Dr Laura and the 'N' Word

[jack stowaway]

I just got caught up to this story.

When I last visited the States I spoke about whiling away the highway hours listening to this woman in a sort of appalled wonder at her arrogance and rudeness towards callers --not to mention her rigidly moralistic view of human behaviour.

Even her 'apology' sounds arrogant.

It baffles me that anyone would think this narrow-minded, rudely offensive woman capable of offering any useful advice. She lacks insight into both the human condition and the complexities of modern living, yet crashes on regardless. O tempora! O mores!

[Guitarist]

I think she over-used the word to deflate its strength.

[Daisy]

I just got caught up to this story.

When I last visited the States I spoke about whiling away the highway hours listening to this woman in a sort of appalled wonder at her arrogance and rudeness towards callers --not to mention her rigidly moralistic view of human behaviour.

Even her 'apology' sounds arrogant.

It baffles me that anyone would think this narrow-minded, rudely offensive woman capable of offering any useful advice. She lacks insight into both the human condition and the complexities of modern living, yet crashes on regardless. O tempora! O mores!

Well, I'm a Conservative and a Christian, but I am not a fan of Dr.Laura either. My biggest objection to her is her stupifying hypocracy. I haven't listened to her in years because she was so annoying.

[Teresa B]

I haven't heard her in years either, and as a liberal non-religious person I agree completely with Daisy on this one.

She has no degree in psychology (I believe her area of study was physiology), and she morphed from pop "psychologist"--term used lightly--to rabbi wannabe. Her absolute pronouncements and berating of her on-air callers made it a mystery to me why anyone would ever call her for advice. But I guess there are more masochists out there than we realize.

Her stupid use of the N-word repeatedly, and her lack of sensitivity in her non-apology, negate any "positive" motive she might have in "diluting" the potency of such a word. If she didn't think she was infallible and god-like in her influence, she would know that she couldn't have any positive result by trivializing something so hurtful to people for generations. (Just because some black comic on HBO might use the word in an entirely different milieu is no excuse.)

Teresa

[david johnson]

Wrong. If the race primarily concerned can use it everyday talk as well as in "entertainment", then everyone can.

dj

[Teresa B]

Wrong. If the race primarily concerned can use it everyday talk as well as in "entertainment", then everyone can.

dj

Are you the moral attorney general? Yes, she "can" of course use the term, because we have freedom of speech. It doesn't make it any less crass, insensitive or stupid to do so. And it is indeed a very different situation when a black person uses the word in this case; frankly, I don't like the use the word by black comedians for a primarily black audience (and I believe many blacks don't like it either)--but the use by whites, it should be needless to say, is symbolic of a day that black people were considered by whites to be less than human. Today we have more enlightened thinking among most, but of course there is still plenty of prejudice around. The blatant slinging of racist epithets in either direction, but especially by those of the race formerly in the "superior" position against the oppressed ones, is morally unjustified and crass.

Dr. Laura actually followed the comment with an even more idiotic remark, about how once we had a black president, she thought all this stuff about being criticized for racially insensitive comments would go away, but she was disappointed that it hasn't.

I hope that perhaps her followers, whoever they are, will decide to quit listening to her, and she simply ends up off the air.

Teresa

[Agnes Selby]

Wrong. If the race primarily concerned can use it everyday talk as well as in "entertainment", then everyone can.

dj

Are you the moral attorney general? Yes, she "can" of course use the term, because we have freedom of speech. It doesn't make it any less crass, insensitive or stupid to do so. And it is indeed a very different situation when a black person uses the word in this case; frankly, I don't like the use the word by black comedians for a primarily black audience (and I believe many blacks don't like it either)--but the use by whites, it should be needless to say, is symbolic of a day that black people were considered by whites to be less than human. Today we have more enlightened thinking among most, but of course there is still plenty of prejudice around. The blatant slinging of racist epithets in either direction, but especially by those of the race formerly in the "superior" position against the oppressed ones, is morally unjustified and crass.

Dr. Laura actually followed the comment with an even more idiotic remark, about how once we had a black president, she thought all this stuff about being criticized for racially insensitive comments would go away, but she was disappointed that it hasn't.

I hope that perhaps her followers, whoever they are, will decide to quit listening to her, and she simply ends up off the air.

Teresa

I am glad I never heard of her when we lived in America.

[lennygoran]

>I am glad I never heard of her when we lived in America.<

Well I do live in America--still I never heard of her either! Regards, Len

[Donald Isler]

Neither of you are missing much!

And I'm quite sure that if we ever have a Jewish President she still won't find anti-Semitic jokes and comments acceptable.

[Teresa B]

Wrong. If the race primarily concerned can use it everyday talk as well as in "entertainment", then everyone can.

dj

Are you the moral attorney general? Yes, she "can" of course use the term, because we have freedom of speech. It doesn't make it any less crass, insensitive or stupid to do so. And it is indeed a very different situation when a black person uses the word in this case; frankly, I don't like the use the word by black comedians for a primarily black audience (and I believe many blacks don't like it either)--but the use by whites, it should be needless to say, is symbolic of a day that black people were considered by whites to be less than human. Today we have more enlightened thinking among most, but of course there is still plenty of prejudice around. The blatant slinging of racist epithets in either direction, but especially by those of the race formerly in the "superior" position against the oppressed ones, is morally unjustified and crass.

Dr. Laura actually followed the comment with an even more idiotic remark, about how once we had a black president, she thought all this stuff about being criticized for racially insensitive comments would go away, but she was disappointed that it hasn't.

I hope that perhaps her followers, whoever they are, will decide to quit listening to her, and she simply ends up off the air.

Teresa

I am glad I never heard of her when we lived in America.

And fortunately so, Agnes! I haven't heard her radio program in years, but I had listened to her for awhile some years ago UNTIL I realized how awful she was. She pretended to be a call-in "psychologist" (with no degree in such), and then sort of morphed into a wannabe rabbi, using a religious basis for her lambastes of her callers. She is one of the most insensitive know-it-alls I've ever heard.

Teresa

[david johnson]

Wrong. If the race primarily concerned can use it everyday talk as well as in "entertainment", then everyone can.

dj

Are you the moral attorney general? Yes, she "can" of course use the term, because we have freedom of speech. It doesn't make it any less crass, insensitive or stupid to do so. And it is indeed a very different situation when a black person uses the word in this case; frankly, I don't like the use the word by black comedians for a primarily black audience (and I believe many blacks don't like it either)--but the use by whites, it should be needless to say, is symbolic of a day that black people were considered by whites to be less than human. Today we have more enlightened thinking among most, but of course there is still plenty of prejudice around. The blatant slinging of racist epithets in either direction, but especially by those of the race formerly in the "superior" position against the oppressed ones, is morally unjustified and crass.

Dr. Laura actually followed the comment with an even more idiotic remark, about how once we had a black president, she thought all this stuff about being criticized for racially insensitive comments would go away, but she was disappointed that it hasn't.

I hope that perhaps her followers, whoever they are, will decide to quit listening to her, and she simply ends up off the air.

Teresa

Teresa is playing moral AG herself and determining who can/can't use a word. How DARE she quip about 'those of the race formerly in the "superior" position against the oppressed ones'. My ancestors had no slaves. My children and I have inherited no racial guilt.
Feel what you wish regarding your guilt and that of your friends, Teresa. You apply it to me/mine and I say I know better...and you can shove your attitude.

dj

[piston]

It is a very pejorative word, historically loaded with racist connotations, and which, btw, only came to be used widely, first in French, then in English, in the eighteenth century, in the context of an expanding trade in African slaves. In contrast to the English language wherein "negro" is considered more neutral, less pejorative, than its presumed more pejorative variations, the words "negre" and "negresse" in French only assume their negative sense depending on the meaning of the sentence, on how they are used in a sentence. In other words, it remains possible to use these words positively, neutrally, or negatively. For example, before a younger generation of North American Blacks began to use the word in English as a means of self-identification (equivalent to saying my true "buddies"), francophone Black authors created the word "negritude" in reference to a racial identity in literature. Similarly, the term "art-negre" refers positively to the distinctive expression of Black identity in the arts.

So this whole question of the right to use the "N" word could not materialize in the French language as it does in the English language because it has long been understood that it is the meaning of the word, how the word is used, rather than if it can ever be used, which dictates what is acceptable and what is far too pejorative to be tolerable.

The American English language contributes to this controversy by somehow distinguishing between a "neutral" word -- "negro" (a word can never be neutral in and of itself; "negro" can be no less pejorative than the other "N" word) -- and a very bad word that should never be uttered again. The younger African American generation has further complicated this linguistic culture
by appropriating the bad word as a means of self-identification but, obviously, for a very different purpose than self-derision.

I'm sure an etymologist cannot fail to observe the rather cruel irony of the history of this bad word: "negre," from which the pejorative "N" word is said to be derived (the word "negro" simply means "black" in Spanish and in Portuguese), is a French word itself derived from:

Etymologically, negro, noir, nègre, and nigger ultimately derive from nigrum, the stem of the Latin niger (black) (pronounced [ˈniɡer] which in every other grammatical case, grammatical gender, and grammatical number besides nominative masculine singular is nigr-; the r is trilled).

[Teresa B]

Wrong. If the race primarily concerned can use it everyday talk as well as in "entertainment", then everyone can.

dj

Are you the moral attorney general? Yes, she "can" of course use the term, because we have freedom of speech. It doesn't make it any less crass, insensitive or stupid to do so. And it is indeed a very different situation when a black person uses the word in this case; frankly, I don't like the use the word by black comedians for a primarily black audience (and I believe many blacks don't like it either)--but the use by whites, it should be needless to say, is symbolic of a day that black people were considered by whites to be less than human. Today we have more enlightened thinking among most, but of course there is still plenty of prejudice around. The blatant slinging of racist epithets in either direction, but especially by those of the race formerly in the "superior" position against the oppressed ones, is morally unjustified and crass.

Dr. Laura actually followed the comment with an even more idiotic remark, about how once we had a black president, she thought all this stuff about being criticized for racially insensitive comments would go away, but she was disappointed that it hasn't.

I hope that perhaps her followers, whoever they are, will decide to quit listening to her, and she simply ends up off the air.

Teresa

Teresa is playing moral AG herself and determining who can/can't use a word. How DARE she quip about 'those of the race formerly in the "superior" position against the oppressed ones'. My ancestors had no slaves. My children and I have inherited no racial guilt.
Feel what you wish regarding your guilt and that of your friends, Teresa. You apply it to me/mine and I say I know better...and you can shove your attitude.

dj

I beg to differ. I am not determining who can and can't use a word. If you read my post, I said she had a right to use it, but it remains crass and insensitive. And I was most pointedly NOT "quipping" as you put it; I was quite seriously making a point (which is common knowledge anyway) about the reason blacks are sensitive to whites who sling the word around.

I made no claims whatsoever about your ancestors, and for your information, mine never owned slaves either, and I don't have "guilt". That's simply a thoughtless ad hominem attack on your part. It's simply a fact that if you are of the Caucasian race, you belong by chance to the race that oppressed the black race in this country. YOU didn't obviously oppress them any more than I did, or our particular ancestors.

I am amazed and appalled that anyone would believe it's some sort of "attitude" to understand where people of different races are coming from, and to be humanly sensitive to their feelings. And if you don't make a practice of using the N-word in referring to black people, then you agree with me.

Teresa

[JackC]

Geez, why all the dumping on Dr. Laura for using the N word. We have free speech in this country, right?? Who cares that it is vile and grossly insensitve to blacks?? Shouldn't blacks fully embrace the freedom on speech in this country that allows a smuck like Dr. Laura to say anything she wants, even if they find it offensive??

Aren't these all the same arguments that are being employeed to defend the building of the mosque near ground zero???? Aren't those who feel offended by it being asked to "get over it" and realize that it SHOULD be built there because it demonstrates to everyone that we have religious freedom here?

[david johnson]

Wrong. If the race primarily concerned can use it everyday talk as well as in "entertainment", then everyone can. dj

Are you the moral attorney general? Yes, she "can" of course use the term, because we have freedom of speech. It doesn't make it any less crass, insensitive or stupid to do so. And it is indeed a very different situation when a black person uses the word in this case; frankly, I don't like the use the word by black comedians for a primarily black audience (and I believe many blacks don't like it either)--but the use by whites, it should be needless to say, is symbolic of a day that black people were considered by whites to be less than human. Today we have more enlightened thinking among most, but of course there is still plenty of prejudice around. The blatant slinging of racist epithets in either direction, but especially by those of the race formerly in the "superior" position against the oppressed ones, is morally unjustified and crass. Dr. Laura actually followed the comment with an even more idiotic remark, about how once we had a black president, she thought all this stuff about being criticized for racially insensitive comments would go away, but she was disappointed that it hasn't. I hope that perhaps her followers, whoever they are, will decide to quit listening to her, and she simply ends up off the air. Teresa

Teresa is playing moral AG herself and determining who can/can't use a word. How DARE she quip about 'those of the race formerly in the "superior" position against the oppressed ones'. My ancestors had no slaves. My children and I have inherited no racial guilt. Feel what you wish regarding your guilt and that of your friends, Teresa. You apply it to me/mine and I say I know better...and you can shove your attitude. dj

I beg to differ. I am not determining who can and can't use a word. If you read my post, I said she had a right to use it, but it remains crass and insensitive. And I was most pointedly NOT "quipping" as you put it; I was quite seriously making a point (which is common knowledge anyway) about the reason blacks are sensitive to whites who sling the word around. I made no claims whatsoever about your ancestors, and for your information, mine never owned slaves either, and I don't have "guilt". That's simply a thoughtless ad hominem attack on your part. It's simply a fact that if you are of the Caucasian race, you belong by chance to the race that oppressed the black race in this country. YOU didn't obviously oppress them any more than I did, or our particular ancestors. I am amazed and appalled that anyone would believe it's some sort of "attitude" to understand where people of different races are coming from, and to be humanly sensitive to their feelings. And if you don't make a practice of using the N-word in referring to black people, then you agree with me. Teresa

Beg all you wish. You are the thoughtless one here. Quit trying to spin.

dj

[Agnes Selby]

Mr. Johnson, I am appaled by your rude response to Teresa's comments.
They certainly do not enhance your opinions. As a God Fearing
Christian that you are, I am amazed by your attitude of wanting
to cause hurt to people by calling them by the N name when you
know it would cause unnecessary hurt. As we are all created by
your God in all shades and colours, do you think God will forgive
you when you finally arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Even though your ancestors did not have slaves, you owe it
to God to treat all people with respect regardless of their colour.


.

[Teresa B]

Thank you Agnes. Mr. Johnson clearly does not have a grasp of my points, thus he has no response other than "I know you are, but what am I?"

As for JackC's post that use of the N-word and the right to build a mosque on private property are possible in the U.S. because of our freedom of speech and religion, it is quite true. And no one has said they cannot use the epithet or build the mosque. Both are bad ideas because of supreme insensitivity.

We ought to be thankful for the right to say what we please, of course, and even a schmuck like Dr. Laura has that right. And black Americans will shake it off and get over it. In particular, Dr. Laura is not that significant. But she has a public forum, and why is it necessary to open old wounds with expressions of hate? She may not like black comedians, or whatever-- but does she realize every black listener is hurt by her stupid remarks? That she is harming race relations by spewing these totally clueless comments about how "we have a black president, so now, you black people, quit being offended by hate language"?

I will repeat my previous comment, she has the freedom, and her listeners have the freedom to quit listening.

Teresa

[rwetmore]

Who cares about Dr. Laura? Personally, I can't stand the woman.

[Teresa B]

Who cares about Dr. Laura? Personally, I can't stand the woman.

Well well, we agree!

Teresa

[John F]

"The Dr. Laura Program" will go off the air in December - her decision.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/con ... 10ae699ad5