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 -- w 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.
After the break...
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.
Frankly I don't care that Dr. Laura said "Nigger Nigger Nigger" because I do think it's about context, and it's about what you actually Mean when you say the word. First thing, Black people don't call each other "Nigger" unless it's in anger - what they say is "Nigga" which is usually intended to be an ironic term of endearment. It's literally taking a frown - a negative - and turning it upside down.
"Yeah, that's My Nigga - that's my Homie - that's my FRIEND - my Compadre!"
The negativity isn't in the word, it's in the intent and the meaning. Non-blacks have a difficult time with this because it seems like a double-standard, but it's not - when they use it, there's no Irony to it. Even when they don't use it negatively, it doesn't work.
Now, not everyone agrees on this dynamic redefinition/reuse and some argue that this particular word has been so imbued with venom over the course of hundreds of years that you simply can't apply a little rinse and Shout it Out. They feel that anytime someone - ANYONE - uses it, it still carries that history negativity and even when black people attempt to use it in ironic reconstruction, it's really just betraying a level of self-loathing.
The problem with this view conversely is that outlawing a word, doesn't change how people feel or how they think one bit. It's just as easy to simply substitute another word for your meaning like say "Mud Duck", "Spear-Chucker", "JIggaboo", "Chip Shouldered", "Hyper-Sensitive", "Entitled" or "Socialist".
Be that as it may, what matter more in Dr. Laura rant is the meaning of everything else she said.
"Don't NAACP ME?"
That's the same kind of view that we heard from Andrew Breitbart as he was misconstruing the statements of Shirley Sherrod.
That fact is that Jade was accurately noting that she was being demeaned and racialized by her husbands friends and that he was too afraid to stand up to them for her. That was the issue, but right for the top Laura started out arguing with her about whether what she'd experienced was racism or not.
Since discrimination was outlawed in 1964, being openly racist has had the potential to put your sorry ass in court, or jail. Saying to someone who is actually being discriminated against and intimidated that they're being "too sensitive" is about the same as saying to someone who points at the guy climbing out of their apartment window with their flat-screen TV that they're being "Too Uptight" about it and trapped in "Victim-Think".
That kind of argument, that kind of denial of racial bias that is right in your face is exactly the kind of thing that black people now face now with the entitled hyper-insensitivity coming from (Mostly Conservative) Whites. It's denial of the problem and at the same time, tacit endorsement of the victimizing behavior.
If Laura truly wanted to help the woman, she could have told her she needed to have a serious talk with her husband about how those kinds of comments concerned her, how they made her feel and how his lack of reaction was undermining her confidence in him - but Noooo....
Afterward Dr. Laura Attacks Media Matters as a Special Interest group for daring to Quote Her Comments accurately.
Here Laura claims that her caller was the Racist when she said White People are afraid that Black's were trying to "Take Over the Country"!!
Oh, really - then what's all this "I want my Country Back" stuff? What's all this talk about how Barack Obama is a "Racist" because he thought the Cambridge Cops "Acted Stupidly" when they arrested someone who hadn't committed a crime and then Lied on their Police Report About it? What's all this talk about Sonia Sotomayor being a Racist on the Firefighter Test Case, when she was following Judicial precedent to uphold the lower court ruling as it was? What's all this stuff about the NAACP Being nothing but a bunch of people who make money off of Race!? What the FRACK is that shit then?
And now Laura is proclaiming that her first Amendment Rights have been attacked - because people have dared to document what she said, and comment on how fracking rude it was. I find it funny how these super "Free Marketeers" get so whigged out when the people use the power of the Market against them by going after their sponsors and affiliates. Oh, that's threatening my "First Amendment" - no, it's not dimwit. The First Amendment only stops the GOvernment from censoring or unreasonably restricting you - not consumers, not clients, not affiliates and not listeners.
All of this of course has brought out the White Queen on insensitive asinine public statements to her rescue.
Cue the Clueless Snow Billy of Twitterdom....
Dr.Laura:don't retreat...reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence"isn't American,not fair")
@SarahPalinUSA Dr.Laura=even more powerful & effective w/out the shackles, so watch out Constitutional obstructionists. And b thankful 4 her voice,America!
Yeah, Sarah certainly isn't interested in getting anyone with "Black-think" on her side. Time and time again we see these chickenshit bullies viciously attack someone, then slink away when they get pulled off the bloody hulk they just created and scream that THEY were the true victim, that their rights were violated
That's simply a load of horse-shit. This is EXACTLY how modern day racism functions. The Klan is largely gone, the Skinheads are now a joke (although I wouldn't laugh in their face about it, I've seen more than my share of skinhead brawls up close and personal when I work as the soundman at a downtown Sacramento Nightclub) - but THIS, this is exactly how any complaints or concerns of racial bias and intimidation are reacted to - with scorn, contempt, ridicule and ultimately self-aggrandizement.
It's disgusting.
Vyan
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