Summary: The biggest summer for racial tension since 1994 continues, this time with a strange, n-word-laden rant from what has been typically perceived as a fairly innocuous source: Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Speaking to a black caller who called for advice on handling racial tensions with her white husband, Dr. Laura uses the offensive word eleven times and ultimately tells the caller that if she doesn't "have a sense of humor," she should not "marry out of your race." The caller explained that she was beginning to grow "resentful" of her husband because he seemed comfortable with a neighbor continually making racist comments about her. When asked to give an example, the caller told Schlessinger that he had used the n-word, to which she replied that she didn't see a problem with that. "Black guys," she explained, "use it all the time. Turn on HBO, listen to a black comic, and all you hear is n*gger, n*gger, n*gger." Then, of course, the conversation veered inevitably (and uncomfortably) towards Barack Obama, with Schlessinger continuing: "We have a black man as president and we have more complaining about racism than ever." After the caller expressed some discomfort with the tone of Schlessinger's comments, the host scolded her, telling her not to "NAACP me" [according to the dictionary, the proper term is to Breitbart] and, finally, "if you're that hypersensitive about color, and don't have a sense of humor, don't marry out of your race." Wow. Not that Dr. Laura hasn't gotten in trouble for insensitive comments before: In 2002, Schlessinger found herself in hot water for calling homosexuality "a biological mistake." That, however, was not directed at a particular caller, nor did it use specific slurs. Dr. Laura's rant made it to primetime tonight thanks to CNN's Rick Sanchez, who led his 8PM program with the story, getting ahead of The O'Reilly Factor (leading with a 14th Amendment debate) and Countdown (leading with an interview with an American mechanic). Update: Dr. Laura has apologized on her website. Her words: "Black guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO and listen to a black comic, and all you hear is nigger, nigger, nigger. 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." Later, the on-air discussion with a caller identified as a black woman went like this:CALLER: "Is it OK to say that word? Is it ever OK to say that word?" DR. LAURA: "It depends how it's said. Black guys talking to each other seem to think it's okay." CALLER: "But you're not black, they're not black, my husband is white." DR. LAURA: "Oh, I see, so a word is restricted to race. Got it. Can't do much about that." CALLER: "I can't believe someone like you is on the radio spewing out the n-word, and I hope everybody heard it." DR. LAURA: "I didn't spew out the n-word!" CALLER: "You said 'nigger, nigger, nigger,' and I hope everybody heard it." DR. LAURA: "Yes they did, and I'll say it again: nigger, nigger, nigger is what you hear on HBO." And... DR. LAURA: Why don't you let me finish a sentence? Don't take things out of context. Don't NAACP me, leave them in context.After the conversation with the caller, Schlessenger added: ""If you're that hypersensitive about color and don't have a sense of humor, don't marry outside of your race." Schlessinger wrote an aplogy that appeared on her Web site. "Yesterday, I did the wrong thing," she wrote. "I didn't intend to hurt people, but I did. And that makes it the wrong thing to have done. I was attempting to make a philosophical point, and I articulated the 'n' word all the way out--more than one time. And that was wrong. I'll say it again—that was wrong."Schlessinger wrote that she "was so upset [she] could not finish the show... I pulled myself off the air at the end of the hour. I had to finish the hour, because 20 minutes of dead air doesn't work. I am very sorry. And it just won't happe
