Give Imus a break! Really!

[lazarus]

I'm suprised how this has turned out but I think Imus will probably go to satellite like Stern. He's done as a syndicated host long term.

[Kountzer]

Yep.

I thought the Imus in the morning show would weather the storm, but apparently not. In a way, I was sort of hoping that it would, because this will only perpetuate a tit for tat mentality. Now, if someone else, on the left or democratic side slips up and says something derogatory, you can be sure they will be canned immediately.

[Dr. Shane]

I thought Imus was on the left or democratic side. At lease all the conservative commentators I have been heard so far make reference to the left going after one of their own. I had never heard of him before so I don't know where he falls idealogically.

[Woody]

Quote:

Now, if someone else, on the left or democratic side slips up and says something derogatory, you can be sure they will be canned immediately

About time ....

People on the right have been canned for a long time. Just ask Rush Limbaugh. So ... now if those on the left are going to be held accountable ... it just makes things fair.

I suppose this will stifle speech from those on the left like Jesse Jackson though.

[lazarus]

The appeal of Imus is that has called Dick Cheney a "War Criminal" and John Kerry a "weasal" Both of them has been on his program.

He regularly has Santorum, Buchannan, McCain, Ford, Chris Dodd. Left and right. He has the best political guests on any morning show in America.

The right would like to place him on the left because he's been critical of the Admin but He's a registered republican.

[Dr. Shane]

Maybe he is a moderate that leans to the right, like me. Or maybe he is just a wild conservative like Micheal Savage.

[Woody]

What he is ... is a multipurpose hater. No matter which side he is ... Left or Right ... He is wrong.

[Gerr]

"nappy-headed hos,"

What does it mean? Sleepy-headed horse? I honestly do not have the foggiest idea what it really means that a man's job would be in jeopardy.

Gerry

[Tom Wetmore]

Ho is short for whore. That's the rudely derogatory sexist part. Nappy-headed is a pejorative description of an unkempt afro or of tight curly hair. That's the racist part. It was effectively calling the team a bunch of ugly messy black whores.

Tom

[Woody]

Oh Well ... He is now totally gone. Gone and fired from all of his jobs .... PTL.

[jasd]

QR frame:

>>Imus should apologize to the Rutgers women -- and those women alone -- send them flowers, and stop kissing Al Sharpton's ring.

This wasn't an insult to all mankind, and certainly not an insult to Al Sharpton. Now, if Imus had called the basketball players "fat, race-baiting black men with clownish hairstyles," well, then perhaps Sharpton would be owed an apology.<< --Coulter

Well, was it not I who called the lady clever, witty, and wise? Because of her column

I might now more properly ascertain who it is and what is meant by the term "Black Pope".

So, developing...: it appears that, in fact, the two right reverends Jesse/Sharpton are

the obvious "Hos". They give every indication of being proffessional ummm-stirrers(sanitized).

My personal take on the matter is -- that it was not Imus who coined 'hos' (the Black AME church in Los Angeles often used "nappy-headed" -- when referring to the wooly-headed Christ) or who took it from the streets of inner-city America to mainstream American vernacular English. That is opening the door and introducing the phraseology into the language of public discourse; besides, wasn't he [seemingly] a shock-jock?

Should one not, rather, not liking what emanates from a relatively obscure show..., change the channel or turn the dial? Yes? No?

One might as easily take offense at "idiot honky cracker", or other similar effusives..., but to agitate to destroy another's means of living...! is kinda, sorta, low... and small, isn't it?

Those having sufficient self-esteem would eschew recriminations, and would, instead,

graciously accept an apology. And, those removed from the immediate --

are unconscionable to begrudge another his means of living. All that said,

it would have better served everyone had he been more charitable in thought and deed. And,

shame on top him!

[olger]

Imus isn’t the real bad guy

Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture.

By JASON WHITLOCK - Columnist

Thank you, Don Imus. You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem.

You’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.

You’ve given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.

Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.

The bigots win again.

While we’re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I’m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.

I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.

It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.

Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves.

It’s embarrassing. Dave Chappelle was offered $50 million to make racially insensitive jokes about black and white people on TV. He was hailed as a genius. Black comedians routinely crack jokes about white and black people, and we all laugh out loud.

I’m no Don Imus apologist. He and his tiny companion Mike Lupica blasted me after I fell out with ESPN. Imus is a hack.

But, in my view, he didn’t do anything outside the norm for shock jocks and comedians. He also offered an apology. That should’ve been the end of this whole affair. Instead, it’s only the beginning. It’s an opportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$.

I watched the Rutgers news conference and was ashamed.

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for eight minutes in 1963 at the March on Washington. At the time, black people could be lynched and denied fundamental rights with little thought. With the comments of a talk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last week serving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes about the amazing season her team had.

Somehow, we’re supposed to believe that the comments of a man with virtually no connection to the sports world ruined Rutgers’ wonderful season. Had a broadcaster with credibility and a platform in the sports world uttered the words Imus did, I could understand a level of outrage.

But an hourlong press conference over a man who has already apologized, already been suspended and is already insignificant is just plain intellectually dishonest. This is opportunism. This is a distraction.

In the grand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat to black women in particular. If his words are so powerful and so destructive and must be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we do about the idiot rappers on BET, MTV and every black-owned radio station in the country who use words much more powerful and much more destructive?

I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuing education and that they’re selling out their race if they do?

When Imus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset. Until then, he is what he is — a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore when you’re not looking to be made a victim.

No. We all know where the real battleground is. We know that the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show. There’s no money and lots of danger in that battle, so Jesse and Al are going to sit it out.

To reach Jason Whitlock, call (816) 234-4869 or send e-mail to jwhitlock@kcstar.com. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com

[lazarus]

Oh Well ... He is now totally gone. Gone and fired from all of his jobs .... PTL.

I just checked the news.....I can't believe it. This whole thing has gone too far.

[Dr. Shane]

Dick Morris was on O'Reilly's show tonight and made a very good case why it is good that Imus has been fired. In his opinion, it isn't so much because of the racial insult but because he makes such insults humorously. He hopes this will be a turning-point in American history where racial jokes will no longer be socially acceptable. Morris listed a whole host of racial jokes Imus has told including Mexicans and Jews.

[Morning Glory]

Well, I hate to see anyone lose their job, but I am glad that Imus is gone. There is already so much hatred and violence in the world, we don't need it broadcast as well. Guess the sponsors were also fed up as I heard that a lot of them had voted by withdrawing their $$ and sponsorship. I applaud CBS!!

MG

[jasd]

>>There is already so much hatred and violence in the world, we don't need it broadcast as well.<<

Is it then, the presumption that what Imus said was -- "hatred and violence"? ...don't think so; it doesn't meet the scratch test.

Per "broadcast", an incidental note: cable.

>>Guess the sponsors were also fed up as I heard that a lot of them had voted by withdrawing their $$ and sponsorship.<<

Ah, the threat of boycott! I suppose that it will eventually come to where we are governed by the PC, the boycotts, the perpetual complainers, and tandem that -- the chip. Please, may the fates

deliver us from the incessant moan.

>>I applaud CBS!!<<

Bravo! I, also, applaud self-preservation and old-fashioned capitalism... especially, where the corporation is fiduciarily responsible to the shareholder. However,

I cannot applaud the hypocritical and moral bankruptcy that accompanied the Imus 'aftermath'.

...got a kick out of your emoticons [/grinning]

[lazarus]

This wasn't an insult to all mankind, and certainly not an insult to Al Sharpton. Now, if Imus had called the basketball players "fat, race-baiting black men with clownish hairstyles," well, then perhaps Sharpton would be owed an apology.<< --Coulter

Coulter is pretty much in the same category as Imus except that her career won't last as long. If she had a radio show she would have lost it within a week, partly because of low ratings and because of her racsim.

(the Black AME church in Los Angeles often used "nappy-headed" -- when referring to the wooly-headed Christ) or who took it from the streets of inner-city America to mainstream American vernacular English. That is opening the door and introducing the phraseology into the language of public discourse

Here we see this bogus argument again. If an AME preacher uses nappy head to refer to Christ then it was to affirm the congregation connection with their saviour as opposed to the blonde haired blue eyed Christ. It was a positive thing.

This man Imus used it to degrade these women.

If Al Sharpton on his show refered to white American soldiers Iraq as those "murderous crackers" for example............"oh well, he should just apologise, ...free speech, don't listen to his show etc"....yeah right

[Gerr]

Ho is short for whore. That's the rudely derogatory sexist part. Nappy-headed is a pejorative description of an unkempt afro or of tight curly hair. That's the racist part. It was effectively calling the team a bunch of ugly messy black whores.

Tom

Thanks Tom. If what you say is true, I can see why a lot of people, in fact, ALL people should be upset about what he said, and indeed should be fired.

Gerry

[Woody]

Now that Imus is gone ... it has become a cultural commercial enterprise to sell items that are labeled as "Nappy-headed" items such as clothing and stuffed animals. What will come next?

[Stan]

Like many, he has become more famous in his "career death" than in his life.. all he needs to do VERY SOON is write a book... it will be a best seller and very lucrative

Stan

[lazarus]

My guess is that Imus, after a time, will pop up somewhere else, He has too many connections with too many media heavy hitters for this to be all over.I thinks he still has a career.

So many people preface their remarks by saying " I've never heard of Imus, but......"

[Woody]

You don't have to have heard him before to know that what he said was inexcusable. And a stand should be made to put a stop to this kind of outrage.

I've heard he is a Republican. As a Republican ... I am embarassed. As a Human ... I am embarassed. I've heard some clips of his on the news in years past. This is nothing new for him. Finally the public is outraged.

[Gerr]

I suppose I've lived such a sheltered life that I've never heard this derogatory term until this incident. If I understand correctly, the term originated with hip hop? Soooooooo, where was the outrage when it first came out? Why the sudden outrage when a white person uses it?

Gerry

[Woody]

Gerry ... White people have always had different standards. In Black culture things are not as they are in White culture. I am not saying that one is holier than another ... they are just different.

Different strokes and different standards for different folks. In the black community it is fine to use the N word. But it is also not OK for Whites. It just depends upon the color of your skin.

[jasd]

>>Coulter is pretty much in the same category as Imus except that her career won't last as long.<<

>> If she had a radio show she would have lost it within a week,<<

>>partly because of low ratings and because of her racsim.<<

On the face of it..., that's quite a litany of assumptions and 'sposin's.

>>>...that it was not Imus who coined 'hos' (the Black AME church in Los Angeles often used "nappy-headed" -- when referring to the wooly-headed Christ) or who took it from the streets of inner-city America to mainstream American vernacular English. That is opening the door and introducing the phraseology into the language of public discourse<<<

>>Here we see this bogus argument again. If an AME preacher uses nappy head to refer to Christ then it was to affirm the congregation connection with their saviour as opposed to the blonde haired blue eyed Christ. It was a positive thing.<<

Aside from the assumption "then it was to affirm...", the AME preacher was (and often does) expounding upon the hypothesis that Christ was a Black, as the bible described Him to be wooly-headed -- that is, nappy-headed. I suppose one might construe that to be

a "positive thing".

>>This man Imus used it to degrade these women.<<

Well, aside from the question as to 'why Imus "used it" ', one hardly imagines that his remarks increased those women's stature (no pun). And, is one to infer

that you're against all 'shock jocks', black or white whatever their platform -- comedic, for example..., or the hypocritical pretenses of Jesse/Sharpton?

>>If Al Sharpton on his show refered to white American soldiers Iraq as those "murderous crackers" for example............"oh well, he should just apologise, ...free speech, don't listen to his show etc"....yeah right<<

Soldiers putting their lives on the line for you and me vis-a-vis basketball players? C'mon.

It bears repeating, "It is Jesse/Sharpton that is, in fact, the Ho". Remember Tawana, Duke, etc...? Pigment monger... railroading and shakedown artist.

>>I thinks he still has a career.<<

That's a generous thought.

The above does not excuse Imus' remarks. They were ill thought-out, ridiculous -- and those Rutgers girls did not deserve them. That said,

they ought not be used as a vehicle for the likes of Jesse/Sharpton and their sycophantic jackboot types -- who, in their righteous dungeon, roll over everone else's rights of speech, or other...