Dr. Laura Has Black Friends, Only Apologized "Because She Got Caught"

The caller who received Dr. Laura Schlessinger‘s racist rant last week told CNN she doesn’t accept the radio host’s apology — and did a great job explaining why the apology was bullshit in the first place.

Nita Hanson, who went by “Jade” when she called in to Dr. Laura’s show last Tuesday, talked to CNN’s TJ Holmes yesterday about her experience. She said Schlessinger’s rant was hurtful, that it left her worried she’d done something wrong, and that she didn’t find Schlessinger’s apology convincing. She thinks Schlessinger “apologized because she got caught,” and not because she’s really sorry — and she pointed out that the use of racial slurs wasn’t Schlessinger’s only problem.

Says Hanson, “It’s more just the n-word, in that whole conversation she says I shouldn’t marry outside my race.” She adds that Schlessinger spoke the way she did because “that’s how she honestly feels.” It’s no wonder Hanson doesn’t want to hear more from Schlessinger — she says “there’s nothing she can say to me at this point.” The host didn’t just make a slip of the tongue — she went on an extended tirade that revealed multiple racist viewpoints, viewpoints she can’t just take back. Hanson’s not buying her apology for the same reasons we didn’t buy it — a simple “sorry” doesn’t make a whole slew of hateful comments go away.

Schlessinger herself is also giving interviews — yesterday she told the Hollywood Reporter that Media Matters, which initially posted Schlessinger’s rant, was “dangerous” because its “existence depends on the principle of eliminating opposing opinions.” She also noted that she has a gay friend and a black friend, and she recently had dinner with them. Oh, and she’s developing an iPhone app, “Dr. Laura’s Moral Compass.” Schlessinger says, “You ask it questions about relationships, like that Magic 8-Ball game.” But given Schlessinger’s response to Hanson, I’ll take the Magic 8-Ball any day.

Dr. Laura Caller Speaks Out: “I Didn’t Want To Turn This Into A Racial Thing” [Mediaite, via Newser]
Dr. Laura’s Dinner With Gay, Black Friends [Hollywood Reporter, via omg!]

Earlier: Noted Feminist Sarah Palin Offers Support To Noted Racist Dr. Laura
Dr. Laura Apologizes For N-Word, But She’s Still A Racist