Imus blast away

Parent Cafe
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<p>Let me get this straight: because a bunch of right-wing Democrats appear on the Imus show; because some Black “leaders,” so appointed by the white media, are idiots; and because a some Black performers, who are making a lot of white people rich, use certain words, it’s ok for an overpaid nicompoop to call a bunch of innocent teenage African-American women, who performed far beyond their expectations, whores?</p>

<p>So is that it? I just want to get your reasoning straight. Did I miss something?</p>

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<p>How about this from a black journalist. Makes sense to me.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.kansascity.com/182/story/66339.html[/url]”>http://www.kansascity.com/182/story/66339.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I think you did miss something. I don’t think anyone said it was OK, there may have been some discussion (and sidebars about others) as whether he should be fired. I, for one, think he should resign (or asked to resign).</p>

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<p>So far the evidence says that Imus is a pathetic, unfunny old fart, trying to be “hip” and “street” using rap lingo & insult ‘humor.’ Clearly, he failed miserably. </p>

<p>But, IMO, labeling him an evil hateful racist based on his dumba$$ comments is a bit of a leap. So far as I can tell, his show is nothing but dumba$$ nasty comments about everyone. </p>

<p>Have a look at your kid’s myspace or facebook pages. You’ll see plenty of this sort of insult “ho” chatter, kid-to-kid. </p>

<p>Imus (a) is too old to play this game and (b) tossed these words at the wrong target, and-- yes, agreed-- the result was mean and insulting. If I was the mom of a Rutgers player I’d be upset and angry. </p>

<p>But I’m not convinced that there was deep racist malintent behind it. </p>

<p>Sticks and stones, etc.</p>

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<p>I have no idea what his intent is. I can judge people by their actions, but human motivation is often a very complex thing to tease out. (For all I know, it could have been something he ate.)</p>

<p>It’s why I can easily imagine forgiving him and accepting his apology and giving him a big hug, and still think he shouldn’t be allowed on the airwaves.</p>

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<p>Imus has a long, documented history of being a racist, anti-Semitic boor. His corporate sponsors were just fine with it as long as it was perceived as “entertainment.”</p>

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<p>randc, good article.</p>

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<p>I posted this in the other Rutgers thread.</p>

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<p>All this sympathy for the white Duke lacrosse players and so little for the black Rutgers basketball players. Makes one wonder.</p>

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<p>This is, of course, all too absurd. </p>

<p>And although I have never even heard the voice of Don–The Hoochie Coochie Man–Imus, I understand SBmom’s generosity in not labeling every middle-aged ignorance as Nazi hate speech…though it may well have been, for all I know: Many of the posts on this forum beggar the imagination in just this sense.</p>

<p>Still, I figure it was the same with Jesse Jackson’s Hymietown shtick: it’s ignorant Podunk shtick much more than a call to racial cleansing, etc. Although, if that be the case, it makes it a bit more difficult for the arm-chair earnest amongst us–locked in the head-lights of a computer-screen fizzle–to man the soap-boxes whilst haunched down on their derriere .</p>

<p>…off with his head!</p>

<p>Why not?</p>

<p>In any case, the issue, it seems to me, is vulgar meanness coupled with a severe case of immaturity–apparnetly much appreciated by his audience. For this, at least, the Hoochie Coochie Man should loose any sensible audience that tunes in and, therefore, in the market of public opinion, his job.</p>

<p>A mean little man.</p>

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<p>

You’re joking, right??? Where has one bad word been said about the Rutgers girls? There has been an outpouring of support for them and disgust for Imus. Even those who don’t want him fired have called him a vile, washed-up, unfunny old fart. The Rutgers girls win. They overcame a painful, insulting incident & emerged with their dignity intact. They were classy & poised & set themselves up well in the eyes of future employers. Good for them. He loses. He lost his job & is now a pariah. The encouraging part is that countless investigative reporters are now sniffing around his bogus “charity ranch” & will soon turn up the goods to send him to jail (I hope.)</p>

<p>The lax boys had their characters TRASHED! By faculty members at Duke, no less. No universal message of sympathy & support at all.</p>

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<p>StickerShock~</p>

<p>EXCELLENT POST!!! Same exact reaction I had to that ludicrous statement. ~b.</p>

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<p>Personally, I think the problem with what Imus said was not JUST specifically the words ‘ho’ and ‘nappy-headed’… it was the context of the conversation and the nasty implication he and his compadres made with those words. They implied that a young black woman was ‘cute’ and somehow more wholesome if she looked a certain way; but for those who didn’t, all they had to offer were negative adjectives…‘rough’ ‘ho’ ‘nappy-headed’. </p>

<p>And their line of distinction between what was cute and what was not was based on who looked most white.</p>

<p>Now I don’t disagree that everyone should stop using racially charged slang, and there is double standard that is confusing to young people. But Imus is old enough to know better and HE certainly wasn’t conditioned to use racist language by all those hours listening to rap. Ultimately, there is just no justifying his wrong by pointing to the wrong of another.</p>

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<p>Don’t know what anyone else’s reasoning is (including yours), but …</p>

<p>My reasoning is that there are no angels here except maybe the girls on the basketball team. They are the only injured party. This is between Imus and them. Thus…</p>

<p>…everyone else in the public should should shut up about it. Stop trying to rewrite history and stop exploiting the incident AND THE GIRLS over and over again to push personal agendas. </p>

<p>No one but the girls can claim clean hands in the matter. Not the media, not the politicos, not Al and Jessie. (Has there ever been an apology or explanation for “hymietown” and was it “accepted” or was it just all shrugged off and forgotten?) No one. </p>

<p>I could not get Al Sharpton off my TV last night no matter how many times I tried. While he may have an engaging personality, he ceded any right to speak as a moral authority years ago. His pattern of behavior with false charges of rape and incitement of violence ( and his Who me? responses ) is far worse than Imus’s. </p>

<p>Imus did not call the girls whores. He referred to them as ho’s in a context that was clearly not literal. He was not suggesting they were prostitutes or had loose sexual morals, nor to my knowlege has anyone else tried to claim he was. He was instead disparaging their appearance in a mean spirited way. He was calling them ugly. He was name calling. He was trying to be funny. He was unsuccessful. </p>

<p>Was it OK. No. As his own daughters and his wife surely made clear to him, if he didn’t get it on his own. He hurt the Rutgers’ girls feelings. He needs to make amends - to them.</p>

<p>But, any child knows “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me”. Sharpton, on the other hand, is not using rhetoric when he calls specific individuals rapists. He is not trying to be funny. He may be trying (much like Nifong) to push a personal of political agenda, but he is making dead serious charges - even when he knows better. He has been found guilty of defamation as a result of his false charges. When he “mispeaks”, innocent people get KILLED. (Has he ever apologized to the Rosenbaum family? Did they find in sufficient?) How can this man be taken seriously as the moral voice for anything?</p>

<p>The irony of the Duke Lax kids being found innocent, not “not guilty”, but “innocent” on the same day that Al was on every airwave imaginable saying that Imus’s apology was not enough and that Imus had to be fired is unmistakable. When should they be expecting Al’s apology?.. (and what third party should be appointed to judge whether his apology is sufficient?)</p>

<p>Never … if history and Steven Pagones is any guide. Quoted today in the NY Daily News, “I would like to believe that in the Duke case, the prosecutor learned some type of lesson and he’s either just going to go away or maintain some level of silence, whereas Sharpton, there is no getting rid of the guy.” “Isn’t that ironic, he’s sitting there refusing to accept an apology from Don Imus when he himself has never apologized for anything he’s done”.</p>

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<p>“They overcame a painful, insulting incident & emerged with their dignity intact. They were classy & poised & set themselves up well in the eyes of future employers.”</p>

<p>I think the same can, and should, be said for the Duke LaCrosse players. Their conduct in the face of adversity was admirable.</p>

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Good call. </p>

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'nother good call.</p>

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You’re right, but unfortunately, their lives are FAR from unscathed as a result of this devastating set of events. Their dignity may be intact, but their educations, in the case of Dave Evans his employment, and in all cases, the family’s finances were affected severely. </p>

<p>~berurah</p>

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<p>StickerShock</p>

<p>His “bogus” charity raised approximately $2million today (a record) in their 18th annual radiothon. You really do not want to engage there unless you wish to take on an army of juvenile cancer survivors, autistic children, their parents, and the parents and siblings of those that did not survive cancer or SIDS. They are mobilizing now with their pocketbooks and their voices (over Imus’ objections) in defense of his person.</p>

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<p>From MSNBC site - from their bio on Imus</p>

<p>"Now widely acclaimed, Imus has been featured on NBC’s “Today” show, the ABC programs “Prime Time Live” and “20/20”, and on CBS’ “48 Hours” and “60 Minutes.” He has been a guest of Charlie Rose, David Letterman, and of particular note, Larry King, in shameless, mutual ass-kissing marathons. In addition, Don has been, and continues to be, a subject of countless, pointless print articles. Time magazine once named Don one of the 25 most influential people in America. More recently, Don appeared on the cover of Newsweek magazine in a feature article titled, “The Importance of Being Imus.” Don’s loyal radio staff hopes they will soon see him similarly featured on milk cartons.</p>

<p>In a now celebrated episode dating back to the spring of 1996, Don shared a stage with President Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at Washington’s annual Radio and Television Correspondents Association’s dinner. While at the podium, Don made some observations about Mr. Clinton that some felt were rude and upsetting to the President, and that tended to leave egg on Don’s face. Little did we know then, that Mr. Clinton was already well into the business of leaving substances splattered on individuals with whom he might come into contact; that his discomfort that evening had its roots in his own wayward DNA, and that Don was Nostradamus. But that’s another story best left to another biography.</p>

<p>Imus is also a best-selling author and an accomplished amateur photographer. His novel, “God’s Other Son,” spent three months on the New York Times best-seller list driven there by listeners to his program who bought the book to get him to shut up about it. His most recent book, “Two Guys, Four Corners,” a collection of photographs of desert rocks accompanied by wrenchingly inane captions, rose to number 13 on the New York Times best set-seller list … driven by the same people who bought “God’s Other Son,” and for the same reasons.</p>

<p>In September of 1996, the Imus radio program began being simulcast live on cable network MSNBC for reasons never made clear. The Imus program, broadcast and televised, features recurrring, prominent guests ranging from Katherine Graham of the Washington Post to bluesman B.B. King. It also features guests few have heard of and fewer still could give a rat’s ass about; Tim Russert of NBC’s Meet The Press, CNN’s Jeff Greenfield, Time magazine’s Margaret Carlson, all come to mind as examples.</p>

<p>Since 1990, Imus has headlined a radiothon with New York radio station WFAN that has raised over 50-million dollars to benefit the Tomorrows Children Fund, the CJ Foundation for SIDS, and the Imus Ranch for kids with cancer. The money, donated for exactly the same reasons and by the same people who bought the stupid books, funded the completion and the David Jurist Cancer Research facility, both located at New Jersey’s Hackensack university Medical Center.</p>

<p>Imus has received too many plaques, trophies and pieces of walnut with crystal stuff stuck on them to mention. We won’t. He is a member of the Emerson Radio Hall of Fame, the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame, the Stolichnaya and Marlboro Halls of Fame, and, if there is a God, will soon be a permanent exhibit at the Duke University School of Medicine’s Hall of Cadavers where his lungs will be featured in a display designed to permanently traumatize children."</p>

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<p>I repeat:</p>

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<p>Rev Sharpton is a silly man dragged out by the white media to discredit Black people witness this discussion.</p>

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<p>The Rutgers women’s B-ball team will be on Oprah. It may not make up for Imus’ idiotic comments, but will help them to regain their dignity.</p>

<p>This has as much to do with the Duke Lacrosse debacle as it has with the Apollo moon landing.</p>

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<p>tsdad</p>

<p>Except for the vitriol of the initial incident, there has been nothing but sympathy for the Rutgers players from everyone - including from Imus (whether you think he means it or not)</p>

<p>The Duke Lax players endured a yearlong multiprong assault coming from amongst others - local police, local prosecutors, local press, the New York Times, Amanda Marchonde, national media, the NC NWACP, Jesse and Al and co., and almost 100 members of their own faculty.</p>

<p>And you see a valid comparison here? wow!</p>

<p>If you really want a comparison to make, how about the using the Duke WOMEN"S Lax team and the utter lack of sympathy that they have received as a result of being subject to sexist attacks in the national media. Where are their apologies? Where is the call to the NYT for firings? etc. etc. etc.</p>

<p>“The women’s lacrosse team: in the 2006 Final Four, team members wore armbands sympathizing with the three targeted players. For this, they were roundly criticized by columnists from around the country, often in sexist language. To my knowledge, no one who attacked the women’s team—led by Harvey Araton of the New York Times—have apologized for having criticized the women’s players for doing just what they should have done: speaking truth to power.” from Durham in Wonderland</p>