Dr. Laura's Defense of the N-Word is Flawed

In using the n-word a total of eleven times during one call on her radio show earlier this week, Dr. Laura Schlessinger may have irreparably harmed her career.

While it unlikely was her intention to, however, she has also sparked a debate about the use of the the n-word. Having put the n-word back in the headlines, Dr. Laura has forced people, both Caucasians and African Americans, to assess what the word means and when it is, and is not, acceptable to use.

For decades, the n-word was used, primarily by Caucasians, to disparage African Americans. As race relations in the country improved, however, and as right minded people became more sensitive to the horrific conditions faced by African Americans for years, the use of the n-word dramatically decreased. Today, generally, anybody using the n-word is as seen as insensitive and uneducated at best and a hateful racist at worst.

But somewhere along the way, African Americans began using the n-word themselves. Rappers and comedians in particular worked it into their respective acts and it became somewhat cool and hip for many African Americans to use the word when referring to one another. On some level it has become a term indicating closeness with a friend even; in New York City at least, it is routine to hear one African American male refer to a friend of his as a 'n-word'.

It seems that the point that Dr. Laura clumsily was trying to make, it seems, was that the word is used by many African Americans and many in pop culture (she even asked her caller if she ever watches HBO), and that therefore it is not truly a racist term. This is an argument espoused by many white people when defending the use of the n-word. The rationale is something along the lines of 'well, if African Americans can use that term, why can't white people use it?'

There are two basic flaws with that line of thinking, however, and with Dr. Laura's use of the n-word.

One, if we accept that the n-word is a hateful and hurtful word that symbolizes the shameful history of treatment of African Americans in the United States, then the fact that some small percentage of one group of people still uses it does not give others, regardless of creed or color, license to use it. It is safe to say a majority of white people detest the n-word; and the same white people likely detest the use of it by anybody, African Americans included.

The second flaw in the argument is that somehow it's an apples to apples comparison when considering the use of the n-word between African Americans and white people. African Americans had a very difficult time in this country for many generations. While reasonable people can debate the extent to which racism exists today in this country, white people were never enslaved in this country. White people were never forced to drink from different drinking fountains, sleep in separate hotels, or ride in the back of the bus.

Today, the country has an African American president and clearly progress has accelerated. But the justification for use of the n-word that Dr. Laura presents simply does not stand up to common sense and history.

Source: Staff, "Dr. Laura Says N-Word Multiple Times on Air, Issues Apology", nymag.com