The Imus Saga

So Imus got canned. For many radio listeners, our reaction is "it's about time". The thing is, what got Imus canned should not have been the reason. As any Howard Stern Fan will know, what should have got Imus canned was the fact he sucks and has no ratings. Matter of fact, I have better ratings that Imus and I don't even have a radio show. Never the less, Imus calling the Rutgers Women's Basketball team "Nappy Headed Hoes" gets him canned.

Look, the only reason Imus should get canned for that statement is because it is incorrect. The Rutgers Women's Basketball Team are second rate Nags who were left out of the field for the upcoming Kentucky Derby. Had he mentioned that, at least he would have had accuracy on his side. Instead, he got tossed for his comments alone. Now don't get me wrong, I do not agree with the statements he said. I would have never made them on Public Radio. They were tasteless and offensive. However, he has the right to say them just like we have the right to not listen, to tell him to shut the fuck up etc.

Imus has made a career out of pushing the envelope in his own way. He has crapped on everyone under the sun. Why is it now that this comment fires up Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson? Why is it that a 64 or 66 year old radio jock who has been on the air for about 30 years too long who has no ratings and a dwindling audience already draw the ire from damn near everyone especially Jesse, Al and the NAACP? Perhaps because he is an easy target to defeat?

Let's face it, the comments that Imus made one time, are normal comments in everyday life. Most of us make off color comments like this whether we mean it, whether we are breaking balls, whether we are trying to get a reaction out of someone. As a HUGE rap music fan, I know that if I go pick up a Snoop Dog album, or a 50 Cent album, or whatever other shitty rapped is "hot" at the moment - their album I will hear verse after verse of commentary that makes Imus look like he was complementing these women. Why is it alright that rappers can say it. 2 obvious answers jump to mind 1.) Their black so they can say it against their own people and 2.) They are artists using their artistic ability. Really. The latter is the one I have heard used a lot and I think its complete bullshit. A rapper like 50 Cent is no more an artist than Don Imus is. Is Don not an artist? As a radio jock who has a show to inform and entertain is there not as much artistry involved there as with making a rap song about what a bitch some woman is?

I do know that the rap music industry faces backlash for lyrics, violence etc. but its minimal. I haven't heard about Jesse Jackson organizing a large group of people to picket Def Jam like he was going to do to CBS. Artistic creativity my ass. I hate to drop my beautiful wife into the mix but she made a point last night that made me think she was oobatz. She said Imus needed to be more sensitive and that it was alright for say rappers to say the exact same thing because its their culture. Really? I had never thought that degrading women should be considered part of anyone's culture outside of the Middle East. That's like saying "Hey Snoop, as a black man you can call all the women you want bitches, hoes, sluts, cocksuckers, whores and its alright because you're black and its your culture with a little artistic creativity thrown in." However, when Imus calls some black women Nappy Headed Hoes, he is an old racist white guy. And maybe he is, maybe he was just running shtick for this show albeit in poor taste.

The double standard that exists in this country regarding commentary like this is one of the things in my opinion that is keeping the country divided. Also, I think the priorities of today's black leaders are a problem as well. Being a white guy in the suburbs (shut up Bill), I'm well aware of far more important issues that Don Imus that black people have to face today. Its sad that 2007 we still haven't all learned to co-exist, but I can't help but think if Ole Jesse, Al, and others put as much effort into other things as they did getting an easy target old white guy with no ratings off the air, things could be better. If anyone has seen "Do The Right Thing", there is a scene in there where Mookie's sister (forget her name) is talking to Bugging Out. Buggin' is trying to organize a boycott of Sal's Pizzeria because Sal's Hall Of Fame on the wall has only pictures of Italians. When Mookies sister isn't down Buggin' out says "what, your not down"? She says that she is down, but she is down for something positive. Making positive change. That's a lesson I think we can all learn. Unfortunately I feel we won't. Imus (thankfully) will fade off into obscurity and there will be no positive progress has from all of this. Like I said, I'm afraid for what our society will become.