Engage brain, THEN open mouth...

Dr. Laura Schlessinger got caught up in a bad case of opening mouth before engaging brain a few weeks ago, not a good condition for a radio host to catch. Dr. Laura has a radio show where she takes calls and gives advice to people. It might be added here that Dr. Laura has only a therapist's license--her doctorate is not in Psychology or Counseling or anything else having to do with that field. No, her doctorate is in Physiology. Her thesis was over the effects of insulin upon lab rats.

But I digress as to the actual incident that has stirred up the hornet's nest. A caller was put on the air on Dr. Laura's show with a problem. The caller was a black woman married to a white man. The man's family and friends often make remarks that make her feel uncomfortable, and apparently the n-word has been said around her, which has upset her. Quite understandable. The woman wanted advice on how to handle the situation.

The issue of race in America is still a sensitive one. As recently as 50 years ago, there were White Only signs posted all over the United States. Lynchings were common occurances, only a tiny handful of the black population was able to even vote, nevermind run for office, and blacks faced violence from whites day and night.

Dr. Laura, according to Wikipedia, was born in 1947. She was old enough during the 50's and 60's to remember the terrible things that happened while blacks fought for equality. Having lived through that explosive period in history, you would think that Dr. Laura would have been especially delicate handling this question, and carefully considered her answer before spouting off.

Nope.

Most of the news organizations are blowing up about Dr. Laura using the n-word over and over and over. While that was tasteless and insensitive of her, ultimately, words only have the amount of power we give them. Frankly, dropping the n-bomb was not the most offensive thing Dr. Laura said. Not by a long shot. Her comment that "if you don't have a sense of humor, don't marry outside your race," was what blew my mind. "Don't marry outside your race?!" Really? In 2010, we still have a college educated person holding a therapist's license saying shit like that? Really?!
I feel like Dr. Laura missed the memo: It's 2010, not 1960. People marry whoever the hell they want to. (Well, not the gays, but we're working to correct that.) If people are sensitive about racial issues, then others should respect that.

And because she never answered the question that Jade asked, I will: No. It is not okay for white people to use the n-word. Why? Because historically speaking, the n-word was used to address slaves. It was used to de-humanize black people so that white people could justify denying them basic human rights and later basic rights as citizens. So, no, white people don't get to use that word anymore.
Period, end of story, roll credits.