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Last week Dr. Laura Schessinger seriously put her foot in her mouth by repeatedly spewing the "N" word over-and-over again. (For those of you who haven't heard her comment here's the entire call: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY0ccH7Hchw). Personally, I didn't find the comments overtly racist. I did find them beyond stupid: with as much media experience as she's had the woman should have known better. I found myself wondering if some of her comments showed an "anti-Obama" slant. That's not relevant to this commentary: maybe another post for another time. Still, it left me with a few questions.
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One one level I kind of agree with Dr. Laura: honestly, I don't get why it is appropriate for blacks to use the "N" word but if a white person uses it there's going to be trouble. I've heard the "we use it to diffuse it" aguement but I just don't buy it: if a word isn't appropriate for one group it shouldn't be appropriate for any group.
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I've also made the mistake of asking a black person what do "your people" think of this or that? (Oddly enough, I've never felt the need to ask this sort of question of an Asian or Hispanic--I don't know why.) Yes, I know there's no overarching organization that sets black social policy: I was also lucky enogh to be in a conversation with a nice person who simply said "I can't speak for 'my' people but this is how I feel about it..." (I ended up feeling a little foolish and realizing that I needed to work on my attitude.) Maybe the caller should be a little less sensitive on this issue.
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But that's pretty much where Dr. Laura and I part ways: I don't think the caller is hypersensitive. I found Dr. Laura's comments on "complaining about racism" to be ludicrous (and unspported) not to mention the "don't NAACP me" was uncalled for. Still, I'd probably have let it go until she went on Larry King last night to announce she was quitting radio. (Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9trj0ZBa28M)
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I'm sorry--what has this broad been smoking??? She's leaving her show because she wants to "regain" her "first ammendment rights". She wants to say what she wants without fear of reprisals. Sorry Dr. Laura--last time I looked "free speech" was a two-way street: you can say anything you want to say but you have to take the consequences. That's the beauty of the system. If you don't like it then KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!!!
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As you probably have guessed I've never been a big "Dr. Laura" fan: we disagree on so much and I question the ethics of someone whithout a psychology/sociology background setting themselves up as an advice guru. (Her advice is no more valueabl than mine--only I don't have a nationally-syndicated show). I'm glad she's moving off radio and sliding into irrelevance: her devoted fans will follow her but her voice will be muffled if not silenced. As Martha Stewart says "it's a good thing."
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Think about it.
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