The woman called saying she is black and is married to a white man. Evidently this was a marriage of long standing from what I gathered. Her marriage has been troubled of recent and she says her husband has begun to address her in a racist manner. He also has friends over and allows them to make racist comments in her presence and does nothing to correct the situation. She called Dr, Laura asking how to best speak to her husband about this. The woman said nothing about the “N” word but referred to other racist statements. It was Dr, Laura who brought it up and repeated it over and over. Instead of talking about what exact problems were in the marriage, Dr. Laura attacked the woman about the use of the “N” word in currently American society.
I am sure that if Dr. Laura were in a mixed marriage and her husband starting calling her racist Jewish names she might feel more than a little hurt. I think that she would feel as upset if this same husband egged his friend on to do the likewise. The question was not about race sensitivity, the woman was looking for advice on her marriage. Dr. Laura is, in theory at least, there to give advice on personal and relationship issues. She was grossly insensitive to the caller especially at the end of the call. It was grotesque. Dr. Laura was throwing sound the “N” word and the caller said she did not like that, so Dr. Laura said it several times more in a row before hanging up on her. There was no reason for that and her behavior was appalling.
I see. Were the calls before this lady and the tone of the show before this particular call related in any way to the current culture of language and/or societal behaviors and attitudes?
Thanks, it is good to hear from someone who was listening to the show first hand so they can provide the full context of what was happening on the show that day.
After all, context is everything.