Conservative radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger recently announced she was giving up her hosting gig, thanks to "activists" who objected to a show where she used the N-word over and over. Little did they know: She has a black friend.

Why did Dr. Laura use the N-word, several times, during a radio broadcast? Certainly not because she is completely and utterly clueless when it comes to issues of race and discrimination in the U.S. No, actually, as The Hollywood Reporter helpfully clarifies in its article "Dr. Laura's dinner with gay, black friends," she was "trying to make a point about racism." Her trenchant, relevant point, of course, was that "black guys" use the N-word "all the time," but when white people say it, it's "a horrible thing," and that this is bad, for some reason.

Now, you might be thinking, "Dr. Laura must be completely oblivious if she actually believes there's some kind of great injustice in the fact that the N-word's use by white people is taboo; or if she really believes that the N-word doesn't engender a great deal of controversy within the black community." But you'd be thinking wrong! How could Dr. Laura be oblivious to the complex issues of power and language in America, when she has a black friend? And not just any black friend—a black friend whom she eats dinner with!:

THR: Have you been out in public lately?

Schlessinger: I went out to dinner with three friends after Larry King. One of my friends who is gay is sitting there with another friend who is black, and he looks up and says, "I wonder what the media would do with this? You're with a black guy and a gay guy." We laughed, because we all understand what this is really about — censoring a point of view.

Let's ask the question other news outlets are too afraid to ask: Why are angry activists trying to censor Dr. Laura's point of view, which is that white people should be allowed to say the N-word all the time? (As civil-rights activist Sarah Palin put it: "her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence.") Who would try to censor the point of view of a woman who has a black friend—and a gay friend? A woman who clearly has a deep, nuanced understanding of race in America?

Dr. Laura nonetheless remains unbowed:

THR: You got any favorite TV shows?

Schlessinger: "NCIS." I didn't discover it until reruns. I was going through the channels and saw Mark Harmon and said, "Oh, I'll look at this." And now I'm in love with the characters and the writing. The characters are like a family. Like with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." I watched that last segment and cried my brains out because they managed to create a feeling that you let them in your living room, and that you knew them and cared about them. That's how I feel about "NCIS." I love that show.

[THR; image via Getty]