Dr. Laura

Conservative commentator and radio therapist Dr. Laura has always been a bit of a jerk – often criticizing listeners to her call-in radio program for their moral short-comings rather than providing sound advice. She’s perhaps known best for lashing out at callers and making horribly derogatory statements about the LGBTQ community – gay men in particular. As a result, her ratings took a dive ten years ago and have never recovered. Yet she still commands 10 million listeners to her daily program. That may change.

On Tuesday, Laura Schlessinger, commonly referred to as “Dr. Laura,” used the “n” word on her radio show 11 times while speaking with a caller who identified herself as black. Dr. Laura initially suggested that the woman, who was calling for advice about how to deal with racist remarks, was “hypersensitive.”

When the caller asked about use of the “N-word,” Schlessinger said, “Black guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO, listen to a black comic, and all you hear is n*****, n*****, n*****.”

The caller criticized Schlessinger for fully articulating the “n” word, and an argument ensued. Schlessinger stated:

“If you’re that hypersensitive about color and don’t have a sense of humor, don’t marry out of your race. If you’re going to marry out of your race, people are going to say, “OK, what do blacks think? What do whites think? What do Jews think? What do Catholics think?” Of course there isn’t a one-think per se. But in general there’s “think.”

And what I just heard from Jade is a lot of what I hear from black-think — and it’s really distressting [sic] and disturbing. And to put it in its context, she said the N-word, and I said, on HBO, listening to black comics, you hear ” n*****, n*****, n*****.” I didn’t call anybody a n*****. Nice try, Jade. Actually, sucky try.”

Aside from the listeners who were tuning in that day, few others may have been aware of Dr. Laura’s outrageous comments – they were suspiciously missing from the recording of that day’s program on her website. Fortunately, Media Matters attained the entire exchange and made it available on its website.

Schlessinger issued an apology on her blog; however, her racially charged rhetoric warrants more than an apology, it requires real consequences. Media Matters, along with civil rights groups like the Center for New Community are calling on advertisers to pull their support for Dr. Laura’s radio program. This is an opportunity for advertisers to take a stand against hate speech on the airwaves.