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Dr. Laura to quit radio show amid controversy

August 17, 2010

Dr. Laura Schlessinger, a talk radio fixture for three decades, announced Tuesday that she will quit her syndicated program at the end of the year. [LA Times]

Schlessinger, who goes by the name “Dr. Laura,” on her show, said on Larry King Live that she will not renew her contract when it expires in December.

The announcement came one week after Schlessinger came under intense criticism for the repeated use of a racial slur during an on-air conversation with one of her callers.

During last week’s broadcast, Schlessinger  got into a discussion with a woman who called in to get advice on what to do about racial comments made by relatives. Schlessinger suggested the caller was “hypersensitive” to racism and observed that many African Americans use the very racial epithet that they hate hearing non-African American use. Schlessinger used the N-word repeatedly in making her case.

The criticism did not go away, despite multiple apologies from the radio talk show host on both her broadcast and web site.

On Larry King Live, Schlessinger said, “I want my first amendment rights back.”

The “Dr. Laura” program is currently the third most popular syndicated radio show in the country, trailing only Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Her show, once carried locally on KVEC, is now heard in Santa Maria.

She made an appearance in Morro Bay earlier this summer to promote her new book.


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Dr Laura’s comments were racist but not for dropping the N-Bomb 11 times. I think her doing that was silly and childish but by themselves not really racist.


What I thought was racist was her immeadiate and random comment that blacks voted for Obama, just because he was black, as if that is why he is president. If the idea that black people voted for black candidates solely based on their skin we would have seen Alan Keys do a lot better than the paultry less than 1%. Just the idea that this woman called for help and she went straight to the we have a black president and youre black so obviously you voted for him.


Her racism isnt based in hate but based on ignorance. I cringed with discomfort as I heard Dr Laura try and justify her use of negative stereo types by being the stereo typical ignorant white woman. She went as far as to use the old “some of my best friends are black” kanard and then the one person she could reference was the help and her endearing little story was to mention how she told him he wanted him on her basketball team cause you know he’s black, so obviously he must be good at basketball.


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Didn’t the Obama dialog come up after Laura said that we have a black president and when are the blacks going to stop with the racism conspiracies (or something like that), then the caller said that the whites are upset about a black man having so much power and it escalated from there? I know that isn’t the exact dialog but close enough? Laura was telling the truth when she said all the blacks voted for Obama because he was black, of course they did. Why wouldn’t they, that was a hugh moment in this nation, I voted for Obama and if I was black I would have voted twice ;)


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Didn’t Obama have a beer summit after jumping to conclusions about his college professor buddies misbehavior and subsequent arrest. He had to back track after appearing to prejudge something he knew nothing about until after the facts came out. Mainly because of a preconceived ill notion that all cops are against all black people. That premise is racist and Obama got his comeuppance for insinuating it…

Dr. Laura was just trying to make a point by using examples of speech, which are OK for some to use(because of their race?) but not for the rest of society for fear of being condemn Problem being, we, collectively elected every single one of them (and re-elected most)….. What is it we (collectively) deserve?

ed as racist or bigots for using a word.

Bill Cosby has put this hypocrisy to the public for decades and has actually never used the word itself, but shown how bad the behavior is and how it appears to all to be so distasteful and rude…


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” Problem being, we, collectively elected every single one of them (and re-elected most)….. What is it we (collectively) deserve?”

Sorry, but I don’t know wherethe heck this came from in my post. Too bad I couldn’t edit it out.


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N word: do not use it


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or I will show you “Dr Laura nude.”

;-D


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Now that would be just plain mean!!


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I don’t care what the the validity of the reason for taking her off the air is, she gone!! Now watch them go out and find another BS queen with degrees.


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This bruha Dr. Laura has got going, is interesting in the fact that her point (I believe) is the same one that Bill Cosby brought up about two years ago. You denigrate your message when you have blacks asking that you don’t use the N word, yet in videos and other media you see it used in an acceptable manner, which confuses the message.


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It got deleted !


moderator was in ur comment deleting ur N words!


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“when the other color openly and unashamedly repeats the same word over and over on cable TV, music, and openly in public”….


It does not matter what color you are, saying the “N” word is not OK.

Same goes for the “F” word.


Education.


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It is not OK to use those words, in polite society by people of any race. It is OK to speak of the words in an educational manner or in a question about the use of such words.

Why is perfectly acceptable for people of color to use words of an offensive tone in a glowingly or adoration or praise for one another? Often as a compliment or title of respect, then be offended when someone not of their racial background uses it. Actors, sports figures and celebrities come to mind.

Dr Laura was making this very point and speaking to a caller who identified herself as someone of color. The point was lost on the caller as she was deflecting the logic for her own resons. And she was the one who instigated the conversation by calling in, in the first place. Makes me wonder what she was really up to. Her feined outrage was for show only…

I don’t blame Dr Laura for her reaction in stepping down from talk radio in order to protect her rights. She was castigated for uttering the word in a conversation about the use of the word. She in no way used the words in a joking, demaning or inflamitory way. The caller was a shill farming Dr Laura for her own ends…


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I found a new one just now; the “W” word; “wigger”! Sounds as bad as it’s definition.


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I was taken aback by Dr Laura right from the get go but I haven’t heard the following mentioned by anyone. If a black neighbor or a black relatives friend asked a white person what white people like, it would be a rather absurd question and we would consider the inquirer extremely ignorant. If they asked about the preferences of a specific white ethnicity like Italians, French, Irish, Scots, English, Germans, Russians etc that would be different. Each ethnicity are known for certain cuisine, music, last names, religions and even in some cases temperaments. There is an over all perception of the general likes of ethnic whites and all races of people have varied ethnic backgrounds. How can a white tell a black person what white people like?


The caller opened the conversation by stating that she was unnerved and felt it was racist for her in-laws, neighbors and their friends to frequently ask her questions about “black people” in general. Dr Laura told her that she is overly sensitive and that the questions aren’t racist? It is racist. This caller isn’t African being asked questions about Africa, or Jamaican being asked about Jamaican Cuisine and Reggae music. This caller is seen as only black as if all blacks are the same. The caller stated, “they ask me if black people like this or that”. How does this woman know what black people like? Some like rap some hate rap, some like reggae, some like George Benson, some like Tina Turner get my drift. Those people asking her those questions might not think they are racist but they are racist, they think all blacks are the same. They only see black. Ask her about her family and her likes and dislikes. If she has a “true” southern accent ask her about the south, if she has a Caribbean accent ask her about the Virgin Islands or the Dominican Republic. Those are the kinds of questions white people ask each other and black people ask each other. Dr Laura you really screwed up and missed the target. One more thing, if you’re wondering what her family thinks about her marring a white man and are rude enough to ask the question, don’t ask her what blacks think about marrying whites. She can’t answer that.


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I should add that I also noted during the second half of the call that the caller was racist. She was clearly racist herself but she wasn’t wrong about the racism that was being directed at her and I didn’t have the impression that her own racist verbiage was the result of her current situation.


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Well said.


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This just blows my mind that 11 people don’t see that it is racist to ask someone who is black about what the black race likes, doesn’t like, does, or doesn’t do! I guess I’m in the lowly 10% who would think a person from another race was nuts if they asked me about what white people like. Would someone please tell me what white people like?


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Like it or not, we are all tribal. In fact, the word comes from the Old Testament. Africans or African Americans are NOT the only people who had tribes. How people can get on about not understanding the tendency to group people according to tribal culture….or CHOOSE to group THEMSELVES according to tribal culture stupefies me. It seems ignorant to me. We may see ourselves as so elevated, so evolved, so smart and intellectual and ‘above” all that tribal stuff. Those who deny their basic human instincts, intuitions, and hard-wired-down-to-the-DNA behavior are fooling themselves. Racist means HATRED………..not disassociation, not confusion, not lack of trust, not social discomfort. Many women just plain do not trust men at face value…………….and are slow on the uptake about getting to know one in a relationship. Are they Man haters? I don’t think so. This thing has gone way too far. You are not a racist if you tend to group people into their “culture” as far as their behavior……….because we all LIKE to be ALIKE. Anyone who tries to point out how non racist they are because they think blacks are just like whites………….has their head in the sand, or is trying too hard to be PC. Jews are NOT just like Christians. And the Irish are NOT just like the Italians. Right, Paison? I’m so sick of this Higher-than-thou psychological junk out there being spewed around by everyone on this subject. Racism equals HATRED…..not social discomfort. That feeling of discomfort is built-in, and that is normal……and HUMAN. It’s there for a reason……and it goes away real quick in normal people….who possess open minds, tolerance, kindness and compassion. Period. Give people a break about this, and try to be open minded yourself. Just tell someone that they are making you uncomfortable when they talk like that……and be nice about it. Spouting “racist” or “bigot” is really not the way to go, politically incorrect or not.


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Schlessinger was 98% right on the mark with her assessment that there is an odd BIGOTRY about the use of this word (that apparently ends careers) if a white person even mentions the word in a discussion about HOW the word is used.


Sad that this country is so backwards that an open debate over a word can’t be touched by a person of one color, when the other color openly and unashamedly repeats the same word over and over on cable TV, music, and openly in public—not talking about HOW the word is used, but actually LABELING people with the word.


America is DOOMED by anti-Free speech crazies unable to stand open opinion. DOOMED.


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odd BIGOTRY strange fruit


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I listened to her on Larry King tonight and couldn’t believe that she started playing the victim card. To turn the dialog into an issue of her first ammendment rights is ridiculous and she certainly doesn’t come across as the sharpest stick in the woodshed.


Her bigotry finally got the best of her and now she has to face the consequence.


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“News: Bigot complains that bigoted comments aren’t taken well by non-bigots. Makes excuses and plans for escape. “


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