# Dr. Laura wants her first amendment rights back... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 18, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594 "2010-08-18T01:27:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/301 "2010-08-24T01:43:52Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Yes, yes, and yes. I have seen or heard all these things. > > And your point is…? Sorry, I guess I don’t understand what _your_ point is. This sentence… > [@Bricker](#): > > But we don’t made classifications that divide people by occupation, or by dating status. This classification appears to divide people by race, and is thus regarded as suspect. …means nothing unless you’re trying saying the way society treats “nigger” is somehow unique in regards to who can say it while causing offense and who can say it without causing (as much) offense. The classification for “nigger” is divided by race, because, duh, the slur is _defined_ by race. Sexist slurs and slurs against gays coincidentally follow the same pattern. Not. Surprising. At. All. **jsgoddess** , I assume the whole pretentious thing comes from my failure to come out and unequivocally introduce myself as one of The Blacks. If you’re black, posting on the internet, and you fail to do that upfront, it makes some people uneasy. Cuz it’s like passing as a white person! ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/302 "2010-08-24T01:58:51Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > … blacks can say “nigger” without looking like Klan members while whites can not pull that off as gracefully. This, in a nutshell, is all this is about… You’d think this would be obvious, wouldn’t you? I think some folks are just pretending not to understand this so they’ll have an excuse to stick up for Dr. Laura in this fiasco while still appearing to be good, fair people without a racist bone in their bodies. Just listening to Dr. Laura’s tone when she said the word “black” was a dead giveaway to where her head is at. Listen for that on the audio. By the way, I am white. I just happened to have been a member of a different kind of minority group all my life that some people like to feel superior to, so I can relate. And I was one of the people who emailed all of her sponsors to scream bloody murder. I hope that in some small way I was a little responsible for getting her to quit. And that is MY freedom of speech at work. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/303 "2010-08-24T02:05:57Z")
> [@pohjonen](#): > > And I was one of the people who emailed all of her sponsors to scream bloody murder. I hope that in some small way I was a little responsible for getting her to quit. Why do you hate America? ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/304 "2010-08-24T02:07:50Z")
I just want to be the only one with freedom of speech:) … Where’s my radio talk show? ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/305 "2010-08-24T02:08:35Z")
The weird thing about the Kanye references is that since I only listen to over-the-air radio, I had no idea that that Gold Digger song even had the n-word in it, since there was a word-substitution in every version I heard. So, cheer up all you people who are being oppressed because you can’t say the n-word. Even Kanye gets censored. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/306 "2010-08-24T03:18:34Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > > [@jsgoddess](#): > > > > This idea that only “nigger” is somehow dependent on context is impossibly infuriating. > > Infuriatingly stupid, is more like it. > > I really wish someone would walk up to me and call me a nigger because “Kanye does it!”. That level of idiocy is something I’ve only read about in textbooks and message boards. Never seen it in the wild. I promise to do so if I ever meet you at a Dopefest. Or does it have to be spontaneous? In all seriousness, the ONLY thing that comes close is how I can make fun of my family and friends, I can complain about them, and insult them – but the minute someone else does, I’m out for blood. Does that make sense? It’s not exactly the same thing, but it’s all I could come up with. (Like you can argue and fight with your siblings, but as soon as someone else starts picking on them, you immediately go after that person, and make SURE they know it’s definitely NOT kosher) ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/307 "2010-08-24T03:25:16Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > In all seriousness, the ONLY thing that comes close is how I can make fun of my family and friends, I can complain about them, and insult them – but the minute someone else does, I’m out for blood. Does that make sense? It’s not exactly the same thing, but it’s all I could come up with. (Like you can argue and fight with your siblings, but as soon as someone else starts picking on them, you immediately go after that person, and make SURE they know it’s definitely NOT kosher) It makes perfect sense. Everybody does this all the time. I have a few acquaintances who are Marines, and I’ve heard them call each other “jarhead” before. I personally wouldn’t attempt it, though. Maybe they’d be okay with it or maybe they’d try to kick the shit out of me. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/308 "2010-08-24T04:27:26Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > **jsgoddess** , I assume the whole pretentious thing comes from my failure to come out and unequivocally introduce myself as one of The Blacks. If you’re black, posting on the internet, and you fail to do that upfront, it makes some people uneasy. Cuz it’s like passing as a white person! Oh, please. What an utter nonsense. I’m off the discussion as it will be now taken as fact that above is exactly what I had in mind :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/309 "2010-08-24T05:28:11Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > > [@BrightNShiny](#): > > > > I was at the hardware store last year, and two African-American employees were stocking the shelves and casually chatting back and forth, using the n-word. > > Pretentiously, right? That’s how you knew they were black? How did you know? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/310 "2010-08-24T06:16:39Z")
Based on the website transcript I saw, she only used the word in a ‘meta’ sense, referring to the word itself. As far as I know, she didn’t actually use the word as a reference to anyone. I consider it over-draconian to have a taboo against saying “the word nigger” instead “the N-word”. I say this as a gay person who understands the nuances of using the words ‘fag’ and ‘queer’. I don’t consider the utterance of the words themselves to be disrespectful. It has to actually be used in a disrespectful context for me to be displeased. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/311 "2010-08-24T10:58:13Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Based on the website transcript I saw, she only used the word in a ‘meta’ sense, referring to the word itself. As far as I know, she didn’t actually use the word as a reference to anyone. I consider it over-draconian to have a taboo against saying “the word nigger” instead “the N-word”. There is no taboo against saying “nigger” in a slurless fashion. People have been saying it throughout this thread and the sky has not yet fallen. The fucked up thing about Laura’s comments is not that she had the audacity to say “nigger” instead of the “n-word”, but rather the insensitivity of her charlatanesque advice and her childish compulsion to say “nigger” for no reason at all except to belittle someone else’s feelings. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/312 "2010-08-24T13:11:28Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > > [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > > > **jsgoddess** , I assume the whole pretentious thing comes from my failure to come out and unequivocally introduce myself as one of The Blacks. If you’re black, posting on the internet, and you fail to do that upfront, it makes some people uneasy. Cuz it’s like passing as a white person! > > Oh, please. What an utter nonsense. > > I’m off the discussion as it will be now taken as fact that above is exactly what I had in mind :rolleyes: So, are you going to claim your first amendment rights were trampled? Or that you were “set up” somehow? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/313 "2010-08-24T14:43:23Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > So, are you going to claim your first amendment rights were trampled? Or that you were “set up” somehow? I believe you’ve double N, NAACPed\* him. 😃 CMC fnord! _Sadly, “Don’t double N - NAACP me.” will never gain the popularity_\* that “Don’t tase me, bro” has. ☹ **'Cause it makes no fucking sense** \*. \*\*\*“Don’t Sharpton me.” on the other hand would make sense, but those most likely to need to say it get all apoplectic somewhere in the first syllable. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/314 "2010-08-24T19:13:17Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Based on the website transcript I saw, she only used the word in a ‘meta’ sense, referring to the word itself. As far as I know, she didn’t actually use the word as a reference to anyone. I consider it over-draconian to have a taboo against saying “the word nigger” instead “the N-word”. > > I say this as a gay person who understands the nuances of using the words ‘fag’ and ‘queer’. I don’t consider the utterance of the words themselves to be disrespectful. It has to actually be used in a disrespectful context for me to be displeased. You don’t think Dr. Laura’s entire response was a “disrespectful context?” You’re hypersensitive. You black people only voted for Obama because he’s black. You shouldn’t have married outside your race. We have a black president now so you blacks need to STFU about racism. I could write a couple of insulting paragraphs about gay people and then use “fag” and “queer” in a “meta” sense and leave no doubt that my intention was to be disrespectful. And I believe that is just what Dr. Laura did. ---
**Author:** ![nachtmusick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/315 "2010-08-28T09:49:35Z")
> [@pohjonen](#): > > > [@jackdavinci](#): > > > > Based on the website transcript I saw, she only used the word in a ‘meta’ sense, referring to the word itself. As far as I know, she didn’t actually use the word as a reference to anyone. I consider it over-draconian to have a taboo against saying “the word nigger” instead “the N-word”. > > > > I say this as a gay person who understands the nuances of using the words ‘fag’ and ‘queer’. I don’t consider the utterance of the words themselves to be disrespectful. It has to actually be used in a disrespectful context for me to be displeased. > > You don’t think Dr. Laura’s entire response was a “disrespectful context?” You’re hypersensitive. You black people only voted for Obama because he’s black. You shouldn’t have married outside your race. We have a black president now so you blacks need to STFU about racism. > > I could write a couple of insulting paragraphs about gay people and then use “fag” and “queer” in a “meta” sense and leave no doubt that my intention was to be disrespectful. And I believe that is just what Dr. Laura did. You are welcome to your belief, but my belief is that your belief is colored by your beliefs. I prefer that racists state their racism clearly before I conclude they are racist. I find it difficult to despise people for opinions that they have not actually expressed. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/316 "2010-08-28T10:02:20Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > The fucked up thing about Laura’s comments is not that she had the audacity to say “nigger” instead of the “n-word”, but rather the insensitivity of her charlatanesque advice and her childish compulsion to say “nigger” for no reason at all except to belittle someone else’s feelings. Word. She was basically putting her finger in someone’s face and saying “Look! I’m not touching you!! I’m not touching her, Mom!” ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594/317 "2010-08-28T12:21:57Z")
> [@nachtmusick](#): > > You are welcome to your belief, but my belief is that your belief is colored by your beliefs. > > I prefer that racists state their racism clearly before I conclude they are racist. I find it difficult to despise people for opinions that they have not actually expressed. My in-laws would preface comments about “niglets” and “dirty niggers” with “Not to be racist, but…” The dude who recently came here and started a thread on how he’s a racist, even HE said it’s what other people would call him, not what he’d call himself. There are a lot of people with racist beliefs in this country, and there are a lot of people who will find ways of denying that it’s really racism. Dr. Laura using “nigger” doesn’t make her a racist. Dr. Laura using “nigger” while claiming universal truths about black people and assuming that if Obama is in the White House people should shut up about racism? That’s much more arguable. And that’s what she did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-laura-wants-her-first-amendment-rights-back/550594.md?page=15)