The Conundrum of Dr. Laura Schlessinger and the N-Word.

This was when I heard of Dr. Laura as a child in the late 90s. It may seem strange that a black, southern fourth grader would be watching Frasier, but hey, its me. I come from a family where we listen to different viewpoints, or at least encouraged me too when they couldn't do it.  My father, who has voted Democratic since 1988, though he voted Reagan in 1984 (A fact which my ardent Democratic mother wouldn't ever let him forget.) listens to A.M. talk radio which in Georgia, is very conservative. He does it because, as he told me one time, "Better to fight off my Republican coworkers if I already know what those jackasses say. Often, I have heard the voices of Rush Limbaugh and Mike Gallagher bellow out various screeds against Democratic and left leaning people, pummeling them with that self righteous dollop of good ole conservatism. It was the same all over, my father would listen while my mother fumed in the passenger seat, exacerbating her ire. I would just sit in the back laughing my ass off when a four letter curse word left her lips while she begged Pops to turn to something else. Dr. Laura would be on the dial, and she was one of the top women besides Martha Zoller that filled her with incredulity and anger.

So, I listened at times at Dr. Laura, when she would vastly and repeatedly insult and belittle her callers, because she seemed to believe that she always knew what was best for them. She has had various libel lawsuits and earned the absolute disdain from many left wing groups, including the Gay and Lesbian community for her stark conservative views. There have been questions about her being a psychologist to people with problems, since her doctorate is in physiology and her bachelors is in marriage counseling. However, she has thrived since then and has rivaled The Rush Limbaugh Show in radio ratings.

Flash forward to the date of Tuesday, August 10, 2010, where a troubled caller wanted advice for  how to deal with a problem with her husband and her husband's friends. The caller was a black female who is in an interracial marriage with her husband, who is white.




Captivating, isn't it? Lets just say that using the N-word, unprompted, ELEVEN TIMES, is not a very good idea. Especially when you have sponsors, that are patrons of those sponsors. To tell you the truth , Dr. Laura using the N-word is the least of the problem here. She basically told the caller that if she didn't want these problems to arise between the friends and her, that she shouldn't have married outside of the race. Well, afterward, Dr. Laura knew she had done something to arise the proverbial avalanche of bile her way. So, the following day, she apologized.




After that, some people believed that this wasn't enough, and wanted her show to be canceled. Sponsors still were dropping like flies from her show. So she made an appearance on Larry King to defend what she did.



Well, her show is dead, but damn if she didn't go out screaming,right?

Ok, here it is. I am gonna make a statement, that will have many of you looking at me with the side eye. I will also in my article write the word out. White people, Asian people, Latino people, Martians, animals, anyone who isn't black, you can say (GET READY NOW!) nigger. You are right, as an American citizen, per the first Amendment to the United States Constitution, you have the right to say it. I don't want to stop you from having that right. You're good on that.

Are you still with me, because after that paragraph, a lot of people must be wanting to do this to me.



(If you can do that with a basketball to anyone, call the Guinness Book of Records.)

Now, having said that, you can say the word. Just remember, I am also American, and per the rights afforded to me first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, I can send a wave of bile your way like you never imagined for using that word. I can essentially hate you, and get a chorus of people to hate you along with me. I can ruin your life that way. It has happened before in history. There is a reason why David Duke or Pat Buchanan isn't President of the United States today. There is a reason why Alabama Governor George Wallace's Inauguration speech is the most infamous in history. There is a reason that Nathan Bedford Forrest doesn't have a national holiday.

The N-word is a word used since 1619, when we were first brought on the shores on Jamestown. It was used by people who weren't black (Not just white people) to personify a black man as inferior. As lower than dirt. Not even human. That word being said by non-black people meant that they viewed the person as sub-human. Even after the Civil War, where many of these black people considered free, the word was still used by non-black people to quarter blacks as sub-human and not allowed to be afforded those rights in the constitution. It was used to go after black people for wanting to use the restroom anywhere, to go to school anywhere, to work anywhere, to live anywhere, to just be American. So, when you encounter black people who charge at non-black people for saying the N-word, remember that this may be the reason.

Now, as for black hip hop artists and comedians, yeah they use it. They use it as a term of endearment. Thats just the facts. I highly doubt a black hip hop artist or comedian would use it as a term of hate. Not to say that non-black use of it is always used as a term of hate, but its more likely with non-black usage than black usage. To some of you, it may not be right, but it is what it is.
We should also be aware that anyone can be offended by the N-word, not just black men and women. It even happens even when black people use it with other black people. I have encountered some of my Afro-American peoples grimace or tell me outright that I should not use the N-word in their presence. I meant it as a term of endearment, but some still don't want it used. I see that, and I respect that. Likewise, some black people will allow you to use it. It has happened, not with me personally, but with other friends and their non-white friends. As long as they use "nigga" and say it as a term of endearment, its ok with them. Some may disagree with that, but it is what it is.

The N-word will remain controversial for a long time. Dr. Laura will not be the last to use this word and be faced with the blowback, but Dr. Laura is wrong in her analysis that she can't say it. She exercised her first amendment right. She was well within her right to do so. But as history will show us, just because it is within your legal rights to do so, does not mean that you won't look like a jackass to some people when you say it.