Imus Isn't The Real Bad Guy

Thanks for the link to the Whitlock comments, and thanks for your own comments on the issue Mason.

LOL. Mason you are funny.

you're welcome

Perhaps, but I happen to agree with Mr. Whitlock 100%

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.

Yeah. But Imus should have known better as smart as he's supposed to be.

Why? How many times do blacks themselves use those, similar, or even worse words without any reactions or "outrage"? It's either equality or not. Can't and shouldn't have it both ways. Mr Whitlock is dead on. It's all a bunch of self serving garbage and a simple apology should have been the end of it.

If that's really how these idiots want it then they should be just as actively and vocally going after the firings of every single black DJ, radio or tv personality, and recording artist who daily make the exact same kinds of comments and jokes about blacks, whites, women, and others. Until that happens (and frankly I don't think it should, they ALL have the right to say what they want within FCC regs) they are nothing more than self serving bigots themselves and should just shut the hell up.

ah forget it Mason. I don't really give a shit about Don Imus either way.

But there is a very important difference there. In your official capacity you are a part of the government and as such must remain as unbiased as possible. That's as it should be. Mr Imus is just an entertainment personality and either the same rules apply to all of them, or they don't apply to any of them.

I simply do not buy into the separatist double standard racist bullshit that permeates the PC mentality and am sick of the phony outrage coming from these idiots and the people bending over to kiss their asses just to shut them up.

Frankly I don't give a rat's ass if someone got their little feelings hurt by some words said in jest by some radio personality. There are far more serious problems in the world these morons could be expending energy upon. But of course those wouldn't pay nearly as well would they?

I don't either really. But I would expect he'll be hired by XM before long.

I've stayed out of the discussions I've seen going on for the most part because when it comes to race and racism and a white person being accused, the argument gets lost and becomes whatever is the firm belief of the individuals. And Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton once again being at the forefront also gets latched in there somehow and the reasoning always gets lost and out of focus as well.

I don't care about Imus either. Although I was a fan of his a very long, long time ago. I also don't much care for Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. I do however care about you and having gotten to know you over the years I've been at JU I'll tell you why I'm upset from what Imus said.


Yes, he has said things in the past, shocking things. But never in the manner he said what he did. He said this with disgust and he wasn't being funny. He was filled with contempt. It was the way he said it, how it sounded and the bad taste it left in everyone's mouth. [Sugar High Elf wrote an excellent article (last month?) about how someone said what they did to her and how it made her feel, I wish I could leave this to link it but I might lose what I'm writing.]


It's the same feeling of hurt I get when I tried to explain to my daughter then three or four year old why her friends looked at her and teased her about her hair because she has the curly, frizzy look of some black children. Because her hair isn't straight and shiny like theirs. I remembered blogging about it too.

It's the same feeling that makes most black women (and some Latinas too) straighten their hair, or wear fake hair so as to feel a sense of belonging as they try to fit into our society. Because wearing their hair in it's natural state doesn't make them feel beautiful. Of course this is a matter of low esteem and one I won't go into.

Yes, there are things being said everyday by rappers and others who do it to earn money. And that's just as bad too. And yes, something should be done about them and everyone else who do the same thing day after day, denegrate others with their sexist and racist messages. And we as women and as a people in this society need to stop feeding into the hype and stop supporting and putting our money behind the people who do these things. Blacks in general have many issues, that we can all agree with. Issues that will not end because of the firing of Imus but issues that must be dealt with nontheless.


And while I don't agree that he should lose his job, he should have been put on more than two weeks suspension without pay for sure, way beyond 'sweeps' which is coming up in May, and not just two weeks. But he himself, didn't get it that what he said was just wrong and he kept getting deeper and deeper into the quagmire he digged. I believe this is what led up to his being fired.

One more thing, it's time that we all stop looking at Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as if they are the Gods of Black people, they are not! I'm so tired of something that is so hurtful being down played by most people who just keep referring to Jesse and Al. Sure they are there up front and in everyone's face and sure the media will cover them. But just because they are not liked by all, don't use them as an excuse for what is so wrong. What should be the focus is giving little girls a reason to believe that they too are beautiful and they too can be whatever they want to be regardless of their looks and their race.


Sorry for the book I wrote M but I just wanted to share my thoughts with you.

And I appreciate you doing so, thank you.

My problem is not with any individual expressing hurt, anger, or whatever with a bad joke (and that's all it was, I heard it too and it was an stupid, ill-thought, and tasteless joke, but a joke just the same). My problem is with the folks like Al, and Jesse, and all of the other phonies using it as an excuse to promote themselves with their phony, exaggerated outrage, and the insane media coverage this has received.

I've been listening to a great many people calling in to various radio shows talking about the subject and the overwhelming majority of every day black folks, both male and female, who I have heard express themselves on the subject think Jesse and Al are an embarrassment and that this whole issue is stupid. I heard a good many of them remark that the apology was enough and also a good many expressed that they actually thought the joke was funny.

It's the media and the talking heads who give me a case of the red ass, and the sane, intelligent people like Mr Whitmore who give me hope that there are some actually sane people still left in the world and some of them actually work in the media.

I don't think the issue is stupid, but I do think it's blown out of proportion a bit. And it's really unfortunate that Al and Jesse are involved because I think they tend to make legit problems illegit.

The problem I have is when people say that 'black people use the same words all the time' as though that makes it okay or less wrong. Sure, they are pursued for it, but you have to be an idiot to not realize the self hatred and hatred directed at someone who looks different from you are not the same.

I do think the Rutgers season was ruined. They will never be (nor Tennessee) will be remembered for what happened on the court, but what happened on April 4. That's too bad.

Finally, there are tons of black people that hate rap music. The same free speech and flow of money that kept Imus going keeps them alive. They wouldn't do it if there was no money in it. And so we (many black people) fight it by not buying it. There are many black leaders that are fighting it. Most of them just don't do it on camera. Forget what the media presents you and look for real black leaders where they are, in the community trying to lead. BTW, at least as of 2003, the number one buyer of rap music was white suburban youth.

Just to clarify that last thought, I don't want anyone to think that I am blaming white suburban youth for the rap music problem, it was just a factoid. Black kids buy this and worse try to mimick it and that is HUGE problem in the black community.

I think Jason Whitlock said it well, and that cityguy has been trying to drill some of his points through my thick skull.  I agree with Jason, and hope that instead of being another attempt to flame races, this incident is used to bring a halt to degrading songs - regardless of who the artist is.

Thank you M!




Yes, the media nees revamping. Seriously need to rethink their formats and stop the way how they feed the news to the public. It's just wrong the way they go after some news because of ratings. They have become as bad as the Enquire! The public need to stop watching some of these programs!

Just to clarify that last thought, I don't want anyone to think that I am blaming white suburban youth for the rap music problem, it was just a factoid. Black kids buy this and worse try to mimick it and that is HUGE problem in the black community.

Point well taken.  That's a big part of what I've been writing and saying about this issue.

Like others above, I could give a rat's rear-end about Don Imus.  I've heard his show many times in the past, but could not have cared less if it was there or not.  He got some interesting guests, but outside of those guests I never cared much about listening to Imus, his bits, jokes, etc.  He -- like Howard Stern, and like a more favored show by Tony Kornheiser -- tended to rant too much about how he'd not been treated with enough respect, or how he'd been slighted by not getting the royal treatment by some little person somewhere.  He abused the air-waves many times ranting about poor service by others when he was just as bad at serving the listeners.

Anyway, again, I don't care about Imus.  I do care that he's become a scape goat over comments that basically mimic those made by one community about itself that can't be said by any one outside that community.

Again, if Blacks don't want these comments about themselves, then they are just as responsible to stop making or allowing their own to make these comments.  Once they clean up their own act, then perhaps others would have more respect for their requests to treat them with respect.

Careful terpfan. Comments like that is what got this started. Not all, probably not even most blacks fit this discription. You language almost sound 'us vs them' with 'they' need to do. It would not be fair for me to say that white people need to stop saying racist stuff like Imus so that others will like them.

I'm black. I don't talk like that and I do my best to educate others to do the same. I work with at least 2000 other black people who feel the same. Don't put us all into the mold that you see on TV. That's not how it is.

Most of you don't get it: Rappers SHOULD be allowed to say/sing ugly offensive things, and so should IMUS. He broke no FCC regulations. His mistake was going on (liar) Shrapton's show, instead of just appologizing to the girls and moving on.

The right to NOT be offended is NOT in the constitution.

Rappers SHOULD be allowed to say/sing ugly offensive things, and so should IMUS.

I dont think anyone here is saying they should not be allowed to say those things.  But by the same token, the right of free speech is not synonymous with the right to be heard.  What I am saying is that they should be condemned for saying it - just as Imus was.  Imus is not going to jail.  But his right of free speech does have consequences and he is paying for it.  The gangsta rappers are not having the same condemnation heaped upon them - and they should be.

Which is Mr. Whitmore's point as well as my own. Until I see the same sort of loud, vocal outrage taking away the livelihoods of these rappers, comedians, and black radio station DJs who spew out things far worse than what Mr Imus said, then the members of the "black community" who have called for Mr Imus to lose his livelihood are all a bunch of hypocrits and liars in my book.

To be honest I do not feel that those people or any others, including Mr Imus, should have to lose their livelihoods for saying something offensive and/or stupid. They are not politicians, they are entertainers. If the same standard and outrage directed against Mr Imus resulted in the loss of livelihoods of every entertainer who said or did something offensive there would be very few entertainers left.

Almost every black comedian out there made a career out of making jokes about both black and white people and a great deal of it could have been called offensive. So what? Context does matter, and in the context of humor it's just fine. I find many of them to be quite funny when they make jokes about white people. I don't get mad and demand that they be fired for it. It's comedy for Christ's sake!

If I find someone's act offensive I simply make the choice to not watch or listen to it. I don't demand their head on a platter. That's just infantile and stupid.

If someone on the air hurts your feelings change the damn station.

And cityguy made some very good points although I contend that I see far more vocal and active objections to something like the Imus thing than the real problems Mr. Whitlock describes. Fighting it by not buying it is hardly the same as outraged cries for them to lose their incomes now isn't it?

Jason Whitlock also made some good points on "Tucker". WWW Link