Jade(d) Caller Phoned into Doctor’s (Laura’s) Office for Racism Ailment and a Klan Rally Broke Out

Not long ago, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the popular radio talk show host with nine million listeners, went into a racist rant against a Black female caller named Jade.  Jade had called Dr. Laura to complain about the racial tension between her and her White husband, causing Dr. Laura to go into a rant in which she used the actual word “Nigger” 11 times.

Dr. Laura even demanded examples when Jade complained about her husband’s family and friends making racist comments.   And after a commercial break, Jade expressed her disbelief at Dr. Laura’s repeated use of the word Nigger.  So Dr. Laura defiantly continued:  “Nigger, and I’ll say it again – Nigger, Nigger, Nigger!”

Obviously, Dr. Laura has at best a disdain for Blacks and Black women, repeatedly chastising an obviously intelligent Black woman and using the word Nigger repeatedly.  Dr. Laura even mentioned that Black comedians on HBO (well, there’s a group one should look to for a proud representation of Black people –- yeah, right) use the word Nigger all the time.  She also told Jade that she was too sensitive, the pent up racism and disgust oozing out of Dr. Laura as if she finally had an opportunity to reveal her true feelings about Black people on the radio after all these years.

Unsurprisingly, Dr. Laura’s behavior also reveals that she enjoys playing the role of a racist at home, mentioning that she has a Black bodyguard and recently expressed to him, as several of them were about to play basketball at her house – “White men can’t jump.  I want you [the Black body guard] on my team.”

As far as I’m concerned, Dr. Laura sounded like some plantation wife, sitting out on the porch catching a summer breeze in her big, floppy hat (stylishly hosting her radio show) and talking down to her Black mammie (Jade/caller) about why her lemonade wasn’t sweet enough (Jade’s  “bitter” language, challenging Dr. Laura about her comments):  “I-I-I do de-Clare, Bessie, I’ve given you everything; I took you in (took her call) to tend to my children (her other listeners) and fed you leftovers (bad, racist advice to Jade, but good advice in Dr. Laura’s opinion) – even before I threw the scaps in the trash.  And this is how you repay me?”

Astonishingly, as if shouting the word Nigger wasn’t enough, Dr. Laura also had the audacity to say “We got a Black man as president and we got more complaining about racism than ever.  I think that’s hilarious.”

Whoa!  Racism ended when Barack Obama became president?

What I believe Dr. Laura was really saying is:  “I’m so tired of you Black people complaining.  It’s bad enough that us White folks have to put up with having a freakin’ Negro Boy in the White House, but the rest of you Niggers still ain’t happy.”

The Doc also told Jade she had a “Chip on your shoulder.”  (Hmmmm, now where have I heard that before . . . ?)

On a roll now, Dr. Laura pushed on:  “A lot of Blacks voted for Obama, simply because he was half Black.  It didn’t matter what he was going to do in office; it was a ‘Black thing.’”

This means she believes Black people aren’t smart enough to figure out what the issues are; they only voted for Obama because he’s Black.  Some did, but not everyone.

Funny.

Still not having had enough, Dr. Laura, drunk on stereotypes and hostility towards Black people, went on to tell Jade:  “Don’t you NAACP me,” appearing to still be angry that Jade had challenged her use of the word Nigger.  She also mentioned that she thought that Blacks would now stop demonizing Whites because  of racism.  But she’s overstating the case because Blacks don’t care about demonizing anyone; we just want discrimination to stop.

The bottom line is that Dr. Laura represents what mainstream America doesn’t understand about racism –- that it’s not the overt Klansman-type racism that hurts or destroys Black lives, it’s the covert racism of the Dr. Laura’s of the world, the White supervisors, leaders, teachers, etc., that manifests itself in different ways in our everyday lives.  It’s the covert racism of a White manager working its way into a Black person’s poor performance review; the impact of a covert racist leader’s policy that ignores inner city poverty or its impact on the Black community and the nation; the effect of covert racism of a teacher on the Black kids in her class when she encourages them to take up a trade instead of going to college.  Thus, everyone looks at a well-liked individual like Dr. Laura, or the everyday supervisor, the leader, the teacher, and doesn’t see their covert racism because they don’t behave in overtly racist ways.

It’s also important to note that racism is sometimes an unconscious presence in the minds of racists.  This is where the rubber meets the road with racism in society and what really keeps our country from being what it should be: a true culturally pluralistic society, not an unachievable “melting pot of assimilation.”   So, if most among the mainstream don’t believe they have a racism problem, we cannot come together to work through the issues.

Another racist comment Dr. Laura made was telling Jade that “If you’re that hypersensitive, then don’t marry outside of your race.”  But Dr. Laura’s comment does touch on an issue that I’ve often said Black women need to consider when they do date, say, in Jade’s case, a White man: the issue or question of, is he, her White man, a racist?

Jade should have discussed this question with her husband when he was courting her.  She should have considered the potential and/or authenticity and sincerity of their relationship by evaluating whether or not her White mate saw her as more than a sex object and if he loved and respected her Black brothers, father, and other relatives, as well as Black people, in general.

Why?

Because this is America and our country has a history of White supremacy from the very beginning on through to this very day.  Just look at the Tea Party signs depicting Barack Obama as a monkey, not to mention the thousands of racial discrimination cases filed each year, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.  The point is that you should enter any relationship for the “right” reasons. and whether or not someone is racist is a good thing to question.

Specifically, Jade, like any Black woman dating White men, needs to discuss what process her mate went through to deprogram himself of racism.  And even though we’re all affected by racism, I place a higher level of responsibility on Black women who date and marry White men because White men –- by way of the “Good ol’ boy network,” for example –- have and continue to benefit the most from White supremacy.  They receive constant reinforcement regarding their superiority on TV and in society; thus, they have the most emotional baggage (stereotypes, misconceptions, etc.) to overcome.

For example, I once turned on the TV and came across “Morning Joe” on MSNBC and there were five White guys and one White woman discussing the news.  Where are the Black people?  But you can see these type of disparities on just about every channel at any time.   And this simply reinforces a White male’s superiority complex, daily.

Additionally, the Black-White race issue is the paradigm or most difficult issue to deal with because of the historical experiences of slavery and the like.

Eventually, Dr. Laura apologized, but it was “too little, too late.”  She also didn’t show any remorse, frequently repeating that she was apologizing because she hurt others; thus, I suppose, she could otherwise care less because she didn’t feel bad.

And to think that she calls herself a Doctor . . . geese!  A degree and all that experience in counseling people, and she still cannot intellectualize the stupidity of racism.  Nope!  Common sense just ain’t that common.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9bYuDl6P3g

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply