I just spied a news item saying that “Dr.” Laura Schlessinger said the n-word on the air this week repeatedly, while chastising a caller for being too racially sensitive. (This after I blogged about having to edit myself as I was reading Tom Sawyer to Kieran, and being glad that we chose the abridged version of Huckleberry Finn.)

How clueless could one person possibly be?

I do think that ignorant people are very confused by the tendency of oppressed groups to take back slur words into their own vocabulary to own their own power of the language–blacks, women, gays and lesbians, for example–not realizing that it’s only okay for that particular group to use that terminology.

If another woman talks about a “night out with the girls,” it sounds like fun. If a man at work refers to a woman as a “girl,” I find that diminishing and insulting.

If a lesbian wishes to call herself a “dyke,” that’s her perogative. But if a homophobic idiot hurls that slur, it’s hateful.

Same with the n-word. Clearly, “Dr.” Laura doesn’t understand the idea of white privilege. She probably thinks that racism doesn’t exist any more, as well.