Don Imus - What was he thinking?

[kach22i]

Originally posted by jorian
Enough already, I am missing up to date coverage of Anna Nicole.

Exactly.

[M.D. Holloway]

I was listening to an interview of some female afro-american students at Morgan State University on who they would voye for, Obama of Clitton. Funny thing, they would either vote for Obama cuz he's a brotha or they would vote for Clitton cuz shes a women. None mentioned anything about what the candidate stood for - only reason was gender or color.

Un *****'n Belebable!

[kach22i]

Originally posted by LubeMaster77
Un *****'n Belebable!

Totaly Belebable!

.......and very sad, even more sad is that most of them will not even be voting.

[berettafan]

By allowing people like Sharpton, Jackson, various rappers, etc. represent them the black folks in this country are digging the hole deeper and deeper.

And now it appears the team in question has asked to have a few minutes with the shovel as well.

What a curse it must be to be born black. You have to overcome an entire nation of black dumbasses trying their best to keep you at the bottom of the heap.

I wonder why there was never national outrage when a couple of morons that put on a 'shock jock' radio show in DC/Baltimore constantly took advantage of a young retarded man who called into the show and 'performed' for them. It was (might still be, i dunno) a disgusting display of just how low and trashy humans can be but i have never heard one word about this.

[on-ramp]

Originally posted by berettafan


I wonder why there was never national outrage when a couple of morons that put on a 'shock jock' radio show in DC/Baltimore constantly took advantage of a young retarded man who called into the show and 'performed' for them. It was (might still be, i dunno) a disgusting display of just how low and trashy humans can be but i have never heard one word about this.

is this the guy you're talking about?

[Scott R]

Originally posted by on-ramp
is this the guy you're talking about?

Ahhh, Beetlejuice, a never ending source of entertainment.

[JeffreyNMemphis]

Originally posted by rhjames

had any black celebrity said what Imus said, this would not have made the local news, much less the 24 hour cable/satellite news channels.....


regards---rhjames

I disagree. If Oprah Winfrey, Jesse Jackson or any other celebrity regardless of color had made the same comment, we should have all been disgusted. The reason this is on the news is because the nation is outraged, it is not just to get ratings for CNN. What is outrageous is the context and the presenter. Don Imus normally uses his broadcast to chat with people like Senator McCain, Harold Ford, Tim Russert and other nationally prominent news makers. Making an insulting comment about a political figure because of their positions on issues is very different than making racially toned remarks about teenage girls

Ten student athletes who made history at their school for making it to the final game of the women's championship were racially insulted during a nationally televised program that reaches millions of people, by Don Imus and his producer. These are mostly teenagers, young women, with excellent grades that excel as athletes. Hip-hop culture's self destructive, masogynistic lyrics and self degradation have absolutely nothing in common with these young women who are striving to make the best of themselves and respresent an alternative to a life of ignorance and poverty.

There are many peripheral issues that have surfaced in this thread; Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton speaking out against an offensive racially based comment by a prominent national figure: violence in the black community; whether it is equally offensive to insult white people racially; poverty and justice for people of color. All issues worthy of debate and discussion. But the heart of this thread is really about 10 members of a basketball team, student athletes attending the eighth oldest University in the country with a rigorous academic program, being slurred personally and labeled as the lowest form of human life in our society.

If you are standing up for Don Imus, what grounds can you possibly offer? He has himself admitted that there is no defense for his comments. How would you feel if one of these women was a member of your family? One of your friends or classmates? Is too much being made of the whole situation? Not if it makes Americans reconsider their remarks, not just in front of microphones and megaphones, but in front of their children, friends and co-workers. It is time to make a stand within our society to end hate, bigotry and intolerance. Hopefully, this could be a wakeup call for our nation to dispel the poison of racial insensitivity and intolerance.

[stomachmonkey]

let's look further, and I ask, why is the crime rate (black on black) so much higher than any other ethnic background? or why is the violence in Africa (again, black on black) so rampant? why is the prison population (just in the USA) so much more black than any other ethnic background (and were their crimes black on others, or just black on black)?

1) Africa, simple, lack of white people and massive poverty. Add in rampant warlords and you've got an issue. Some of it is tribal/territorial. Not unlike the genocide committed by whites on whites in Boznia. Amazing that we are so gung ho to help liberate the middle east from oppressive dictators but could care less about the sub african continent. I guess african nations should fake a WMD or two so they get noticed.

2) Because white people are afraid to go into black neighborhoods and when blacks go into white neighborhoods they are closely scrutinized and avoided so there is simply less opportunity for us to get whitey

3) Prison, good one. Lot of people have the same question. Does not make sense when you consider that there is not one ethnic group in this country that commits crime at a rate inconsistent with their representation within the entire society. Or put another way, blacks account for roughly 12-15% of the US population and crimes committed by blacks account for 12-15% of total crime. So why are they incarcerated at a substantially higher rate than any other ethnic group?

[berettafan]

i dunno. the show is don & mike and i can't remember the name of the fellow in question. broke my heart to hear them treat this guy like he was put on earth for their amusement.

[berettafan]

Originally posted by stomachmonkey
Amazing that we are so gung ho to help liberate the middle east from oppressive dictators but could care less about the sub african continent. I guess african nations should fake a WMD or two so they get noticed.

A big fat AMEN to that!

[Rot 911]

Originally posted by JeffreyNMemphis
I disagree. If Oprah Winfrey, Jesse Jackson or any other celebrity regardless of color had made the same comment, we should have all been disgusted.

Like when Jackson referred to New York City as "Hymie Town?"

[URY914]

It seems that the other networks are really pushing the issue against NBC. The general public could care less, but this is a chance for all the networks to beat up on NBC.

Imus should have never gone on Sharptons show.

[JeffreyNMemphis]

Kurt,

Yes, like when Jesse Jackson referred to New York as Hymie Town. Jesse was condemned for that remark (and we still don't forget that he said a bad thing). But he did not make that remark about a particular guy named Hymie, he slurred an entire city's population of Jews. Imus made his comments specifically about the black women players on the Rutgers basketball team, not about some generic group like the Jews or the Muslims or the Gays. Those women have names, families, and classmates who know that this was a personal statement made about them particularly.

Equally disgusting, I don't feel a need to defend Jesse Jackson. I don't especially feel a need to see Don Imus persecuted either. It was an unfortunate incident that would have been tolerated fifty years ago, like when George Wallace stood in the doorway at Ole Miss. Times have changed. It is no longer acceptable.

Today, Don Imus was on NBC saying that he did not make up the phrase that he uttered. It is someone else's fault that the term "Ho" has become a slur. That somehow hip-hop and rap lyrics made him think that it was ok. "Ho" is still slang for whore, did those women deserve that characterization? What if your mother was called a "Ho", by someone famous on national television? (The statement is offensive; not just because a white person said it about a black person)

Which general public could care less? The white general public? The white general public that uses those types racial comments with their friends? A general public that does not care about the feelings of black people? Do you think that just a tiny minority of black people care?

[nostatic]

we've covered this topic in the past. imho there is no "equivalence" on the use of racial epithets. Whites have ruled the US (in all senses of the word) since it was formed. There has been no oppression of whites based on color, no lower wages, no glass ceilings, etc.

I'm not saying it is right or that anyone previously/currently oppressed has carte blanche, or that we shouldn't try to eradicate hatred on any side of the fence. But it just isn't equivalent...

And wmds wouldn't get us into sub-Saharan Africa. Other things might...

[hytem]

You know, these media types will skewer anyone for saying anything "politically incorrect." Then when one of their own does it, they circle the wagons. That's why I'd like to see Imus get canned. He probably won't, because the advertisers run TV anyways, and they like his audience of trailor park types. And the politicians are always sucking up to him.

I remember him skewering Clinton at a National Press Club dinner some years back. He was downright offensive and disrespectful to a sitting President. No President warrants that kind of disrespect from some mediot. A kind of arrogance of power.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

More evidence of the Pussification of America.

I heard some clips of the "press conference" by the Rutgers team earlier today. From what I heard, it only validated Imus' comments. Not the most articulate bunch. One of them actually pronounced "asking" as "axin'". Total nappy ho' talk. I can see where he got it. You'd think in defense of such a comment, you'd know enough to bring your "A" game in terms of presentation, organized comments, articulate and intelligent-sounding speak, etc. Not this time.

Whole thing is a giant fustercluck though in general. Ridiculous.

[K. Roman]

Axin, is not nappy ho talk.

[nostatic]

neither is new-cue-ler

[rouxroux]

So, lesson learned...Don't go into your local gardening store axin' fo' a spade or a hoe (someone might think you're confused).

[cool_chick]

Originally posted by nostatic
we've covered this topic in the past. imho there is no "equivalence" on the use of racial epithets. Whites have ruled the US (in all senses of the word) since it was formed. There has been no oppression of whites based on color, no lower wages, no glass ceilings, etc.

I'm not saying it is right or that anyone previously/currently oppressed has carte blanche, or that we shouldn't try to eradicate hatred on any side of the fence. But it just isn't equivalent...

And wmds wouldn't get us into sub-Saharan Africa. Other things might...

Now I'm not defending these comments whatsoever, but I have to ask this.......add some food for thought.....if you think about it objectively, what about white women's hair jokes........like blonde jokes....why is this ok? I personally could give a crap, but if you really think about the situation that is the subject of this thread, and then consider blonde jokes.....