The difference between the racial transgressions of broadcasters Don Imus and Dr. Laura Schlessinger is that Imus’s “nappy-headed hos” utterance was used to describe the black Rutgers women’s basketball team that he was admiring at the time. Dr. Laura was not describing or addressing blacks when she rattled off the “N” word yesterday on her radio show; she was merely describing the way other blacks use the word liberally. Evidently, you are not even allowed to use the words in reporting on another’s use of it.
Given the level of language policing under which we all labor, it took me some time to locate Dr. Laura’s verbatim words. News reports must have redacted even the indirect use of the word. Here’s the account via ABC.com. Note the childish blanks in “n****r”:
“Schlessinger ignited a firestorm of criticism after Media Matters posted audio from a Tuesday conversation she had with a black female caller. The caller was complaining about her white husband’s friends and their use of the N-word. In response, Schlessinger said:
‘lack guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO and listen to a black comic, and all you hear is n****r, n****r, n****r. I don’t get it. If anybody without enough melanin says it, it’s a horrible thing. But when black people say it, it’s affectionate. It’s very confusing.
When the caller said she was appalled by Schlessinger’s use of the N-word, the radio host demurred, ‘Oh, then I guess you don’t watch HBO or listen to any black comedians. My dear, the point I am trying to make … we’ve got a black man as president and we’ve got more complaining about racism than ever. I think that’s hilarious.'”
“She then criticized the caller, saying ‘Don’t take things out of context. Don’t NAACP me.'”
[SNIP]
Laura has decided to “end her radio show.” If she wishes to “come back,” she’ll need to commence her Via Dolorosa. “It [could be] time for page two of the white-celebrity-struggling-with-racism playbook: sitting down with Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson.”