Friday, August 20, 2010
CNN interviews woman who inspired Dr. Laura's racist rant.
She seems like a bright articulate woman who found herself completely ambushed by Dr. Laura's response to her question.
I think she is right on when she responds to the question of WHY Dr. Laura said what she said.
"I think that is what she honestly feels."
Do you know what? I think that is EXACTLY right.
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"A very hateful word"? If it's so awful, then why do all my Black friends use it when they're joking with each other? In the same way as I might call a friend "dear," they use the n-word. If it's "derogatory and demeaning," then why do the Black characters on movies repeatedly use it affectionately?
ReplyDeleteand yet she demands raum emanuals job when he says 'retard'???
ReplyDeletebill in belize
A person who has passed herself off as an on-air psychologist has been successfully outed by someone else who really listened to what was being broadcast.
ReplyDeleteGood work. It's not always easy to get the fishy thing to take the bait.
Additionally, I recall this woman stating that she had called in previously (a long time ago) and on some levels, enjoyed some of Dr. Laura's positions.
ReplyDeleteIf anything, she is a fair-minded citizen who engaged with Laura on a good-faith basis - as compared to a 'plant' - and was roundly disrespected.
MicMac
anonymous @ 3:12 am, the word this woman is referring to is a very hateful word. it conjures up all kinds of kinds of hurt that black americans have suffered for the most part from the powers that be in "white america". (i don't like using colors to refer to people because race is just a human construct often viewed like a caste system, but i will here for tthe sake of easy reading). the reasons why black americans use the n-word vary from low self-esteem to taking ownership of the word and using it as a badge of pride in themselves. it is black amerricans trying to deal with tthe ugly past inn this country while at the same time redefining whoo they are today. would mlk have liked this word? i don't know or sure, but ii doubt it. i'm sure you can see though, that a white american using this word creates a whole different context and harkens back to slavery, jim crow, segregation, etc. it's all about context, really.
ReplyDeleteAnon 3:12
ReplyDeleteIf I hear this stupid meme of "why do my black friends call each other that and black characters say it on tv?--I'LL PULL MY DAMNED HAIR OUT.
I am black and not one of my friends call each other the freaking N word---nor does anyone in my family or extended family use the word. The only place I ever hear it is when I have the television on. And that doesn't thrill me.
The use of the word by African Americans is their way to OWN it. The word was foisted and hurled at us for so many years--The usage by some black people attempts to take more than two hundred years of derogatory pain out of it. It's comparable to gay people calling themselves queer. That word was hurled as an insult at the gay community. Then the community grabbed it, used it, owned it to take out the pain.
I cannot believe that after all these years people could still be as culturally clueless as some are in this country. I am so sick of the wide eyed--well THEY do it-- why can't we? Well, I'll tell you why. I look forward to the effing day when all the pain is gone no one says the N word. I look forward to the day when someone who supposedly has black friends actually asks his FRIENDS why it's not okay to say the N word to them or anyone else.
Rant over.
Angela @ 5:48
ReplyDeleteExcellent!!!
I'm white and I used to hear my parents use that word on occasion when I was growing up many years ago. I was never like them in that regard.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly detest that word and it shocks me when I hear it today. I don't understand why some people use it as a term of endearment so I agree with Dr. Laura on that one issue. But, she used the word with abandon when it was not necessary to say it at all and then she suggested the woman was too sensitive to marry outside her race. The whole discussion illuminated Dr. Laura's prejudice. Kudos to the companies that pulled their commercial endorsements.
Anon at 3:12am --
ReplyDeleteThe discussion isn't about what some blacks do (which if it really upsets you that your friends use the N-word in your presence -- why don't you tell them?); the discussion is how a professional radio host handled herself with one of her listeners.
To Angela @5:48, another Excellent. Keep on saying it, too. That word needs to disappear, along with all other insulting words that use people's ethnic origins as some kind of stick to beat them with.
ReplyDeleteI've imagined a conversation with Dr. Laura over a different word. Taken directly from the transcript re: the N word, with a few liberties of my own.
ReplyDeleteflamingindependent.blogspot.com
to Angela:
ReplyDeleteI have never commented here. I prefer to lurk. But after reading your wise words I have to give you a pat on the back. Well stated!
Dr. Laura was condescending and insulting in the way she spoke to this lady. Listen to the tape of the call - Dr. Laura asked for examples and even before Jade could finish, Dr. Laura was already jumping down her throat. She then proceeded to get even more condescending and insulting.
ReplyDeleteJust because black people use the word on HBO - doesn't make it right. And yes, it is a very hateful word - as are all words that demean people due to their racial ethnicity or appearance or disabilities. Just because people do it, it doesn't make it OK. Jade is right - Dr. Laura SHOULD HAVE known better and I believe she does but like Jade said, she genuinely believes her twisted logic and she got caught.
Smoking gun: If Sarah "The Stupid" Palin agrees with you, you have fallen off the deep end.
Dr. Laura was incredibly disrespectful to this lady - she basically said "Suck it up, there's a black president, what more do YOU people want? And lady, if you don't like it then don't marry white guys cuz they have white friends who are not going to care (nor should they have to) what YOU think."
Glad she resigned - and no, Dr. Laura did not lose her First Amendment rights. She exercised them and now this is the consequence because hey guess what, OTHER people get to exercise THEIR Freedom of Speech by telling Dr. Laura she is a condescending racist idiot and to demand she resign.
Don't start something you can't finish.
So "Jade" was confused when she completed her call to "Dr." Laura if she was to blame for being "hyper-sensitive" or if her husband's friends were being jerks for using a historically hateful word casually and asking her what "black people" did in certain situations.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could express myself more eloquently than this, but CONFUSION and self-doubt is what toxic people do to other people.
When you talk with a friend about your problems you feel supported, validated, heard.
If some good ideas were generated, you feel like you have some options, are able to be more powerful or more thoughtful about your situation. More CLEAR and calm. Toxic people do the opposite.
Notice how "Dr." Laura just casually threw in the statement about Obama and "black people". WTF?? Why did she even go there?
When SP had a conference call in to Oprah, when asked about her hair style, SP puts a big grin on her face and says "I was trying to look like you!" WTF?? A normal person would have said they were trying out a new look, but SP chose a statement that was deliberately CONFUSING.
Another example is Kathleen G.'s banner. SP advances with "You WANTED me to be governor." This statement was to throw Kathleen off balance, and put her on the defensive.
Toxic people love to muddy the waters; the last thing they want is CLARITY and understanding.
One of the sliver linings of having this mad woman trying to stir up trouble, is the documentation of her words and actions. (Thank you, Gryphen!)
I am convinced that years from now, SP will provide (literally) a textbook example of RED FLAGS that will automatically dis-qualify some personalities for public office.
Anonymous at 3:12am:
ReplyDeleteIf all of your black friends use it around you, you need to find a better class of friend. Perhaps you should ask these friends (and I'm sure you've got oodles of black friends in your inner circle) why they use a racial slur in front of you. None of my black friends use this word. It's not a terribly "classy" word to use, whatever your color.
It's a derogatory and demeaning word. I can't imagine any reasonable, intelligent white person bemoaning the fact that they'd be censured for using it. If a member of any group wants to use such a word among themselves, it's their business. This isn't just true for this word; it's true for any number of slurs. Have you failed to notice the outcry over the word 'guido' being used on Jersey Shore?
Why do black characters in movies use it? Because it's a signifier among that group. Because it's movie shorthand for a specific class of person that would talk like that. Because it's a within-a-group method of claiming back a word that was used to insult your group. You don't see it used by movies featuring black doctors or lawyers.
But you already knew that. Using this old 'black people use it, why can't I?' meme is not terribly creative.
This woman can't speak up to her husband to tell him to shut his friends up? But yet she says she is married for 3 wonderful years? Come on. And what kind of husband is going to let his friends use that word when his wife is black? If anyone is in the wrong, it is her HUSBAND! What a creep to not stand up for his wife.
ReplyDelete