In the April 4th edition of “Imus in the Morning,” host Don Imus had a discussion with his producer about the Rutgers women’s basketball team who had lost in the women’s National Championship game the previous night.
During their banter, Imus referred to the team as “nappy headed ho’s.” Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and other political figures took it upon themselves to represent the entire black community and declare that Imus and his remarks were racist and derogatory because of the word “nappy headed.”
You do not necessarily need to be black to have nappy hair, though. I’m white as the day is long and I have hair that is so course it could be used as a Brillo pad. Two weeks later, after much scrutiny and media coverage, Imus was fired from his “Imus in the Morning Show” by CBS who broadcasted his syndicated radio talk show.
The series of events prior to him being fired was the most blown out of proportion media circus that I have ever seen. Imus should not have been fired. He made three separate apologies: one to the listeners the day after the remark was made, another on Sharpton’s radio show and again to the Rutgers women’s basketball team. These apologies should have been more than enough to redeem him for what he said. The Rutgers team even accepted his apology, as publicized the next day.
Everything else that followed, from the dropping of sponsors to his treatment from the media, was a slap in the face.
There is so much hypocrisy surrounding this whole situation that I am about ready to throw up from the vertigo. From day one, Sharpton, has been trying to level Imus. Sharpton should be a man who believes in the message of forgiveness that Christ brought to us, but instead he has condemned Imus without a hint of forgiveness possible. This is strange since he managed to forgive a man who made an attempt on his life back in 1991. So, a man who attempted to take his life can be forgiven but Imus cannot?
Next up is Barack Obama. Obama appeared on Imus’s morning show to promote his book, to increase the sales and make a profit, which, in my opinion, would most likely be used to fund his presidential campaign. Now that he is a candidate, he was the first to condemn Imus, calling him a racist with a long history of making racial remarks.
On Chris Matthews’s show “Hardball,” Obama was asked why he even appeared on Imus’s show in the past. He said Imus treated him well then, but now, he is a racist and deserves nothing short of getting fired. It is alright to appear on his show if it means you can pad your wallet but the second an opportunity for publicity presents itself, you leap up to burn him at the stake?
Let us not forget the great and oh so moral Jesse Jackson. Jackson condemned Imus by saying that his remarks were morally wrong yet him calling Jews “Hymies” and referring to New York City as “Hymietown” in the Washington Post is morally right. And then there was his extra-marital affair with Karin Stanford, whom he paid $40,000 worth of Rainbow Coalition hush money in addition to a $365,000 house. These practices are all perfectly moral but Imus is the scum of the Earth?
What makes the least amount of sense is that Imus called them “ho’s,” a term which is offensive to all women, not just blacks. The response from women’s rights groups has been minimal, if at all.
Every day, people watch shows like “Saturday Night Live,” “Mind of Mencia” and “Chappelle Show,” all of which make jokes similar to the one Imus made. Occasionally, they are worse, but nothing happens to the writers or comedians of these shows. It is not fair that Imus is singled out and made to be a villain. If they want to be fair, they need to choose one side: either everyone can make jokes about race or no one can, and it’s that simple.
This situation boils down to the idea that no one can take a joke anymore. Howard Stern made much more offensive remarks while he was on FM radio.
Stern, who dislikes Imus, recently said Imus should not have apologized for his remarks. Instead, he should have told them that it was simply a joke and if you don’t like it, then tough luck. Listen to someone else.
But as long as there are selfish opportunistic political figures out there to manipulate the media and use it as the ultimate chess piece in their game of insanity, free speech does not stand a chance.
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