Dr. Laura N-Word: No, It’s Not Okay for You to Say It!
From Black Voices —I’m starting to believe there is a condition called the “N-word Meltdown,” where White folks just go crazy and start repeating it over and over for no reason.
Well-known,conservative talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger (pictured) went all Michael Richards on a caller who reached out to the psychiatrist for information regarding her interracial marriage.
The caller wanted the good doctor’s advice on how to handle the situation where she felt her husband’s friends were making racist comments about her.
During the exchange on Tuesday’s show, Schlessinger said the woman who called herself “Jade” was too sensitive for complaining that her husband’s friends made racist comments about her in their home.
When the woman asked if the N-word was offensive, Dr. Laura said, “Black guys say it all the time,” then went on to repeat it several times.
“I articulated the N-word all the way out—more than one time,” Schlessinger said in comments from the opening of her radio show that she posted on her site.
Translation: she put the dreaded “-er” on the end instead of the “-ga.”
When will White people just accept the fact that Black folks can use the N-word, but they cannot. Why is this such a complicated life-rule for them?
It’s actually quite simple. Jews can say things about other Jews that non-Jews can’t say. Gays can say things about gays that straights can’t say. Latinos can say things about Latinos that non-Latinos can’t say. I had an Asian friend who referred to new Asian immigrants as FOBs (Fresh Off the Boats). But she probably would have kicked my ass if I had referred to them that way. And I respect that. You can talk about your own mama, but no one else can. It’s really easy, White people.
Schlessinger said on her website Wednesday that she was wrong in using the word for what she called an attempt to make a philosophical point.
Why are White folks so intent on rationalizing their use of the word? You can’t use it period. Get over it.
When the caller objected, Schlessinger replied:
“Oh, then I guess you don’t watch HBO or listen to any Black comedians.” I don’t know what Black comedians Dr. Laura listens to but I can’t remember any using “nigger” in their acts. Moreover, a woman should tolerate a bunch of people in her house using the N-word in a way she finds offensive because they do it on Def Comedy Jam?
Look, White folks, I’ll break it down for you: Black folks don’t call each other “nigger,” we say “nigga.” And whether you accept it or not, there is a huge distinction.
As an African-American woman, I can’t ever remember using “nigger” in my life in referring to another Black person. Though, on a bad day at my DMV, I may say “nigga” in my head several times.
(Continue Reading @ Black Voices…)
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She sure as heck kept it on the low while she was milking the Disney-Good Girl money. I guess she milked that tit dry.
My question is….Why did you marry this man in the first place? I’m sure his family and friends didn’t start making these comments after you got married. If he was a punk then, I’m sure he will continue to be one. This is Jade’s fault for being with a man (of any race) that doesn’t defend his woman. Period.
I think it just shows how much she uses the word in the comfort of her own home. She said it with so much ease and continued to. The funny thing is if it wasn’t a word she doesn’t use, she would have never used it. I would never go around calling people a saltine, because I don’t use the word.
“It seems to me any ‘right’ to dictate who can use the n-word was forfeited 10-15 years ago when individuals chose to popularize, mass-market, package and distribute it’s use around the world for money!!”
1995???? Ummmm, more like 20-25 years ago with 2 Live Crew, IceT and NWA having platinum sales. And let’s not forget comedians like Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor’s albums in the 70′s.
Point is, we’ve been letting the world know we LOVE to use the word “nigga” for a loooooooooong time. And we have to accept that some fools like Dr.Laura will use it, too, whether we like it or not. They. Really. Don’t. Care. What. We. Think.
LOL, she said don’t NAACP me!!! Ha!! Dr. Schlessinger has always been racist, with her wrinkly face….NEXT.
In her defense and all white people’s defense, what we perceive as hate or racist is just the norm for them. Slavery was abolished, meaning a law had to be passed for white people to stop being so hateful with their words and actions. The law changed, not their minds, they still have the same thoughts, feelings, ideas and issues, about blacks when slavery was legal. No, white people, you can’t use the word. The only reason white people want to use the word, is to take it back to use it for hate. And no, you filthy white trash CUNT, (I hear white men use that all the time, so I guess I can use it on you) black guys don’t say nigger, like you just did, they say nigga. When I hear blacks use it with each other, they don’t have a hateful meaning behind it like white people do. Again, no, you filthy white trash CUNT, you can’t use the word. They just want to be able to act and speak how they do behind close door. FYI, I don’t use that word and the people that I’m around don’t use it either.
Whoa…lol.
Hmm. “-er” vs “-a”. Okay, it is the same as “yeah” and “naw” instead of “Yes” and “No”.
‘Such language and hatred that I see used in this forum. Okay, I get it: many of us are Black, but not necessarily Christian. As Christians, we rarely succomb to hatred and rage.
Yes, Whites practiced slavery. But WHO sold the FIRST Blacks as slaves??? I’m just sayin’…
J.D.
@Akai stated, “It seems to me any ‘right’ to dictate who can use the n-word was forfeited 10-15 years ago when individuals chose to popularize, mass-market, package and distribute it’s use around the world for money!!”
@Jennae stated, “Akai*, I couldn’t have said it better myself”.
Ditto to Akai & Jennae! Akai I don’t agree with you too often but on this you hit the nail on head!
I don’t see the big deal. Dr. Laura is absolutely correct on this one. We have to decide whether the word is acceptable to mention or not. There can’t be a double standard. But one thing is for sure. I knew the whole “rant” was out of context the moment I saw it in the news. If you typically listen to her show, every call on average lasts about 2 to 3 minutes tops. All CNN had was a 10 second clip on repeat and they didn’t even attempt to tell the whole story. This is why every news organization is loosing credibility. REPORT THE WHOLE STORY!!
You can’t use the word loosely like it’s only us ( meaning blacks) that will listen to it. The fact is much of the world has been expose to our culture via comedy, music and etc. No matter what you think….people will hear it and attempt to use the N-Word. T The fact is she did even use in a negative connotation. Furthermore, the lady that called in used it first and asked Dr. Laura’s opinion. She simple pointed out how frequently it’s used and then it’s considered negative because some one other then black mentions it. This very point is the reason why I never use the word with someone outside of “my people”. Come on people….if she would have said Negro everybody still would have been hot. This is what happens when it’s displayed as a common word to use. It ends up in utter confusion, even in when trying to counsel someone on what to do in an inter-racial relationship. But..wait..She said the same thing in the you-tube clip.
Big shout to Clutch Magazine for having the balls to post the full clip unlike every news organization on TV.
The whole thing was blown up than it should’ve been. First off, I think it’s wrong how she lumped all black men as being the ones saying the N-word all time. I guess it depends on where you live, cause I hear more non-black men saying it.
Second, I disgaree with her advice to the woman. Being in a mixed relationship doesn’t mean you have to deal with such comments. But at the same time I think the black woman was STUPID to call a white conservative woman and expect her to ‘understand’. How? dumb idiot.
She married a punk that cant even defend her honor in their own damn home; how pathetic. If his friends are making jokes like that most likely before he met her, those comments were already being made.
Good point. That was the first thing that came to mind. Why the heck was her husband not doing anything about it on his own accord. My uncle is white and he would have choked the life out any family member using the “N-word”.
Like I said on a friend’s website when they covered this topic: The word is POISON!! People (black, white, green, yellow and blue) need to GROW UP and omit the word in it’s entirety, PERIOD!!
There’s NOTHING endearing about!
No one race saying it makes it okay!
There’s NO REASON to continue using it!
Please, this woman is NOT a psychiatrist. Her reason for being called “doctor” is that she has a doctorate in physiology. She is very hateful and is extremely destructive to the misguided people that call in believing they will receive compassionate, level-headed guidance and/or advice. A good, “normal” therapist knows that you guide people to come to their own solutions through a loving, compassionate regard. This woman has no right to be on the radio spewing her brand of hatred. If you listen to the transcript of the exchange you will see that she does not address the caller’s concern, which was the relationship she had with her husband. She immediately turned it around and skewed it so that she could excrete her own wrong-headed views.
I have to clarify one thing. The key word to her show is that she offers, “Her Opinion”. The last I checked, a PHD wasn’t needed for that in any area of study. Oprah has a degree in Communications and she does just that. She offers her own opinion. You don’t have to like the messenger that gives the advice or even listen to the show. That’s the purpose of turning the dial or not subscribing to xm/sirus radio. Bu like I said, this is only my opinion.
Dumb trick played herself; 9 million AA listeners and I guess it never occurred to Schlessinger that 1, 2 or maybe 4 million of those would not like what she said, exercise their power, and contact those sponsors but her contract is up at the end of the year and, ‘miraculously, she has decided not to renew.
I think it’s hilarious how she is painting herself as a victim and crying about her first amendment rights be “usurped.” Schlessinger is free to say whatever she likes; no one can (or is) stopping her but her silly @ss seems to be dismissive of the fact that, while she is free to say what she wants, others are also free to be offended and blow up the phone lines of those who sponsor her show and demand she be kicked off the air. Sponsors are trying to sell soap, money is green, and no smart or progressive business is going to risk forfeiting a chunk of revenue.
The result of AAs mass-marketing the use of the n-word is being offended over non-blacks using it; an equal possible result for whites that use the n-word publicly is the risk of being fired, shunned, labeled a racist and (at the worst) beat the hell down.
Record Industry Mogul to Copyright the “N” Word
http://thesattirenews.blogspot.com/2010/08/record-industry-mogul-to-copyright-n.html
I am a white woman living in Seattle, WA, but I moved here several years ago from Montgomery, Alabama.
My husband’s father said it in front of me after we got engaged. I pulled my husband aside and told him he could fight the battle with his dad or I would. I told him if his father ever said the word in front of me again, I would promptly leave the event, and I said if he ever said the word in front of our (future) kids, he’d never see them again. My husband chose to fight the battle without me there, and his father never said it again (in front of me.)
I suggest Jade have a similar conversaton with her husband about his friends.
As for Dr. Laura, she accomplished her goal, which is to get people talking about her. I don’t think we should all be such puppets, reactionary to the mass media (said the person posting a comment about it!) No PR is bad PR if you are a mediocre conservative TV personality.
The debate on whether AA’s should use the word or not is interesting, but I have no right to weigh in. The word has such a storied, hateful history, but language is ever evolving, out of the control of the individual. We all know the intention when we hear it said, and Dr. Laura’s was intended to increase viewership and awareness of her show. Unfortunately, she succeeded.
i personally don’t use the n-word because i know it’s racist history of being used to subjugate black people. i don’t like to hear other black people use the word but i can’t stop them, and i simply ask them not to use the word when they converse with me. i can’t stand when i see non-black people use the word, particularly white people, and when challenged, try to use the pathetic excuse that black people use it. i and many others don’t. and just because some do, doesn’t make it allright for you. i mean are white people trying to reclaim a word that was instrumental in their enslavement and second-class citizenship? no? i don’t think so. dr. laura is a braindead, racist, piece of sh*t.
WHATS THE DEAL – DR LAURA WAS JUST GIVING EXAMPLES OFTHE USE OF THE WORD – IF A BLACK RADIO HOST SAID THE SAME THING NOTHING WOULD BE SAID – “IF” WE AS A CULTURE DID NOT HERE ALL IT THE TIME (WORK-SHOPPING-OUTTING) IT WOULDN’T BE IN OUR VOCABULARY EITHER – I HAVE HAD BLACK PEOPLE CALL ME A NI–ER – SO WHAT – AND WHY IF SOMEONE ELSE SAYS IT ARE THEY RACIST
Nigga, or Nega (which is really being said if one is conscious of their past and history of word play) means king, Nigger is a slur. I wasn’t bothered by this until I heard the interview. How pompous and rude. “the attempt to demonize whites”?
I can’t even take her seriously.
Yes, that is the “rule,” but it is stupid. We should limited what people can or cannot say. That pushes us apart not together. How about we also just keep in mind what is appropriate for the conversation and for the person you are talking about. I think Dr. Laura was totally clueless, used that poor woman who called in for help for her own conservative agenda, but narrowing one vocabulary by race is not the solution either.
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