About That Laura Schlessinger N-Word Rant
The most surprising thing about the story about Laura Schlessigner repeatedly using a racial epithet on her show ? The news that she’s still on the air.
Anyway, you can listen to the full call here if you’re so inclined. Be warned there are no bleeps in the record at the link.
But perhaps the most eye-brow raising part of the call was this:
If you’re that hypersensitive about color and don’t have a sense of humor, don’t marry out of your race.
Umm, well, okay then.
Yeah, I think her Touretting of the n-word is almost a sideshow; her substance is far more obnoxious. She’s a vile woman leading a vile life.
Ok, so she used a word that even this blog won’t print although you can hear it from just about any black comedian or black rapper. It’s just a word people, for chrissakes, get over it.
Part of the problem is that some words have had their meanings changed by the over-sensitive PC crowd. I can remember when calling someone “gay” meant that they were happy. Today it’s an insult. Who the hell gets the authority to change the meaning of words and to decide what can or can’t be said?
If you were to be honest about it, the dreaded “N-word” comes from a Southern pronunciation of the Spanish word “negro” which means black. Now that’s really offensive isn’t it?
OK, so some people get offended by it, so what? Some people get offended by just about anything and seem to change what offends them from one week to the next. I have been called many things over the course of my life and none of them have offended me in the least.
Of all the manufactured crises that I have encountered, this one is the most ridiculous!
Who the hell gets the authority to change the meaning of words and to decide what can or can’t be said?
People do.
See, Dr. Laura didn’t get arrested.
She just acted like an ass, and now people are saying she’s an ass.
People get to decide for themselves what sort of behavior they think is assy.
Too many complaints about “political correctness” amount to “on noes, my rights are violated because I acted like a dick and now someone is calling me a dick!”
“I can remember when calling someone “gay” meant that they were happy.”
Are you 107?
Rick, maybe he just made a boner.
“I can remember when calling someone “gay” meant that they were happy. Today it’s an insult.”
Umm, who considers that an insult?
“It’s just a word people…”
Ahh…we’ve come so far…we’re now seeing a defense of the word “ni@@er”…lovely…
“If you were to be honest about it, the dreaded “N-word” comes from a Southern pronunciation of the Spanish word “negro” which means black. Now that’s really offensive isn’t it? ”
Are you really that thick?
“If you were to be honest about it, the dreaded “N-word” comes from a Southern pronunciation of the Spanish word “negro” which means black. Now that’s really offensive isn’t it? “
So, we’re talking sometime between early 19th and mid-20th century, right? Good times for non-whites, especially those in the southern states.
“I can remember when calling someone “gay” meant that they were happy. Today it’s an insult.”
Umm, who considers that an insult?
Interested Party beat me to it, but I still have a story:
My 12 and 14 year old sons and I were visiting at my my parents house and conversing with my mother and my sister. Somehow or other my room mate Melissa came up in the conversation and one of my sons said, “Melissa is gay.”
My little sis said, “Now boys, that’s not nice to say!”
They looked at her and said, in unison, “But she IS!”
Little Sis looked at me quite flustered and I said, “Well, she is…”
Melissa did not consider it an insult, neither did I or my sons. To us it was just a fact of life.
Funniest thing is my mother, who was raised as a strict southern Baptist in Texas never said a word. Why? Her favorite (female) cousin had lived with another woman for 30+ years, and buried that woman with great love when she died.
I will never understand Southern Baptists. These people are their family. They love them, they respect them, they even accept their “significant others” into their homes on the Holidays…
As long as nobody says the word “gay”
“I will never understand Southern Baptists. These people are their family. They love them, they respect them, they even accept their ‘significant others’ into their homes on the Holidays…
As long as nobody says the word ‘gay'”
The cognitive dissonance that comes with the natural instinct to love a family member exactly as she is. but then to have one’s religion say that person is an “abomination”…doesn’t really leave the religion, or rather, the people who claim to speak for the religion, looking too good…
“Umm, who considers that an insult?”
Sadly, “gay” is frequently used as an insult. For example, “that’s so gay” is so commonly used as an insult that there’s an ad campaign against using that phrase.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-petrow/thats-so-gay-is-not-so-fu_b_165109.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVicCD8FmMs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzebaOXdWxA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD16K-fr7bg
Not to mention the use of phrases like “u r gay” as an general-use (not directed at gay people) insult.
I’m sorry, I give no points to Baptist hypocrites. They’re doing what’s easy within their family, and doing what’s easy in the larger world. They’re avoiding taking a stand.
It’s of a piece with Serbs who considered their Muslim neighbors to be friends. Until they didn’t. And Hutus with Tutsis. And Germans with Jews. Most people are sheep and will do what the sheep dog tells them to do.
It’s why Jews make a thing of the “righteous among the nations.” We know how rare that kind of courage is. To stand against your own tribe in defense of decency — at the risk of censure, expulsion, even death — is a very tough thing to do.
“That’s so gay” is probably ineffective as an insult if you are over 15. I live near San Francisco & have been associating with gay people for about half a century now. You can use gay with them in a conversation and they will not be offended.
Sounds like Patrick has not been out of the house for a few decades. The perfect Republican.
As for “n___er”. black folks can use it any way they wish, their grandparents and generations earned them that right by enduring endless insults/opression/persecution etc over a very long period of time. There is no acceptable context I can think of for white folks using it unless you are trying to get into the Klan.
I listened to the clip and found it far less incendiary than the posts written about it or the comments would have led me to believe. She used the N-Word to describe how people, especially blacks may toss out the word in normal conservation or banter. Her use of the word was as an academic exercise and not to insult or degrade anyone. I can’t say that I’ve ever listened to her to any great extent nor would I if she were to stay on the air. Was she flippant or gratuitous in her use of word? well probably, but not racist.
Rodney,
The part of her rant that raised my eyebrow was this, which I highlighted in the post:
Admittedly, it’s typical of the kind of flippant responses she’s known for making, but, still, it’s a bit much.
That said, I don’t care that much about her rant. I don’t care about whether or not she quits. Heck, I was surprised to learn she was still on the air — she hasn’t been on the air here in D.C. for almost a decade
Well Doug, that statement certainly could be construed to be racist more easily than her use of the N-Word (in the context she used in the clip).
It also could just be advice.
– If you’re oversensitive about color (race), don’t marry outside your own race.
– If you’re oversensitive about religion, don’t marry outside your own.
– If you’re oversensitive about people in the military, don’t marry a serviceperson.
….
It’s probably better advice for people to just not be oversensitive.