The Don Imus affair

Don Imus was wrong to say what he said.  The Rutger's womens basketball team is right to meet with him and start a conversation.  We need more of that around the issue of racism in America.  It still exists and we all know it.  We just don't want to talk about it.

As Michael Corleone said in "The Godfather" -- we are all part of the same hypocrisy.  Media pundit Jeff Greenfield hit the nail on the head when he appeared on The Don Imus Show on Tuesday morning.  Greenfield said he and everyone else who ever appeared on the Imus show never once stopped to say that perhaps the comedy on the program went over the edge.  Greenfield said his fellow pundits and the big time politicians love the Imus show because they have a chance to do long form interviews they can't do anywhere else.  Now, of course some of those same people are lashing out at Imus for what he said.

Regardless of our ethnicity, religion or any other label we can put on people, we all have been guilty of either making a bad comment about someone or sitting by quietly while others make comments.  That is the hypocrisy we all have to own up to.

There is another side to this whole incident.  And I will turn to Kansas City Star sports columnist Jason Whitlock to discuss it.  Please read this column.  It is worth the time.

Comments

[mia]

thanks for the link to whitlock's column it was a good one.

so let me return the favor here is a good column that takes imus, jackson and shaprton to task

http://joeleonardi.wordpress.com/2007/04/11/don-imus-is-a-jerk-whats-new/

[Ron E.]

I'm not sure if I'm quite there yet to say if this was an appropriate reaction or was an over-the-top one, but it definitely will raise many social issues up!

Racism has been part of the US (and any other country for that matter) forever, whether we want to shut it down, or put some "make-up" on it, the real solution lies deep down in its root: lack of proper education.

Sometimes it takes something like this to make people open up their eyes to what's going on. Maybe Imus just had to take one for the team now!

Good post,
Ron E.
http://brandcurve.com

[Tom M.]

Good post, Mike.

The Don Imus affair has gotten out of control. I am not condoning what for one second what Imus said about the Rutgers woman’s basketball team, and he deserves all the criticism he’s gotten thus far for it, but this is getting ridiculous. If the cowardly weasels at NBC News had any backbone at all, they would have simply imposed the two-week suspension and moved on. Now, they’re invoking a so-called morals clause…and only doing it under pressure from advertisers.

The jaw-wagging of those disingenuous, hypocritical opportunists Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson has only fueled the fire and, yet again, moved public discourse away from one of the main problems with race relations in the U.S.; leaders in the African-American community are pathetically timid and slow to respond to hate-speak within their own ranks, hate-speak that is far more damaging that anything a tired, washed-up shock jock could muster. Where are the boycotts and protests over the venom that gets spewed in rap music? Why isn’t Al Sharpton calling for record companies to drop the most heinous rap and hip-stars from their labels? I can only assume it’s far easier to grab headlines by going after a cranky, old white (and his stupid remarks) than confront the real problem.

How more many times does Imus need to apologize for an ill-timed, insensitive remark? By my reckoning, he’s already given his pound of flesh.

[bernie]

Actually the firing of Don Imus isn't a shock to me. Back in January 2006 a New York radio station's crew was fired for insensitive remarks they made about the Tsunami victims. They were pretty mean spirited. Second, for those who grew up on Monday Night Football, ABC released Howard Cosell from the MNF team back in 1983 for remarks he made during a telecast. I don't want to repeat them here, but in the heat of the action he just said something which was seen as basically racist. Unfortunately, over thirteen years of memorable work couldn't save Howard from his critics. Well, I'm sure this isn't going to be the last time this will happen. As long as humans are involved ...