Am I the only one who thinks the firestorm over Don Imus referring to a group of young black female basketball players as “nappy headed ho’s” is just way over the top?
I mean, the guy’s not a church deacon, or a senator, or even a sports broadcaster. He’s a shock jock. It’s his job to push humor to the edge and beyond the edge. So he made a joke that was in poor taste. He admitted it. He apologized for it. He was suspended for it, for crying out loud. And there are STILL people who want to drive him off the air? While the Reverend Al Sharpton is railing against him, has he never bothered to crack the Bible he ostensibly preaches and stumbled over the passage about erring being human and forgiving divine?
It’s IMUS, for crying out loud. If Imus referred to a group of young Jewish basketball players as Matzoh-slinging Jewboys, I’d just shrug and say, “Whatever, man. It’s Imus.” The guy’s filling however many hours his show is every day, and it’s live. If he goes over the line and then admits he did and apologizes, I’m sorry, but that should be the end of it. Anyone who’s flogging it beyond that point has their own agenda and is just using this to further it. If Al Sharpton is that upset about Black women being spoken of in such a disrespectful manner, then why not spend his time going after the radio stations playing rap songs that call Black women “ho’s” (when they’re not talking about killing cops.) Or are slurs and racism only acceptable when they stem from Sharpton’s own constituency?
PAD
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Posted by: Craig J. Ries at April 10, 2007 02:11 PM
Well, I agree with the latter, but we’ll have to agree to disagree on the former.
I think the point upon which you and I agree is the more important one.
Bill Myers –
To sum up: white people cannot understand how black people feel when white people use racial slurs, but we shouldn’t turn society upside-down to protect people from hurt feelings.
Bladestar:
Summed up PERFECTLY.
If we have to protect everyone’s feelings, then no one will ever be allowed to speak, or write, again.
You can’t say “We’re going to protect black’s feelings, but not ‘s feelings.”
Freedom of speech doesn;t make exceptions for feelings.
The only person who can offend you is YOU. YOU make the choice to be offended.
“And why isn’t it considered racist for it to be ok for a black entertainer to use certain words and phrases, but not ok for a white entertainer?”
There’s a difference when someone from a cultural group — blacks, hispanics, gays, jews, rednecks — refers to stereotypes in order to make fun of his own culture, and it’s another when somebody from outside does it. In the first case it’s satire, in the second it is suspect of being racist. It is right that only a black comedian like Chris Rock can use the N word, because he’s satirizing his own culture. But it is wrong for him to use slur words against other groups like whites (although he’s entitled to do it). If he does iti s hypocracy.
Chris Rock seems to use satire to criticize his own culture. But some rappers seem to glorify negative aspects of it. Here the problem is not hypocracy, but it is not a good thing. It is hypocracy for male rappers to use slur words against women and oppose whites using slur words against blacks.
Some comedians or comedy shows , like southpark, try to push the envelope. But they are not making fun of minority groups as much as political correctness in the white community.
It is understandable for blacks to be sensitive when whites use slur words agaist them. It would be nice of whites to be sensitive to their feelings. But, there are people who stretch this sensitivity (by blacks, jews etc.), twist and exploit it in order to put their political opponents on the defensive and gain undeserved high moral ground.
When somebody says something offensive to someone and truely regrets it, he or she should apologize to the person offended. But it should not be turned into an insincere, politicized festival of contrition. It causes more harm than good to everybody.
You can’t say “We’re going to protect black’s feelings, but not ‘s feelings.”
There was a list of groups before the “‘s fellings.”, but apparently I used formatting characters that blasted them, but I think the intent came across.
“To sum up: white people cannot understand how black people feel when white people use racial slurs.”
That’s true. But blacks (and other groups) should realize that here are whites who are well meaning enough and sensitive enough, and have their own experiences, that they can empathize with blacks to a point. They should also realize that whites (or other groups) are entitled to their own points of view without being accused of being insensitive or presumptive about the experiences of blacks.
Barak Obama handled well the accusations that he is not part of the African American experience by pointing out that his grandfather had similar experiences in colonial Kenya.
The unpleasant experiences of blacks, gays, jews, Irish, and now Muslims are all unique and different, but they should not be horded like a treasure to be lorded over others and gain a false sense of superiority.
Here’s a silly question: Has anyone seen the picture of the girls in question? Are they, in fact, nappy-headed? I’m just curious. (And why do I have the song, “Guess who’s coming to dinner, Natty Dreadlocks” running through my head?)
i watched some of the press conferance they just had. The girls looked like perfectly normal athletic types. Some were quite well spoken and one surprized the hëll out of me when asked by a reporter if politicians should continue to go on the Imus show. Her reply was that a person running for president wants to make the biggest impact so of course they should go on the show that gets the most attention. Didn’t expect that.
As for whether or not they were “nappy headed”…I have to confess, I wasn’t even sure what nappy meant. I assumed it meant hair going off in every which way, like an afro without attention but other family members disagreed, saying that it meant cornrows. If wikipedia is correct we were both right…anppy can mean afro, cornrow, braids…basicaly, any hair that hasn’t been straightened (like Al Sharpton’s). So…I guess some were and some weren’t. None of them looked like any Ho’s I’ve ever seen.
The more I hear about this the more I have to ask myself: Who cares?!?!?! How is this really affecting anyone’s life? In fact here’s how I think most people reacted to the comments:
Person 1: Did you hear what Imus said on the radio the other day?
Person 2: Yeah…what a dìçk.
P1: Yep.
The end, move on, it’s never mentioned again because it doesn’t matter! If there was going to be controversy for every instance that someone was a dìçk then there wouldn’t be enough hours in the day to deal with it.
I have to agree with “thedeadagain”. It affects no one’s lives. But then again, neither did Michael Richards’ outburst.
Here’s a question, though, if it’s only okay for blacks to make fun of blacks, latinos to make fun of latinos, etc, why did everyone flock to see Borat (IMHO, the single more overrated movie since Kill Bill, Vol I) last year? Sasha Baron Cohen isn’t from Kazakhstan. What right does he have to portray that country as backwards, sexist, and antisemitic?
For that matter, why do people excuse male rappers who call women “bìŧçhëš”, “hos” and worse?
Here’s a question, though, if it’s only okay for blacks to make fun of blacks, latinos to make fun of latinos, etc, why did everyone flock to see Borat (IMHO, the single more overrated movie since Kill Bill, Vol I) last year? Sasha Baron Cohen isn’t from Kazakhstan. What right does he have to portray that country as backwards, sexist, and antisemitic?
****************
SER: It’s a satire of those views. Cohen was playing a character and was satirizing the anti-sememitic viewpoints that many people in that particular country (and in the world in general) have.
That’s the other issue Imus has: He’s not playing a role. He’s himself. Granted, most public performers are playing a “role” (Chris Rock is not really “Chris Rock” on stage but a public version of himself).
If Karen Walker had referred to someone as a “nappy headed ho,” I would think it idiotic for people to want to boycott WILL AND GRACE or refer to Megan Mullally as a “racist.” She’s playing a flawed character and the comment is meant as satire. (Tangentially, we often like to see “bad” people behave “badly” in comedy or even drama, it doesn’t make us racist — it just sends up those views and in a way defangs them; the racist is now just a punchline).
One critical aspect of comedy though is that you don’t pick on the less powerful. It’s just mean-spirited and bullying. If Imus had referred to Condoleeza Rice as a “nappy-headed ho,” that would have been in poor taste but it would have at least been a powerful target. These are just some college kids. It’s not even a professional basketball team — you know, a bunch of millionaires who are constantly in the public eye.
Humor should be about our shared vices and our shared flaws. That was the genius of Richard Pryor. He basically said, “Yep, you and I are different and here’s the dumb things we do because of that but deep down, we’re all the same.” His humor was about identifying with each other — not about separating each other.
If Imus had referred to Condoleeza Rice as a “nappy-headed ho,” that would have been in poor taste but it would have at least been a powerful target. These are just some college kids. It’s not even a professional basketball team
Just a team that came from out of nowhere, were a bit of a Cinderella team, far exceeded expectations and were the first team of their college to make the Final Four.
And that merits getting called “nappy headed ho’s”????
Seems to me that these are women who should be made role models to emulated, instead of objects of ridicule.
SER is right; it’s mean spirited bullying. And woe to us, that we accept this sort of things as acceptable, let alone worthy of employment.
I see, so if a country or region has a reputation for being anti-semitic, it’s okay to portray them as stupid. Didn’t know that.
BTW, can I boycott Will and Grace because it’s not funny?
I see, so if a country or region has a reputation for being anti-semitic, it’s okay to portray them as stupid.
Huh. Anti-semitic and stupid sorta goes together…
BTW, can I boycott Will and Grace because it’s not funny?
Sure. Boycotts are supposed to be functional (though I suppose it’s kinda stating the obvious…)
Huh. Anti-semitic and stupid sorta goes together…
It’s a matter of stereotyping, no matter what the circumstance. I don’t imagine most people in the south appreciate it when the media portrays them all as a bunch of redneck crossburning good ole’ boys either. So, even if there are a significant number of antisemites (and what country doesn’t have a significant number of them) in Kazakhstan, do you think people in that country like to see themselves as portrayed as if all of them are not only ant-semitic, but so ignorant that they believe that Jews lay eggs and can transform themselves into insects?
No one chooses to be offended, only how to react to it.
That said, I hope Imus gets the boot. This isn’t the first time he’s said something awful like this (far from it) and he deserves everything he’s getting. At the very least, I am LOVING watching that little weasel squirm!
I’m conflicted here, beacuse I was introduced to Imus many years ago by a friend in the SF circuit (who has, sadly, gone Beyond the Rim) and I always associate Imus with him. Said friend had a razor-sharp wit, a pun master emeritus, and could see (and call people on) any BS. I would never characterize him as racist.
That said, I agree with you, Peter. If Imus had gone on a five-minute rant comprable to Michael Richards, then I’d see context in the amount of flack.
But *nappy headed hos*??? THIS is what stems as inconsolable outrage these days?
I have a solution that I wish was implements, and it’s near-perfect because everyone loses. Have Imus suspended THIS week, including the radiothon. Cancel the charity event for this year.
You can tell Imus that his big mouth costs the kids he helped, and may affect his money-raising ability in the future.
You can tell his detractors that, okay, you want him off, here you go, but a lot of kids are being affected because he’s not on the air rasing money. (Yeah, there are some who will point to Imus, but you’ll never get them to feel guilty.)
It’s a very nasty solution, but it will wake up a few people.
Chiming in a little late here… So sorry if this ground has already been covered.
As we all know by now, Viacom/MSNBC have all acted completely (and convincingly) horrified and have suspended Imus for two weeks.
Here’s what’s really happening:
Suspension starts: Imus’ “time off” will be paid. Company officials will privately tell Imus to enjoy his new found fame and his two week “vacation”.
Imus arrives back from exile. Ratings go up by one million or two million listeners easy– as folks tune in to hear what Imus is going to say next… Giving a “shock jock” who hasn’t been the least bit relevant since the early 80’s some unneccesary attention.
Ratings quickly erode as the majority of new listeners realize that Imus is a “one offense wonder”. Still, some ears stick around– making Imus’ bosses very happy.
A year later, another predominately African American women’s basketball team makes it to the finals of the NCAA. More free mainstream press for Imus (“Has Imus REALLY Changed?” “What is Imus Up To Now?”)
One of Imus’ lame sidekicks starts to mention the women’s basketball final– Imus interrupts him and says, “For the love of God, don’t go there!!”
Cue “rimshot” from the studio SFX guy.
Shortly thereafter, Reverend Al shows up… All is forgiven (and soon forgotten).
Out of curiosity, does anyone know what kind of impact Sharpton & Jackson have on the African-American population?
I ask because I have to wonder if those 2 are a sort of damage-control for the type of folk (of any race) who can’t just see these kinds of situations for what they are.
White man calls a black man the N-word. Sharpton & Jackson toss on their capes and arrive on the scene to deal with the situation before someone deals with it in a less… ‘formal’ manner?
I don’t much care for either one of them. A word is a word to me, but as high-profile characters, are S&J acting to help prevent future troubles pertaining to a situation?
Bladestar,
I think you missed the sarky in my post. Big time.
PAD,
I’ve seen the several of the girls on TV when they were showing game footage and from this morning’s fun and games. I think maybe one girl actually fits the bill. And was I the only one watching bits of the girls’ press conference and laughing at how awkward and fidgety the white girls who play on the team looked? I know they wanted to support their friends, but it just looked like they wanted to throw a magic cloak over themselves and disappear everytime someone was really hitting the race issue. my wife thought that one of the poor girls was about to throw up for a minute there.
Craig J. Ries,
The point about Sharpton and Russell Simmons holding a public protest against rapper Tony Yayo doesn’t really work here. This was about an actual
assault and not about protesting or boycotting because of content.
Sharpton has made a few comments here and there about the content in rap songs, but he has never been as vocal or as quick to demand firings or boycotts over even the worst rapper’s work. Come to think of it, I can’t off the top of my head remember one boycott that he has been a part of or started over rap content and its repeated use of words and stereotypes that will have him demanding guys like Imus to come and pay penance and tribute to all blacks through him or have their head served to the mob on a silver platter.
He’s a clown and he should have been ridden out of town a loooonnnngggggg time ago.
Sharpton has made a few comments here and there about the content in rap songs, but he has never been as vocal or as quick to demand firings or boycotts over even the worst rapper’s work. Come to think of it, I can’t off the top of my head remember one boycott that he has been a part of or started over rap content and its repeated use of words and stereotypes that will have him demanding guys like Imus to come and pay penance and tribute to all blacks through him or have their head served to the mob on a silver platter.
I think this says more about what the media pays attention to than Sharpton’s behavior. Media is notorious for underplaying good news in general, and it’s notorious in minority communities for downplaying attempts coming from the black community to clean up rap and hip hop.
He’s a clown and he should have been ridden out of town
Oh, no disagreements there. But media likes cartoon figures like this, who draw very bright lines between black and white.
“I don’t much care for either one of them. A word is a word to me, but as high-profile characters, are S&J acting to help prevent future troubles pertaining to a situation?”
No. They don’t prevent anything by their antics. All they do is demand that people bow before them. If someone refuses to do so, they turn the volume up on their rhetoric and stir the pot even more.
They do it for their power and their wallet. Sharpton even more so then Jackson.
“I think this says more about what the media pays attention to than Sharpton’s behavior.”
Only if you can find examples of where Sharpton has done these things. I’ve checked out his National Action Network website a few times before and seen lots of stuff ereally attacking or making threats of boycotts over just about everything but rap music’s content. He plays lip service to how it’s not right when he’s pushed on it, but I’ve never seen him direct the kinds of wars against rap or rappers that he directs at non-blacks who’ve shown bad cases of foot-in-mouth disease.
Looks like there may be more to this Imus controversy than originally expected:
http://www.metadish.com/2007/04/10/imus-suspension-has-unexpected-fallout/
Hmm. First off, it’s a given that it’s far more acceptable for a group to make fun of itself than for an outsider to make fun of them. I work retail, and I hear a lot of my black coworkers calling each other “ņìggër” in a friendly, causal manner. If I called them that, my Irish ášš would be in massive trouble. Jewish comedians can make fun of “their” Jewish traits, but they can be very sensitive about others using anti-Semitic “humor.” Lots of gay folks are flamboyant and catty, but they hate it when straights stereotype them. It can be unfortunate — I hate the “bìŧçhëš and ho’s” mentality that’s very pervasive in rap music and culture — but it does exist.
Don Imus saw a successful female basketball team and called them “a bunch of nappy-haired ho’s” — AND “jigaboos.” Not a good move for a white guy.
As for everyone attacking Al Sharpton — so? His own poor character doesn’t change a word of what Imus said. It’s like a version of an ad hominem attack, lessening Imus’ offense because of the character of the attacker.
And for those who think Imus should keep his job… what else does he have to do? How much more before it’s enough?
James Lynch,
Sharpton’s antics don’t change a thing Imus said. likewise, what Imus said changes nothing about Sharpton’s antics or his double standards.
Media Matters has a transcript up from Sharpton on CNN yesterday.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200704100004
Again, he plays lip service to gansta rap content, but you won’t see him demanding that rappers be fired or music publishers be boycotted for rapping far more offensive things then what Imus said.
By all means, let the FCC and his bosses slap Imus with some hefty fines and put him on the street without pay for a while. No problem with that. You wanna call the people that air his show and tell them to drop it. No problem with that. But I do have problems with Sharpton and his race games, power trips and hypcritical antics and will voice them whenever he sticks his nose into the public debate.
Posted by: JamesLynch at April 10, 2007 05:56 PM
And for those who think Imus should keep his job… what else does he have to do? How much more before it’s enough?
Doesn’t matter what we think. It’s what MSNBC thinks in this case that matters. If they think his benefit to their business outweighs any drawbacks, they’ll keep him. Otherwise, they’ll can him.
As far as “how much before it’s enough” for me… well, I never listened to the jáçkášš in the first place just because I knew this was his schtick. As I said in a prior post, if you want to hurt him, don’t call for his firing. IGNORE HIM.
Ok, there really are some things that you just NEVER say. Once some things are said they leave a scar that can never heal.
Take for example the words of John August, the man working on the Captain Marvel/Shazam movie, as said in his blog the other day under the header of:
On the topic of old things sucking
“DC publishes hardcover anthologies that gather up decades’ worth of Captain Marvel comics. If I were writing a dissertation on the evolution of the Captain Marvel character, these would be invaluable. But I’m not. So every time I read one of these, I’m struck with the same realization I encounter trying to watch The Honeymooners or a black-and-white movie: Wow. Old things suck.
Yes, I know that will pìšš øff the vintage comics fans, who insist that the original incarnations are the purest forms of a character. But what you quickly realize is that old-time comic books were awkwardly written, crudely drawn, and bewilderingly inconsistent with their rules. They were making up the art form as they went along, and today’s comic books are better for the accumulated wisdom.
Vintage fans are free to disagree. There’s a vast but finite amount of comic books to last them through their days.”
I think I may need to talk to my lawyer now.
The thought I’ve often had about “shock jocks” is that they’re not paid to be offensive. Any moron could be offensive on the radio for three hours or so a day.
What they’re paid for is to know the limits of offensiveness, and go as close to the limit as they can without going over it. That takes skill. (I hesitate to call it “talent”.)
Washington, DC has for years had a shock jock who goes by the name “Greaseman”. He’s repeatedly gotten in trouble, usually for racially insensitive comments. The last time seems to have pretty much ruined his career — after James Byrd was killed, he remarked, after playing a song by an African-American artist, “this is why people drag them behind trucks.”
I hadn’t listened to him in ages. But a friend who was listening to him that day said that it was obvious he knew he had gone way the line and was in deep trouble. And he was right, because he was fired shortly thereafter. He’s back on the air again, but on a pretty insignificant AM station.
He had failed in his job — he went past the line. Way past it, in this case.
Now, Imus… well, I don’t even know where I could listen to him if I cared to do so. I think a DC station carries him, but I’m not sure. But from what I’ve read, he did cross the aforementioned line, but not too far. He’ll do his public mea culpas and get back to being just offensiv enough.
“Sasha Baron Cohen isn’t from Kazakhstan. What right does he have to portray that country as backwards, sexist, and antisemitic?”
Sasha Baron Cohen used Kazakhstan as a generic distant backward country to which he attributed, in a very stereotypical and exagerated way, attitudes like sexism and antisemitism that do exists to a degree in distant backward countries, and in not so distant countries. The target of his satire was not really Kazakhstan, but the people of the US and Britain, so he used the name of a very distant country so he could say outragous things, because he assumed most people don’t know about Kazakhsta and have a fairly stereotypical view of it. So in a way this was also a joke on the expence of westerners. However, it was unfair to the real Kazakhstan to portrey it like that. He should have created and imaginary country.
There’s a bigger question here. We all reject prejudice and shallow stereotyping, but shallow stereotyping is the bread and butter of the entertainment industry. It uses stereotypical images of rednecks, blacks, arabs, jews, hispanics, Italians, Irish, Russians, asians and foreigners in general on a regular basis. Sasha Baron Cohen ddn’t care about the real Khazakstan, he created an imaginary country out of vague stereotypes of backward countriesthat exist mostly in the heads of his audiences (which is not to say the real world is a garden of roses).
I just want to say that using Carlos Mencia against Latinos is unfair. He’s a joking stealing jack ášš, and no one really likes him. The people who claim they do either believe the two basic tenets of his act, screaming and racism, equals comedy, and there are people across class/culture who believe that, or else they are Latinos who are just so pleased to see a Latino on tv that they’ll take whatever idiot they can, regardless of quality.
On another note, I don’t understand why people can’t get why its okay for Hispanics/African Americans/Asians/whatever to make jokes about their ethnicity, but others cannot. Its not reverse racism. Its like, you can tease your siblings, call them names other people might not be able to get away with or even understand, but the minute an outsider says it, their ášš is grass. Simple.
I do agree that Sharpton is an overreacting publicity hound, and that anyone trying to get Imus’s head on a platter is one too. The dudes on any NYC radio station right now manage to say worse about women on a daily basis but, who cares? They’re DJs not congressman.
Good grief. It’s not like Imus is calling for the return of slavery or Jim Crow laws. A public flogging is what Imus deserves, and he’s gotten in spades. Imus didn’t invent the use of “hos” for women; we all know where that comes from. The real ‘crime’ here is that Imus’s comments were a cheap shot. Those girls were chosen and dressed for their performance as basketball players NOT for their fashion appeal.
Let me add: as an overweight man, I long ago turned off Imus because of his ferocious FAT PREJUDICE. He uses the word “fat” as a generic perjorative, flung against anybody and everybody he doesn’t like. Why jump on the bandwagon against Imus NOW? He’s been spewing hate speech against “my” kind for decades, without anyone ever demanding he end his hate speech against us.
So I have a hard time joining the spew against Imus just because he attacked some privileged college athletes. This guy is insensitive to pretty much everybody, it seems. Why THIS moment of rudeness is so special is a bit of a mystery to me.
So I have a hard time joining the spew against Imus just because he attacked some privileged college athletes.
Eh. Of all the bigger time college athletes, women’s basketball would be among the least privliged. They’re a hëll of a lot more principled than the men’s side.
I’ve seen Borat pop up a few times in this thread. I have a friend who’s a pretty recent immigrant from that part of the world, and you bring up that movie anywhere in John’s vicinity, you’ll get an earful.
Now, as for Imus, I’d love to see him axed, but not for this. I’d like to see him go because he’s waaaaaay to close to his mike and his diction tends to be below that of the kid in Little Shop of Horrors that had her jaw removed. I know a lot of people who’d LOVE to be on radio, have the voice for it, and wouldn’t cause NEARLY this kind of mess. I’ve just never gotten into the whole how-bad-can-we-get class of jocks.
Al Sharpton has made a career of displaying anger as a black man without anyone shooting at him, reloading, and shooting him again.
Anyone who has seen the movie “Crash” knows that the display of anger — or even keeping your hands visible — is a completely different issue for blacks than it is for whites. My guess is that every black person knows that when black people get angry, not a whole hëll of a lot gets done on their behalf. When white people get angry, the US arbitrarily invades an oil-rich Muslim country at a cost of $2 billion a week, and Halliburton and Exxon break earning records.
When your concerns as they relate you you ethnicity are treated as if they don’t even exist — that you are a ghost whose distress there is no consequence for dismissing — how can we fault you for backing the guy who can raise hëll on your behalf without getting billy clubs rained on him? Between that guy, and the guy making millions of dollars ridiculing college girls based on his low expectations for their ethnicity and gender — all I have to say is good for that guy if he prevails.
I’ve just never gotten into the whole how-bad-can-we-get class of jocks.
Me neither. If this gets rid of one, I’m not gonna cry.
Okay, since I, like so many here, don’t listen to Imus, I had to go find the context on the Interwebs:
Imus was speaking with producer Bernard McGurk when the NCAA title game between Rutgers and Tennessee came up.
“That’s some rough girls from Rutgers,” Imus said. “Man, they got tattoos …”
“Some hardcore hos,” said McGurk.
“That’s some nappy headed hos there, I’m going to tell you that,” Imus said.
In that context, it’s not funny. It’s stupid, insulting, and pointlessly offensive, but not funny. It plays on racial stereotypes to insult a group of girls whose only apparent offense was being from Rutgers. (For comparison, would it be funny to refer to a group of girls from a historically Jewish university as “big-nosed tightwads”, or Irish girls as “drunken loudmouthed šlûŧš”?)
It plays on racial stereotypes to insult a group of girls whose only apparent offense was being from Rutgers.
And even at that it doesn’t make sense…is Rutgers supposed to be some tough inner city Black College? Black enrollment is dwarfed by White and Asian enrollment. I don’t recall hearung about Rutgers kids running amuck, kicking sand in the faces of smaller, weaker colleges. Did Imus just lose a bet and take it out on the kids?
One thing good about Rutgers–I have to admire the way the school has rallied around the kids. It certainly compares favorably to the way Duke sold some of its athletes down the river when they were accused of a horrific crime, a crime that increasingly looks like it may not have occured.
If Imus was black this wouldn’t even be a story–just another rap song. Sharpton said it wasn’t about Imus but about ‘racial crap on the airwaves'(paraphrasing). If so, I would LOVE to hear what “rev” Sharpton has to say about all the ‘racial hate’ that is talked about daily in Milw. by MaGee—a black Rep. Oh Wait—it seems to be okay for him and his dad to say what ever they want. And if you disagrre then YOU are a bigot/racist.
I am done venting.
In what may be the final word, two sponsors (one is Staples, I forget the other one) have announced that they’re pulling their advertising from the Imus show. And if there’s one thing corporate America hates, it’s losing advertisers.
What rapper is making millions of dollars by calling the Rutgers womens basketball team a bunch of prostitutes?
If Imus was black, congressmen and presidential candidates wouldn’t waste their time being interviewed by him — because he wouldn’t have his craptacular radio show. What misogynistic rapper has that kind of power to influence elections?
If Imus had any sense, he’d take $5 million, or however much of his money he wants to take with him, and off of the interest fly first-class somewhere everyday for the rest of his life. And for the example it sets, I don’t think squeezing him into some private life of luxury is an overreaction to what he said.
I’m an “African American” who personally believes that Imus wasn’t trying to malign black people with his “schtick” so much as doing what he’s done on several occasions: attempting to sound “ghetto” to get a laugh from black AND white listeners! One time on his radio program, I remember a Perdue spot where Perdue senior mentioned “Dark meat is optional” and I clearly heard Imus say, “Whadaya MEAN dark meat’s optional? HONKY!” Same schtick, different era.
Unfortunately, this time it backfired on him and he felt that he had to apologize to “save his job” as he has on numerous occasions.
“Lookin’ back on when I was a little nappy-headed boy,
Then, my only worry what for Christmas what would be my toy.”
Stevie Wonder “I Wish.”
That was my first exposure to the phrase “nappy-headed” and guess what? I wasn’t the least bit offended! If anything, I felt nostalgic which I believe was The Desired Response!
On one of the cuts of Imus’ first comedy album, he had a routine called “Swear with flair” that illustrated a scenario where a black man would rob his house and, instead of presenting a “we have to look terrified and give him what he wants” response, he used the “aggressively vulgar” approach. Admitting that this wouldn’t prevent the theft, he also alluded that as the perp walked out of the door “he would probably lay five on ya!” indicating that he would at least respect the command of the utterer’s vocabulary as well as his courage.
I’ve never been offended by Imus’ humor! Intrigued, definitely, but not offended! Why? Because I’ve always felt that Imus was one of only a few comics, along with Lenny Bruce and Redd Foxx, who could keep the offensiveness of their humor within the correct context: making The Spouter of the Remark look humorous instead of the “intended target!” Too bad few people here, except for you Peter, “get it!”
Sorry, Peter.
I meant that you are among the few here who DO “get it” as illustrated by your perceptive “It’s IMUS! Consider the source!” statement.
Bill Mulligan: “Did Imus just lose a bet and take it out on the kids?”
Nah, that’s just Imus. You must know that by now.
I was an on and off Imus listener some years back for about six months. I became an ex-listener because of his need to insult and attack just about EVERYTHING he doesn’t like. I mean, I’m opinionated and will say when I think something is stupid, but I’ll also agree to disagree and be civil. Imus seems to need to insult, degrade and belittle anything that he doesn’t actively like, enjoy or approve of. And he seems to disconnect the common sense filter that exists between his brain and his mouth when he wants to trash something.
I’m not even sure that Imus was even trying to be racist with this. The way he does his shtick, he could very well have just reached mindlessly for the first thing that he felt would be the most insulting thing he could say. His insult doesn’t even really fit the team. Unless the term has been switched to a different style, most of the team doesn’t come close to looking nappy-headed, they dámņ sure don’t look like “ho’s” and they’re not even all black.
I’m not saying that Imus isn’t racist or doesn’t have racist tendencies. I’m just not sure that he was actually being racist this time rather then just being dumb as a brick with his insults. Either way though, I’m not gonna shed a tear for him over the spankings he’s getting over this.
I need to respond to some the comments being made here.
As a Black man, I took some offense to Imus’ comments about the Basketball team, but it wasn’t the end of the world. However, when I found out about Imus referring to Gwen Ifil, a Black woman and a White House correspondent at the time, as a “cleaning lady,” and accomplished writer William Rhoden of the New York Times as a “qouta hire,” I began to feel like the firestorm was warranted. These comments are hurtful because it reinoforces the feeling that no matter how much you accomplish, how much success you obtain, in the eyes of far too many, you’re still (please pardon the expression, I hate it myself) “just a ņìggër.” I think that given his history with statements of this sort, it is beyond time for people to show that they are not alright with he and his cohorts saying these things. I am not in the camp that thinks he should be fired, but I think that the two week suspension and accompanying critism is just right.
On the subject of the lyrics used in hip-hop, I am angered by the fact that members of own community are doing things that tear us down. There are many Black people who feel that it is shameful and disgraceful that this goes on. With that said, I must also consider the background of the young men who engage in using this type of language in their lyrics. They are more often than not from underpriveleged and undereducated backgrounds. I do not say that to excuse they’re behavior, but in that light, I can’t hold them to the same standard that I hold Don Imus to. Why? I’ve never heard of a presidential candidate or other political figure doing a guest appearance on any of their albums. I can’t say the same for Imus’ radio show.
Lastly I would like to mention that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are the self proclaimed “leaders of the Black community.” I, and many of the other people that I know do not lend either of these men any credence. If a person goes to enough places with cameras and talks loudly enough, people will soon ascribe them with more status than they have or deserve. I would have much rather seen Imus go on Tom Joyner’s, a much less divisive voice than either Sharpton or Jackson, radio show to issue his apology. Imus’ appearance on Sharpton’s show makes neither his actions nor Sharpton’s actions any more palatable.
Marcus
“When your concerns as they relate you you ethnicity are treated as if they don’t even exist — that you are a ghost whose distress there is no consequence for dismissing — how can we fault you for backing the guy who can raise hëll on your behalf without getting billy clubs rained on him?”
I’m not going to address the shrouded one directly, as he is incapable of having a rational conversation. And I hate to pick on him given his emotional fragility. But the quote above illustrates a point that needs to be made.
The shrouded one talks of minorities as “a ghost whose distress there is no consequence for dismissing.” Yet Imus has been forced to apologize for his crass remark. Repeatedly. I have seen him roundly condemned by people of all races for this incident. And he has been suspended for two weeks by MSNBC. Hëll, even most of those who question the severity of the reaction are acknowledging that Imus’ remarks are unacceptable. No rational person could describe this as a situation where blacks’ concerns are being “dismissed without consequence.”
The shrouded one and Al Sharpton have something in common: both have disguised a personal agenda as a political one, and both of them unthinkingly parrot complaints that at one time had validity but bear no resemblance to what goes on today. Decades ago, you could get away with using racial slurs with nary a consequence. Media portrayals of blacks were largely limited to destructive stereotypes like Amos ‘n Andy. Yet today we have far more positive images of blacks in the media, from black men in leading roles on T.V. and in the movies to the meteoric rise of Barack Obama.
The consequence of refusing to catch up with reality is to inadvertantly give a smokescreen to the racism that still exists and the damage it can do. Every time someone cries wolf, as Al Sharpton did with Tawana Brawley and as the shrouded one is doing here, it desensitizes people to the racial inequities that still exist today and need to be corrected.
I think it’s the particular targets Imus was racist about that’s the problem. You might call them “young women in college.” But to most people they were “girls.” You don’t pick on girls.
You had Imus attacking young women who weren’t media figures, whose only call to national attention was that they lost their big game. Heck, they’re athletes who are pretty much inarticulate and couldn’t verbally defend themselves.
In a post on salon.com, they showed pictures of the girls in question. I couldn’t help but note that they all had bad teeth, and that the photographer made them smile with their mouths open and their teeth exposed. And I commented that they should have kept their mouths closed, like all people with bad teeth, and not show off the kind of grins that looked like they’d just been burned by hot grease.
People piled on me like I was as evil as Imus. I pointed out that I have bad teeth and have never done an open, show-the-horse-teeth smile. “I have this common sense; their photographer was an idiot trying to count their teeth like they were mail-order brides.” They wouldn’t listen. The other bloggers thought it was horrible that I should point out that these women had teeth that looked like factory-reject Chicklets. Why? Because I was “picking on girls.”
This is where Imus went wrong.
“My guess is that every black person knows that when black people get angry, not a whole hëll of a lot gets done on their behalf.”
Oh, I dunno. I seem to remember black people getting angry about forty years ago and a whole Civil Rights movement resulting. But, y’know, it was the 60s, so maybe I just hallucinated it…
PAD
I really don’t care if NBC fires Imus or not. I never listen to his show anyway, but reporting on him saying something racially insensitive/offensive is about as newsworthy as reporting that water is wet.
That said, I still think if someone does apologize and makes an effort to reach out to the people he offended, people should give him another chance.
On the other hand, I still don’t get the great unwritten rule that one can make fun of their own ethnic heritage but no one else can or that some ethnic/cultural groups (Kazakhs, southern Americans) seem to be fair game for all.
I was thinking, does Imus use a pseudonym as way of showing he’s representing everyone’s darker impulses? Instead of Imus, “I’m US.” Or is that one of those really obvious things that everyone knows and I can’t see it due to the rock I live under?
I was also thinking that it’s gotta be bad for all the news people in the world when the two big causes celebre are Imus being an insulting crank and who the REAL father of some dead model’s baby is. But then, I suppose it’s good that there’s nothing more important in the world happening.
After watching NBC’s Today Show today, I am really left wondering how much of the offence currently being viewed from the team and their coach is internally driven and how much has been spurred on, encouraged, fostered, etc by the public response and even the Rutgers institution.
The coach and a player from the team were interviewed. Neither of their responses were especially compelling or appeared to have much emotional conviction beneath them. When the Imus hooplah first began, the player stated that she was unaffected by it. When she was questioned on this by the interviewer this morning, she said that she had come to realize that she was offended and went on to toss several descriptors at Imus. It seemed more like a prepped response to me… and a clumsy one at that. A clip was shown of the team at a news conference. A few team members spoke at it. One of the two Caucasian players took the podium and stated how hurtful it was to have their victory completely taken away by Imus’ statements and went on to say that it completely ruined their moment. I found myself again unconvinced.
I’ve worked at enough colleges to know how seriously they take public perceptionand the lengths that an institution will go through to be seen as sensitive, politically correct, and so on.
I understand that Imus is an idiot. It is because of this fact and the fact that he just isn’t funny, that I don’t listen to the guy. I understand that his comments could be offensive to others. I have a difficult time completely buying into the homogenious response of the team as well as the intensity of it… a response that was nearly a week in the coming before it was made or heard from at all.