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Dr. Laura Quitting Radio Over N-Word Flap! What Happened To Free Speech?

By Robert Paul Reyes

Radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger told Larry King she's quitting radio after flap over N-Word. Here's the transcript of the controversial phone call where Dr. Laura used the n-word 11 times.

Allow me to digress by pointing out that if it were up to me, I would spell out the n-word. I don't believe in censorship, and readers should see the word in all its ugliness.

CALLER: How about the n-word? So, the n-word's been thrown around -

SCHLESSINGER: Black guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO, listen to a black comic, and all you hear is nig***, nig***, nig***.

CALLER: That isn't -

SCHLESSINGER: I don't get it. If anybody without enough melanin says it, it's a horrible thing; but when black people say it, it's affectionate. It's very confusing. Don't hang up, I want to talk to you some more. Don't go away.

CALLER: I was a little caught back by the n-word that you spewed out, I have to be honest with you."

I am a liberal who can't stand the sanctimonious Dr. Laura, but I believe very strongly in free speech, and I must come to her defense.

The following key points must be kept in mind:

Dr. Laura didn't call the caller, who is African-American, or anyone else the n-word.

Dr. Laura is correct when she stated that black guys use it all the time. Of course many African Americans are horrified by the casual use of the word by many young blacks. But it's impossible to be in a group of young black people and not hear the offensive word repeated ad nauseam.

Dr. Laura has no history of being a racist.

Dr. Laura wasn't advocating for the right of white people to use the n-word. She was merely pointing out the double standard: It's OK for blacks to use the horrible word, but not for non-blacks.

It's clear from the context of the phone conversation that Dr. Laura hates the n-word, and wishes that whites and blacks would refrain from saying it. It's ironic, but not racist, that Dr. Laura made her point by repeating the n-word 11 times.

Dr. Laura apologized, but she was blameless in this incident.

Dr. Laura plans an Internet-based radio show, good for her. The Internet is the last bastion of freedom in the world!

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Robert Paul Reyes is a NewsBlaze writer on Politics, Pop Culture and Pointless Pontificating. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.