I'm super busy right now packing so I'm going to make this post about
Dr. Laura "Drop The N-Word Like It's Hot" Schlessinger short. I spent many rides home from high school listening to physilogist, no counseling degree-having Dr. Laura in my mother's car. She loves Dr. Laura (not sure how she feels now) but I'm not a big fan of hers. I often thought she lacked compassion with her guests and talked down to them. And I can't respect anyone who sits on a pedestal of morals, rips people for their mistakes, yet their past includes
taking nude pictures and reportedly
having an affair with a married man. None of us are perfect, but do not pretend you never got wild or made mistakes. I was really done with her when she compared homosexuality to pedophilia. Still her
N-word tirade was a bit shocking. I read the transcript from this infamous call and what annoyed me was not just the N-word, but how she treated the caller thta came to her for help. The caller, a black woman named Jade, was upset because her white husband's family and friends say racists things to her and her man does nothing. Instead of helping this poor woman, Dr. Laura throws it in her face and told her she was being too sensitive about the matter. That's how you treat someone looking for help and trusts your opinion? And then she kept rubbing it in with the NAACP comment and says she doesn't understand why she can't say the N-word because rappers and comedians on HBO say it all of the time. Like I've said many times on this blog--BLACK PEOPLE ARE NOT A MONOLITH!!!!! BET, LIL' WAYNE, JAY Z, CHRIS ROCK, CHRIS BROWN, OJ SIMPSON, R. KELLY, ETC. DO NOT REPRESENT ALL BLACK PEOPLE. There are black people who find the word offensive and don't use it to describe themselves. And what does that say about where Dr. Laura gets her information on culture? She refers to foolishness from comedians and rappers for information on the black community. She writes books, but has she read any on black culture? I guess Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Bill Cosby, Audre Lorde, Dorothy Height, Cornell West and others of that caliber are resources that are out of the question because you can't learn a lot about them just by clicking your remote to HBO.
With that said or shouted, I hear Dr. Laura is "quitting" her radio show at the end of the year. She says she's not going away but wants to do something else that will allow her to exercise her rights of free speech and say what's on her heart. Hmmm, she gets flack for saying the N-word, but says she's leaving the airwaves for more freedom of speech? So is she going to the internet to drop the N-word and the spread homophobia at her leisure? She'll probably do an Imus and sign a radio deal with another company. Don't be surprised if she returns with a more political conservative show because I've she talks more about politics than gives advice. How funny that on her blog she says she's been receiving hate-filled letters. Well, like attracts like. You speak hate and then you draw it to you.
I will not miss Dr. Laura, nor her homophobic and racially ignorant beliefs. Although I shouldn't be complaining because according to Dr. Laura black people have no more hardships now that our U.S. president is black. Although, we have three women sitting on the Supreme Court and last I checked when sexism is still alive and thriving. I didn't hear women were getting paid as much as men since a third woman was appointed to the High Court. And I didn't get my 30 acres after Pres. Obama's inauguration. But I digress.
On the last day of her show I think gays, bisexual, lesbians and interracial couples all over the country should have off the chart love making. And black callers flood her lines singing the Black National Anthem. Or you can do both at the same time if you really want to express yourself. No seriously, I think Dr. Laura should actually study counseling since she likes dishing out advice. And while she's at it, take a few classes on race and cut down on watching Mel Gibson. Sounds like she needs it.
I never cared for her. I wished that she was off the air a long time ago. It pisses me off when folks like her justify their use of the N-word by bringing up BET, HBO, Lil' Wayne, etc. I hear it all the time but I make sure that I don't use it at all, especially around my older son. Kids are sponges.
ReplyDeleteCount me in as one of the folks who will be calling in to sing the Black National Anthem. lol
@ Brooke- I agree with you and I always get annoyed when I'm out in public and I hear black folks dropping the N-word out loud where folks can hear them. I personally think we as black people need to stop using the word b/c it gives ignorant and racist people like Dr. Laura an excuse to use it. And because of the roots of the word's meaning I don't use it. You say you don't use it around your son. I remember growing up if I did hear black people use it, they did at home and tried to do it out of my ear shot. I was too nosy for that to work. :) But I'm not into this whole, "We've claimed the word and re-defined it" argument. I don't call myself that word, my mother never used that word to describe black people and like you Brooke I will do the same when I have children.
ReplyDeleteJenee-I finally heard Dr. Laura's rant. She totally went off tangent! She didn't even help the caller! She's an idiot.
ReplyDeleteAnd I totally agree with you about not being apart of redefining the n-word. It's a despicable word, period. There are other words that we can use to uplift our people.