Dr. Laura's on-air use of the n-word recently brought to light once again her blind disregard for someone else's feelings as she spoke with an African-American woman who was seeking guidance from this 1974 Columbia University PhD in physiology, not psychology or psychiatry. Considering her doctoral thesis was about insulin, I might trust her more with my blood sugar levels than with my life crises. Her history on the radio has been reflected on the political right as dynamic and outspoken. From the left, she is often described as cruel, racist, and backward.
Her current right-wing values are apparently set in stone to counteract the effects from, as she has described, an unloving, dysfunctional, mixed Jewish-Roman Catholic childhood in Brooklyn, New York. It seems that she has idealized what she perceives as a perfect life, and anything that doesn't reflect that dreamworld is horrible and wrong, including mixed marriages ("If you can't handle it, you shouldn't have married outside your race.") to gays and lesbians (homosexuality is a "biological error."), to uncomfortable personal histories ("A hypocrit is someone who says, 'Do as I say, not as I do.' A teacher is someone who says, "Do as I say, not as I did.'").
With her history of being a participant in an extramarital affair, nude photographs, vitriolic rants, and examples of personal human frailties and dichotomies, one would assume that she would be sensitive to others' challenging life experiences. Rather, it seems she has taken her difficult personal history, criticized herself into a pulp about it, and decided to punish everyone else for their similar shortcomings in the process. She does all this with a marriage and family counseling certificate from California that expires in February 2011. She has avoided lawsuits by calling her radio show a, "moral health program," and not a psychological help program.
That isn't to say Dr. Laura hasn't done wonderful things. She has participated in charity work, been active in important public discussions, and offered support to those who think like she does. Does her message, though, offset all those good works?
In 2001, Dr. Laura received a call from a parent whose child was in my class. She was upset over a choice I had made that removed lyrics from a piece of music that referred to God.
I was called into my administrator's office, explained my reasoning, and told him that I would not change it back. He was completely supportive of my arguments of inclusion and non-sectarian lyrics. We used the alternate lyrics in the concert. For one brief and shining moment, I was a topic on Dr. Laura. All I could think at the time, "Is this really all these people have to worry about?" It was, after all, only three months after the attack on the Twin Towers in New York City on 9/11.
There is a division between church and state. All men [people] are created equal. People have free will. People have the freedom of choice in speech, religion, and politics in the United States of America. I wonder if someone will tell Dr. Laura soon. It seems she hasn't heard these pieces of news.
When she was interviewed on Larry King Live on CNN.com, she expressed her apology for using the n-word 11 times to a Black woman on air. She then went on to say people should have a sense of humor and not be so hypersensitive to others' comments. She simply doesn't understand that she lives in a country full of "others." Perhaps, now that she is leaving her radio show to pursue regaining her First Amendment rights, she'll have time to figure it out; but, I doubt it.
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References:
(2010) "Laura Schlessinger." Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Schlessinger
Miller, S.; Johnson, J. (2010) "Let There Be Peace." Choral work. Carl Fischer Publishing. SAB Version. Retrieved from http://g.sheetmusicplus.com/Look-Inside/covers/4386196.jpg
Dr. Laura Schlessinger (2010) Getty Images. Retrieved from http://en.terra.com/addon/img/c79d9a-dr-laura-schlessinger-wordp.jpg
