OPINION & EDITORIAL
Imus’ fate should depend on market, not critics
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Also by Will Smith:
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- Deregulation of campaigns vital (March 29, 2007)
- Israel right to reject Hamas government (March 22, 2007)
- Gore good choice for nomination (March 15, 2007)
- Prosecutor tarnishes Libby, justice system (March 8, 2007)
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- Slow grind ahead for racial politics (May 8, 2007)
by Will Smith
Thursday, April 12, 2007
For those of you who have missed the uproar, radio host Don Imus caused quite a stir this past week by referring to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" following their second-place finish in the NCAA women's basketball tournament. A flood of criticism followed, with prominent political figures, journalists and the Rutgers athletes speaking out against his controversial words. Mr. Imus, who is known for off-color comedic dialogue, was punished with a two-week suspension from MSNBC and CBS Radio, and has since apologized for his remarks.
His apology was not sufficient for many, most notably Rev. Al Sharpton, who has been vocal in calling for Mr. Imus' immediate firing. Yet Mr. Sharpton's criticism has not only been excessive but also malicious. After unequivocally apologizing for his hurtful remarks, Mr. Imus visited Mr. Sharpton's radio show to further discuss the issue, only to be accused of being a racist. As Mr. Imus continued to express both his lament and desire to meet with the athletes, Mr. Sharpton continued to persecute his guest, declaring "I'm not going to let you off the hook for last Wednesday." So much for Christian forgiveness.
Truth be told, Rev. Sharpton should not be calling anyone a racist. Given his checkered past, his self-proclaimed moral authority to speak on issues of tolerance and race should be laughed at.
In the 1987 Tawana Brawley scandal, Mr. Sharpton falsely accused white men of the abduction and rape of a black teenage girl. Still to this day, he refuses to apologize after he viciously slandered their names, even though they were never found guilty of crimes. A few years later, he mobilized hundreds of demonstrators in a Jewish neighborhood of Brooklyn after a Jewish driver killed a black child in a vehicle accident. After Sharpton publicly referred to Jews pejoratively as "diamond merchants," the protest turned violent and a rabbinical student was stabbed to death amid chants of "Kill the Jews!" Years later, Mr. Sharpton's National Action Network organized a protest when a white landlord raised the rent on a black-owned business. The protest turned violent, with seven employees of the white man's store being murdered.
I fail to see why Mr. Sharpton, who seems to have more in common with David Duke than the peaceful pluralists he tries to cater to, should get coverage in the mainstream media for calling for Mr. Imus' ouster. I have never heard Mr. Sharpton publicly call for Comedy Central to fire Dave Chappelle or Carlos Mencia — two far more racially incendiary comedians — after every insensitive remark they make.
Why? Because the right to free speech trumps any momentary stupidity from these entertainers. So MSNBC and CBS Radio should resist external pressure to fire the shock-jock and instead allow the free market to determine his fate. If advertisers and sponsors shy away from associating with Mr. Imus in the future, fire him. If listeners tune in to something else, ditch him. But for arrogant, self-promoting loudmouths like Rev. Sharpton to think they dictate which people have the right to speak in America is offensive.
It's unfortunate that Mr. Imus said what he did, but the man apologized repeatedly, and he's already reaching out to the athletes he badmouthed. The only thing that will result from his firing is a chilling effect among social commentators and comedians, who will be forced to avoid race and gender more than they already do in the name of political correctness enforced by race-baiting fear. If his listeners want him gone, he'll probably be fired by the end of the month. But until the market speaks, Rev. Sharpton need not.
Will Smith (wsmith@badgerherald.com) is a freshman majoring in political science and religious studies.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 7:00am):
He should have said he was trying to do some rapping. What he said is small beer compared to rap lyrics.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 7:32am):
Imus was just spouting off like he usually does. He offends just about anyone and everyone on a daily basis. He should have been more "polite" to the Rutgers students, but the reaction is utterly ridiculous. Sharpton and Jackson have no intention to heal the divide between white and black America; their only intention is to fan the flames of racism for their selfish need for legitimacy.
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us... unless you're racially offended.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 7:56am):
From article:
"I fail to see why Mr. Sharpton, who seems to have more in common with David Duke..."
The typical Jew and typical nonwhite falls within the same catagory as European-Americans like David Duke.
Jews and nonwhites are encouraged to organize along racial lines, to appoint racially defined leaders, and to promote discrimination when it serves their ethnic interests.
Where Jews live as a majority, they promote the interests of the majority, while undermining the interests of minorities.
Where Jews live as a minority, they do the opposite -- they promote the interests of minorities, while undermining the interests of the majority.
When Jews and nonwhites promote their ethnic interests it is called normal-ism, good-ism -- when Europeans do it it is called Nazi-ism, race-ism.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 8:13am):
Clinton-era nappy tales;
N.Y. Teacher Runs Into a Racial Divide
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/frompost/dec98/hair3.htm
...Sherman's troubles began right away in September with "Nappy Hair," a book written by an author born in the District. Sherman chose the story because she thought it would change her students' lives. She regaled her class with the story of a little black girl with "the nappiest, fuzziest, the most screwed up, squeezed up, knotted hair." She said they loved it so much that "they clamored for copies to carry with them." An eager new teacher, she made some.
Two months later, just before Thanksgiving break, a parent found a pack of pages from "Nappy Hair" in her daughter's folder. The title did not make her happy, according to Board of Education spokesman J.D. LaRock, who explained that she and some other parents at the predominantly black and Hispanic school interpreted "nappy hair" as a racial slur.
--
After a day of review, the school backed Sherman and "Nappy Hair," which has been critically praised as a positive lesson for children.
Carolivia Herron, the author of "Nappy Hair," said Sherman's students were exactly the audience for whom she intended the book. "I wrote it delighting in nappy hair," said Herron, who is black. "I love my own nappy hair and the stories my uncle used to tell me about it. It was a celebration, and I had no idea it would be political. I am a '60s person and thought we had already dealt with this problem of being ashamed of our hair."
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 8:16am):
Imus was a big John Kerry supporter and a huge Bush basher. SOOOOOOOO sorry to see him get the axe - LOL.
All his liberal suck-up "friends" sure kicked him to the curb in a hurry!
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 9:21am):
8:16, he also loved Rick Santorum, donated tons of money to medical facilities for troops, and has a ranch for kids with cancer. I'm not sure liberals consider him one of theirs.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 9:38am):
7:56am, you are clearly an anti-Semite a-hole! This whole thing has absolutely nothing to do with Jews!
Is this what Madison, Wisconsin is really all about?
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 9:46am):
one of the downsides to free speech and letting the market dictate is that in this country we eat racist, sexist, and offensive stuff up, they keep saying it, we keep listening, it goes on and on and on...
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 10:06am):
"you are clearly an anti-Semite a-hole!"
As is Imus.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 10:17am):
Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Imus!
The only person happier than Larry Birkhead about the big announcement that he is the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby is Don Imus. By the way, what's the word for a woman who gives birth to a child of uncertain paternity?
English speakers in America need a rule book to tell us what people can say what words when, and under which set of circumstances. The rule book will be longer than the Patriot Act and will require weekly updates as new words and circumstances are added. Perhaps a Nasdaq-style ticker would be more efficient.
Depending on which TV show you tune into, what Imus said was wrong because: 1) His show goes out on FCC-regulated airwaves; 2) he regularly interviews people like Sens. John Kerry, John McCain and Joe Biden; 3) he spoke at the White House Correspondents' Dinner a few years ago; or 4) he's not black.
Perhaps sensing that such constantly scrolling rules have a whiff of fascism about them, the scowling Miss Grundys of the world think they have hit on the perfect omnibus rule. They instruct us to "be nice." (There's a word for the grim Miss Grundys, but apparently I'm not allowed to use it. Sarah Silverman is. This will be all in the rule book.)
The requirement to always "be nice" would be the end of Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle, two of the funniest comedians in America. Let me rephrase that: It would be the end of all humor. Even Bob Hope cruelly implied that Democrats didn't support the troops when he joked to the troops in Vietnam: "The country is behind you 50 percent."
At least we'll still be able to watch the "Charlie Rose" show! Actually, for all anyone knows, Rose is calling women "nappy-headed hos" on TV every night since no one has ever seen his show.
In addition to ending all humor, we'll lose all political debate. For Americans over 4 years old, people in the public sphere are engaged in serious arguments -- over abortion, illegal immigration, how much money the government takes from you, and the pre-eminent battle of our time against Islamic fascists. The "be nice" admonition is the sort of thing stupid girls say when they can't think of anything substantive to say.
I, for one, promise to implement the "be nice" policy just as soon as the other side surrenders.
Say, does anyone remember if Winston Churchill was "nice" in his public pronouncements about Hitler? Was he even nice to his fellow countrymen with whom he disagreed?
No, I don't think he was! This is what Winston Churchill said about the Labor Party's Ramsay MacDonald:
"I remember when I was a child, being taken to the celebrated Barnum's Circus, which contained an exhibition of freaks and monstrosities, but the exhibit on the program which I most desired to see was the one described as 'The Boneless Wonder.' My parents judged that the spectacle would be too demoralizing and revolting for my youthful eye, and I have waited 50 years to see The Boneless Wonder sitting on the Treasury Bench."
And guess what public figure was constantly accused of making "outrageous" remarks, trading in "insults, trashings and character assassinations"? Of what public figure was it asked: "Who can examine this record of insults and say that here is a man of class?"
That's right: Ronald Reagan. Those particular quotes are from Washington Post columnists Richard Cohen and Colman McCarthy.
Was Reagan "nice" to the Soviets? They certainly didn't think so. The Soviets constantly denounced Reagan as "rude," and our dear friends at the BBC upbraided Reagan for his "rude attacks" on Fidel Castro, Nicaragua and the Soviet Union. Post columnist McCarthy indignantly charged that Reagan had "put down an entire nation -- the Soviet Union -- by calling it 'the focus of evil in the nuclear world.'"
Oh dear! Reagan wasn't "nice." No wonder he never accomplished anything.
One more item for the delusional Miss Grundys still obtusely citing Reagan as their model of "niceness": As governor of California, Reagan gave student protesters at Berkeley the finger. Remember that next time you ask yourself: "What would Reagan do?"
People who are afraid of ideas whitewash Reagan like they whitewash Jesus. Sorry to break it to you, but the Reagan era did not consist of eight years of Reagan joking about his naps.
The reason people don't like what Imus said is because the women on the Rutgers basketball team aren't engaged in public discourse. They're not public figures, they don't have a forum, they aren't trying to influence public policy.
They play basketball -- quite well, apparently -- and did nothing to bring on an attack on their looks or character. It's not the words Imus used: It would be just as bad if he had simply said the Rutgers women were ugly and loose.
People claim to object to the words alone, but that's because everyone is trying to fit this incident into a PC worldview. It's like girls who say, "It's not that you cheated on me; it's that you lied about it." No -- it's that you cheated.
If Imus had called me a "towheaded ho" or Al Sharpton a "nappy-headed ho," it would be what's known as "funny." (And if he called Anna Nicole Smith a "flaxen-headed ho," it would be "absolutely accurate.") But he attacked the looks and morals of utterly innocent women, who had done nothing to inject themselves into public debate.
Imus should apologize to the Rutgers women -- and those women alone -- send them flowers, and stop kissing Al Sharpton's ring.
This wasn't an insult to all mankind, and certainly not an insult to Al Sharpton. Now, if Imus had called the basketball players "fat, race-baiting black men with clownish hairstyles," well, then perhaps Sharpton would be owed an apology.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 11:36am):
"All his liberal suck-up "friends" sure kicked him to the curb in a hurry!"
Yeah, look how they believe in ideals instead of indivual people. Stupid liberals don't even follow a cult of personality.
It took conservatives years to turn on Bush. Now that's loyalty in the face of any ideology or common-sense. Nice.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 11:38am):
To date about 2,500,000 civilians, targeted because of their ethnic or racial identity, have been driven from their homes, more than 300,000 people killed, and more than 1,600 villages destroyed by Sudanese government soldiers and government-backed militias, known as the "Janjaweed."
But Jesse and Al are all worked up about Imus.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 12:37pm):
Maybe our solution to the problem should be to have Imus offend everyone equally. We can all divide into groups and he can take turns hurling insults.... This whole issue is preposterous, especially after he's apologized many times. Who gives a damn?!?!
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 12:40pm):
Stern showing a women shoving a polish sausage down her throat = OK.
Stupid comment by Imus = dead show.
??????????????
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 12:56pm):
9:38, while I agree with your comments about 7:56 being an anti-semitic a-hole, anyone from anywhere in the world can write on these boards. It very well may be an anti-semite and racist in Idaho who spends his free time searching for articles like this to try to spin and create some sort of argument to make himself feel better about his tiny, tiny penis. We shouldn't give him the pleasure.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 2:23pm):
10:17, great post. Sums it up completely, that it is who was attacked and not what was said that is what was really wrong with Imus' comments. And also perfect on what Imus should do.
OOC, is that cut and pasted from somewhere, because the writer made it seem like he was famous, and no name was attached? Thanks.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 2:34pm):
"Stupid liberals don't even follow a cult of personality."
WTF?
JFK?
Slick Willy?
Hollywood?
Rosie?
Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao?
etc.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 3:41pm):
Al Sharpton had every right to say what he did about racist Imus. His so-called anti-semitic remarks may have been over the top, but he and other african-americans are just responding to the oppression and exploitation of their communities by American Jews.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 5:03pm):
Actually the post at 10:17 is Ann Coulter's article this week which is posted on her website. I knew that sounded familiar since she said the same thing on TV last night.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 6:10pm):
10:17am is copied and pasted from Ann Coulter, that great source of truth . . . This is the second time I've caught you
Steve Lampiris (April 12, 2007 @ 8:22pm):
The best part about this is that the ACLU will defend what Imus said. This is directly from their official site:
"Many universities, under pressure to respond to the concerns of those who are the objects of hate, have adopted codes or policies prohibiting speech that offends any group based on race, gender, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation.
That's the wrong response, well-meaning or not. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects speech no matter how offensive its content. Speech codes adopted by government-financed state colleges and universities amount to government censorship, in violation of the Constitution. And the ACLU believes that all campuses should adhere to First Amendment principles because academic freedom is a bedrock of education in a free society."
Go Imus.
Anonymous (April 12, 2007 @ 8:58pm):
I would have like to see a larger response from the Feminist community... once again the plight of the black woman falls on deaf ears with the Women's movement.
damn.
Anonymous (April 13, 2007 @ 6:06pm):
Sharpton also claims that this is only about what he said and that his past acts, or whether is is a good person, is not at question. What is not being considered is that Imus had a large audience that he has lost now. He will no longer be able to generate the money and attention that he used to be able to.
Sharpton calling for Imus to be fired is short-sighted and will hurt the black community overall because Imus did work on issues of minorities (such as sickle cell or the ranch he had that is 50% minority children). He cannot do that with no show. At least more people are listening to Sharpton's show...
On a side not, the media has had general poor coverage. Roland S. Martin on CNN calling it "his sexist and racist rant." Wow. That's not spin or anything. If Imus's hurtful comment really tore down everything these girls have worked for and accomplished they have more issues to deal with than his comment.
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