to come.
On her talk show, a woman named "Jade" called to talk about some race-related issues she was having with some people she knew.
While "Jade" called and expected advice, she found herself in a defensive position as Dr. Laura greeted her with skepticism followed by scorn and then an outright attack. It was indicative of the culture of angry and older white conservatives. She was waiting to lash out. Poor "Jade" was the wrong woman in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Well, damn. Dr. Laura came back, but the break didn't cool her off. Her rant reminded me of Uncle Ruckus from the Boondocks:SCHLESSINGER: Jade, welcome to the program.
CALLER: Hi, Dr. Laura.
SCHLESSINGER: Hi.
CALLER: I'm having an issue with my husband where I'm starting to grow very resentful of him. I'm black, and he's white. We've been around some of his friends and family members who start making racist comments as if I'm not there or if I'm not black. And my husband ignores those comments, and it hurts my feelings. And he acts like --
SCHLESSINGER: Well, can you give me an example of a racist comment? 'Cause sometimes people are hypersensitive. So tell me what's -- give me two good examples of racist comments.
CALLER: OK. Last night -- good example -- we had a neighbor come over, and this neighbor -- when every time he comes over, it's always a black comment. It's, "Oh, well, how do you black people like doing this?" And, "Do black people really like doing that?" And for a long time, I would ignore it. But last night, I got to the point where it --
SCHLESSINGER: I don't think that's racist.
CALLER: Well, the stereotype --
SCHLESSINGER: I don't think that's racist. No, I think that --
CALLER: [unintelligible]
SCHLESSINGER: No, no, no. I think that's -- well, listen, without giving much thought, a lot of blacks voted for Obama simply 'cause he was half-black. Didn't matter what he was gonna do in office, it was a black thing. You gotta know that. That's not a surprise. Not everything that somebody says -- we had friends over the other day; we got about 35 people here -- the guys who were gonna start playing basketball. I was going to go out and play basketball. My bodyguard and my dear friend is a black man. And I said, "White men can't jump; I want you on my team." That was racist? That was funny.
CALLER: How about the N-word? So, the N-word's been thrown around --
SCHLESSINGER: Black guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO, listen to a black comic, and all you hear is nigger, nigger, nigger.
CALLER: That isn't --
SCHLESSINGER: 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. Don't hang up, I want to talk to you some more. Don't go away.
I'm Dr. Laura Schlessinger. I'll be right back.
Anyway, back to Dr. Laura. She came out of the break like Rocky Balboa came out of the corner against Clubber Lang in the decisive round in Rocky III.
Dr. Laura fell into that old trap. I should be able to say "nigger" because black rappers and comedians (on HBO) say it.SCHLESSINGER: I'm Dr. Laura Schlessinger, talking to Jade. What did you think about during the break, by the way?
CALLER: I was a little caught back by the N-word that you spewed out, I have to be honest with you. But my point is, race relations --
SCHLESSINGER: Oh, then I guess you don't watch HBO or listen to any black comedians.
CALLER: But that doesn't make it right. I mean, race is a [unintelligible] --
SCHLESSINGER: My dear, my dear --
CALLER: -- since Obama's been in office --
SCHLESSINGER: -- the point I'm trying to make --
CALLER: -- racism has come to another level that's unacceptable.
SCHLESSINGER: Yeah. We've got a black man as president, and we have more complaining about racism than ever. I mean, I think that's hilarious.
CALLER: But I think, honestly, because there's more white people afraid of a black man taking over the nation.
SCHLESSINGER: They're afraid.
CALLER: If you want to be honest about it [unintelligible]
SCHLESSINGER: Dear, they voted him in. Only 12 percent of the population's black. Whites voted him in.
CALLER: It was the younger generation that did it. It wasn't the older white people who did it.
SCHLESSINGER: Oh, OK.
CALLER: It was the younger generation --
SCHLESSINGER: All right. All right.
CALLER: -- that did it.
SCHLESSINGER: Chip on your shoulder. I can't do much about that.
CALLER: It's not like that.
SCHLESSINGER: Yeah. I think you have too much sensitivity --
CALLER: So it's OK to say "nigger"?
SCHLESSINGER: -- and not enough sense of humor.
CALLER: It's OK to say that word?
SCHLESSINGER: It depends how it's said.
CALLER: Is it OK to say that word? Is it ever OK to say that word?
SCHLESSINGER: It's -- it depends how it's said. Black guys talking to each other seem to think it's OK.
CALLER: But you're not black. They're not black. My husband is white.
SCHLESSINGER: Oh, I see. So, a word is restricted to race. Got it. Can't do much about that.
CALLER: I can't believe someone like you is on the radio spewing out the "nigger" word, and I hope everybody heard it.
SCHLESSINGER: I didn't spew out the "nigger" word.
CALLER: You said, "Nigger, nigger, nigger."
SCHLESSINGER: Right, I said that's what you hear.
CALLER: Everybody heard it.
SCHLESSINGER: Yes, they did.
CALLER: I hope everybody heard it.
SCHLESSINGER: They did, and I'll say it again --
CALLER: So what makes it OK for you to say the word?
SCHLESSINGER: -- nigger, nigger, nigger is what you hear on HB --
CALLER: So what makes it --
SCHLESSINGER: Why don't you let me finish a sentence?
CALLER: OK.
SCHLESSINGER: Don't take things out of context. Don't double N -- NAACP me. Tape the --
CALLER: I know what the NAACP --
SCHLESSINGER: Leave them in context.
CALLER: I know what the N-word means and I know it came from a white person. And I know the white person made it bad.
SCHLESSINGER: All right. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Can't have this argument. You know what? If you're that hypersensitive about color and don't have a sense of humor, don't marry out of your race. If you're going to marry out of your race, people are going to say, "OK, what do blacks think? What do whites think? What do Jews think? What do Catholics think?" Of course there isn't a one-think per se. But in general there's "think."
And what I just heard from Jade is a lot of what I hear from black-think -- and it's really distressting [sic] and disturbing. And to put it in its context, she said the N-word, and I said, on HBO, listening to black comics, you hear "nigger, nigger, nigger." I didn't call anybody a nigger. Nice try, Jade. Actually, sucky try.
Need a sense of humor, sense of humor -- and answer the question. When somebody says, "What do blacks think?" say, "This is what I think. This is what I read that if you take a poll the majority of blacks think this." Answer the question and discuss the issue. It's like we can't discuss anything without saying there's -isms?
We have to be able to discuss these things. We're people -- goodness gracious me. Ah -- hypersensitivity, OK, which is being bred by black activists. I really thought that once we had a black president, the attempt to demonize whites hating blacks would stop, but it seems to have grown, and I don't get it. Yes, I do. It's all about power. I do get it. It's all about power and that's sad because what should be in power is not power or righteousness to do good -- that should be the greatest power.
One of the craziest things about her rant was how she acted as though she expected racism to vanish
In Dr. Laura's utopia, racism ceased to exist on election day in 2008. Apparently, racists did not get the memo. Never fear, however, because Dr. Laura excuses the racist to take aim at blacks who are just whiny and too damn sensitive about this racism thing.
Besides the fact that she apparently watches HBO a lot when they're using the "n-word", what have we learned about Dr. Laura?
- She foolishly seems to believe racism ended when Barack Obama was elected;
- Dr. Laura believes black people cry too much about racism;
- Dr. Laura has little patience for black callers in need of help in race-related issues;
- Dr. Laura thinks all black people are good at basketball;
- Dr. Laura has black friends (or, at least one, and he works for her); and
- Dr. Laura may have seen the movie "White Men Can't Jump";
At least she didn't emphasize, in her apology, that she has black friends.
Hopefully Dr. Laura learns from this lesson.
19 comments:
I agree.
Dr. Laura did not totally listen to Jade.
Dr. Laura is really off the mark on Race Relationship.
We see where her mindset is. I am glad told us her view point.
There are many People with that type of mindset.
"Dr." is just a fancy title to have over your name to show others you have High Knowledge of Studies (in her case it Physiology).
Never by into Self Titles a man gives himself.
No Man is Exempt from Errors.
Dr. Laura forgot to apply the art of Listening to form of education.
The Art of Listening is very important skill to learn. God gave us Two ears and One Mouth for a reason.
If you really listen to the caller, you will hear:
the Caller "Jade" felt uncomfortable by her Husband's Friends and by her Husband's Distant Family Relatives -- which she has no strong bonding relationship with making offensive remarks.
From what I understand, her "Doctorate" is in sports medicine; she has "certificates" in counseling. Hence, the "Doctor" really should be treating atheletes, and not pseudo-counseling people who think that they're talking to a trained psycholologist. If this whole epsisode hasn't finally yet made that patently obvious, then I really don't know what would!
Any ideas on how to finally get this nutjob off the air? Trouble is, she pulls in a lot of money for the corporations she works for with the nightly on-air conjob she's been pullin' for so many years now.
That is interesting that her doctorate is in sports medicine. I had not heard that before. I have to think even a sports medicine student could give better advice and more rational advice.
Dr. Laura just lost her mind for a second and you could see the anger coming out of her. She showed her true self in a moment of weakness and anger. We saw the real Dr. Laura Schlessinger come out, and it was not pretty. She showed herself to be a Fox News-type right winger ready to go on the attack at a moment's notice.
I always wonder why white people want to use the word "nigger" when they know how offensive it is to black people. Whenever I hear people cry about not being able to use it I always wonder why they really are crying. Is it just out of spite because they feel they can't use it or because they really want to use it and they see black people can use it.
Of course there are words that different people can say. For example, I hear young women refer to each other as bitch, trick and ho, but if a guy does it he can get in trouble. I respect the fact that it can be offensive to women and I respect it. That is why I avoid using these words directed at women. It's offensive to far too many women and I have too much respect for women to use it.
As far as whites, there are not really any words that carry the level of offensiveness as the word "nigger" does with black people or "bitch" does with women. I think that is an interesting commentary by itself.
Now for the not so nice. Please spare me the remove Dr. King thing. This has nothing to do with him and what he truly stood for as a man and as a leader.
What was the context in which you called yourself "nigger" ... just curious.
Cracker and honky (sp) are two words that come to mind. Those are offensive terms that should never be used by black people. Whether or not whites use it is up to them, but I doubt anyone would be as offended if they were used by a white person.
Hi, I think Dr. Laura made her point. The point was that if a person with no Melanin says the N word, there will be a backlash. Having Al Sharpton demand sponsors to pull their advertising, seems to indicate a backlash.
Having said that, I think you were right on target in everything else you said. I also found it disturbing that a radio psychologist (certified or not) has so much anger and resentment built up. If she get's another radio show, she should ensure her screener, screens out black people.
ps. I have never called myself the n word.
Dr. Laura told the truth about black comedians on HBO. It's that simple.
Jz,
No one questions whether black comedians use the so-called N-word. I think the answer to that is obvious.
She is crazy and it makes perfect since she was ripped for her language. She knew what she was doing and she was held accountable.
The final point is NO ONE should use that word, ESPECIALLY black people! Laura, nor, Chris Rock, nor anyone apart from a historian explaining is etymology. Laura should have stuck to the callers point. To get particularly angry at Laura for having used the word is a bit duplicitous (because lets be honest, no one would have cared about this unless she used that word). Every person should be incensed by such a word no matter the color of those who utter it.
Lets be honest, Laura has a racist tinge that came out in that rant, but so does this blog as there is clear absence of any comment about the general use of this word for everyone. No one should use this word, just as no one (woman or man) should call a woman a "c**t".
Btw, who are you kidding with that remark that "bitch" is only a word that women can use between themselves. That example is absolutely incomparable to the n-word, the case in point being that I see no (or very few) news scandals occurring b/c a man called a woman a bitch. Just like the n-word, if anyone calls anyone a bitch, it's a story.
Hmm, the example that the caller gave was pretty borderline racist, and I agree for the most part with Laura in that it isn't really racist at all.
If I was living in predominantly black community,(I am a European New Zealander)and a neighbor asked me what white people do, I wouldn't take offense, and in most situations I would find it funny and describe what "I would do".
Unless it was asked in a threatening way then I don't believe a question like that is racist.
If the caller felt offended by it then perhaps she should have just asked the neighbor directly what the real purpose of the question is. She shouldn't leave it up to someone else to defend her, unless she has asked her husband to defend her, which it seems she didnt, she just expected it, which suggests to me that the husband didnt see it as being racist either.
Ringing up a talk show and complaining about a borderline incident she didn't do anything about herself is only going to spur more race sensitive issues.
The way the author has summed it up, saying things such as...
She has at least one black friend, she thinks that all black people are good at basketball and she may have seen the movie white men cant jump.
...shows the author is either blind to humour, or is taking a humourous side as a closing statement (taking away the apparent seriousness of the issue).
Racism is a serious issue, and I believe racism of all forms to be half minded bullshit, we are all human beings, the colour of our skin should have nothing to do with how others perceive and treat us. And there is a degree of hypersensitivity about racism today, which should be given no coverage as there are REAL race issues happening everywhere such as hate crimes and real discrimination.
Don't get me wrong, I am not right wing and "Dr" Laura seems like an arrogant patronizing right winger but this post isn't real racism, its hype, when so much real racism happens every day. Perhaps a better use of time management would be spend into working with and making public those issues rather than sensationalism.
No offense to the author, you seem like a nice guy Sandy, just my two cents :)
Please reply to my previous post, I am interested in your take on it :)
Thanks for stopping by and making some comments. I hate to beat a dead horse, but I will briefly respond...
The bigger point was the rude way in which Schlessinger treated her caller and never really allowed her to develop her point. Schlessinger, who is a seasoned radio personality, was working with a woman who is calling into a radio show (and probably a little nervous) pinned her into a corner and then pounced on her.
She used the N-word toward the caller to show power over her.
Also, I think you may have missed that the satire being used in the post was strategic.
Is there a degree of hypersensitivity about race? I think it all depends on your perspective. To some who find themselves in the position of victim, there is not a hypersensitivity. The subtlety of some modern forms of racism makes those who call out today's racism appear hypersensitive.
Just a few random thoughts on an older topic.
Ahh okay, thats fair enough. I haven't heard the audio either which would reveal a lot more. My main point was just that I think highlighting minor issues like this isn't helpful, but I suppose it has created some interesting discussion.
It's always interesting when some people come in and minimize issues of race as a minor point.
It feels good to find such an interesting topic on the internet like this one nowadays. I was greatly interested with what you have shared and posted with us. Thanks for this anyway. spice incense
You have a right to say it and we have a right to call you out for what you prove yourself to be in that comment.
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