Unless you live under a rock you've heard the outcry from the Black Community this week
concerning Don Imus and his recent remarks about the
Rutgers Woman's Basketball team. If by some reason you haven't go
here for the story.
Anyway, now the Black Community is outraged and calling for his job and I'm getting emails from NOW (The National
Organization of Women) asking me to join their email
campaign to have Imus fired from his job.
A few points I must make.....
1. Don Imus is a jackass. Always has been, always will be. I think what he said was disgusting and insensitive. With that said, he has every right as an American to say whatever he likes. It's called "freedom of speech" and the only thing it doesn't protect you from is PERSONAL taste. Imus has every right to say what he did and you have every right not to like it. However, you have no right to try and take away his
livelihood because you don't agree with it.
2. I'll bet 90% of the people calling for his job today weren't even listening to his show when the comments were made. If he didn't need your support in the first place why should he or
MSNBC care if they have it now?
3. The same people calling for his job are the very people who supported the Dixie Chicks last year and cheered when they won five
Grammy Awards last month. The Chicks were slapped down and boycotted, threatened and almost lost their right to make a living because people didn't like something they said. You can debate the "level" but in the end it came down to people simply not liking what they said. Same thing, different day.
4. I heard a black sportswriter calling for the FCC to remove Imus from the air. For what? Did he curse? Say anything that violated FCC
guidelines? No, he said something that offended you. The FCC doesn't have time to run around protecting people's feelings.
5. Al
Sharpton is calling for Imus' job. Al
Sharpton! One of the most corrupt people walking the planet. I'll tell you what Al, I will support your war on Imus as soon as you
apologize to the Police officers in the
Tawana Brawley case.
Saying you're sorry
should work both ways.
6. As George Carlin once pointed out... "The Radio has TWO dials. One switches it off, the other changes the station!!!"
7. Imus is
preaching to the choir every morning. In fact, his audience has increased by 33% during the past ratings period. His been saying this type of shit for YEARS and YEARS! People find it funny. Just because I'm not one of them doesn't mean I have the right to take away their chosen form of entertainment. No matter how disgusting I may find it. Again, personal taste.
8. I'm getting tired of the "leaders" in the black community that come out to condemn this type of speech while ignoring the current weeks hot rap
cd. The one that came out using this
exact same language against women of color. The black community in general needs to stop acting with "shock" and stop being "offended" every time a white person refers to them using language they LEARNED from black produced media. Hell, the first time I heard the "N" word just thrown around freely was on a
NWA record when I was 12 years old. That word wasn't allowed in my house growing up. My mother wouldn't have it. The first time many white kids in these last two generations learned that language was when they bought a rap album, watched a stand up special, or watched a movie featuring it.
If I, as a white person, ran around selling and marketing records where I called every white man I saw a "honky" or white women "Cracker Ass, stringy-hair sluts" I wouldn't act "shocked" when it became a part of American pop culture. In fact, I would have only myself to blame.
9. I'm getting REALLY tired of white people finding this type of stuff funny! While the black community needs to do a better job representing themselves white people need to do a much better job just KNOWING better. This type of garbage is not funny. Those young women didn't deserve to be made fun of in that manner.
Ultimately, is it okay with me if Imus loses his job someday? Of course.
However, only when people make a choice to stop tuning in on their own. Not because some political group threatens his station or some black leader
threatens the sponsors of the program. White men, the majority of his audience, need to step up and say "enough is enough"
In the end, all this backlash does is further prove we haven't come half as far as people like to believe we have in regards to race in this country. The fact that Imus has a huge following after years of this type of behavior only
illustrates the point. Simply making it "go away" doesn't help solve the problems or work towards the solutions. We need people like Imus to serve wake up calls to those turning a blind eye to reality. He helps keep the conversation alive.
After all, simply choosing to pretend people like him don't
exist doesn't make it so.
Labels: Basketball, Imus, Rutgers, Sharpton
