Last week, so called ’shock jock’ Don Imus directed an ill-fated attempt at his brand of humor toward the Rutgers University girls basketball team. He referred to them as “nappy-headed hos”. That remark got him fired by the NBC news department and from his CBS radio show. It also earned him a merciless drubbing by, of all life forms, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. Unlike most people, who either fear Sharpton’s wrath or need to ease their own guilt by throwing Imus under the train, I don’t consider the comment to be racial. I simply consider it wrong. It was also stupid but that sort of patter has been his bread and butter for 35 years and everybody knows it, just like everybody knows that Sharpton’s bread and butter is creating racial division, unrest and disharmony. At least Imus has always been an equal opportunity offender. I’m sure it’s not the first time this has happened to him; the only difference is, on those other occasions, he probably experienced a little foreplay first.
The ‘offended’ parties are being portrayed as poor, defenseless little black girls who have been horribly set upon by this nasty, old white bigot. I would hasten to point out that there are also white girls on the Rutgers team, who seem to have been politically pushed to the back of the bus. I don’t hear anyone speaking out on their behalf. It’s particularly disturbing to realize that none of these girls would have even been aware of the unfortunate characterization if ‘Nappy Sharpton’ and the lynch-mob media had not brought it to everyone’s attention with their usual, cheap, half-court shot. In my opinion, it wasn’t Imus who inflicted pain upon these girls but, rather, the race-baiting Rev. Sharpton and his allies in the left wing media. By the way, where is the American Criminal Liberals Union [aka A.C.L.U.] in all of this? I thought they were supposed to be concerned with first amendment rights and things like that. Doesn’t Imus have any of those? Swish!
I never cared for his program and I certainly do not condone what he said but that’s what he does. I read a quote from some dimwitted professor who said Imus might have been forgiven for the comment but that he “had a history of making similar remarks”. That’s not true. Imus had a career of making similar remarks. Asking him to do anything different would be like asking Donald Trump to get out of real estate or Katherine Zeta Jones not to be sexy. Why is everyone suddenly so surprised? Imus is the legendary broadcaster who pioneered the raucous, full of yuks style of morning program and made it all the way to the Broadcasting Hall of Fame with his irreverence. Behind the prankster is, not a bigot, but a man dedicated to helping youngsters through extensive charity work and who donates large portions of his salary to helping underprivileged youth. Through the years, his controversial comments earned millions for his employers and sponsors. In gratitude, these same people just stampeded the other way when he could have used some support.
The scary thing to me is not just that Imus was railroaded but who drove the train. Since when are the likes of Rev. Sharpton and Rev. Jackson the arbiters of what people can and can’t say? [I've always wondered which matchbook cover published the number they called to claim those designations]. Given Sharpton’s track record of lies, deceit and inflammatory remarks as well as Jackson’s anti-semitism, these are the last two bigots that should be preaching ethical or moral standards to anyone. The only standards they have are either double or none at all! The not-so-reverend Al marches over the bodies of his followers for his own self interest, keeping them downtrodden and dependent so he can continue to goose-step over them again and again. Now ‘Nappy’ is trying to control others of us in the same way. Imus was covertly targeted by the left and these bozos are actually proud of chipping away yet another piece of our freedom.
Censorship, in any form, is dangerous. Who among us is qualified to decide what can be said, read or heard? Certainly not this little Black Napoleon. Certainly not the government; that happens in Russia, China or Nazi Germany, not America. In America, the free market must decide. If you don’t like a program, shut it off but don’t shut it down. If you disagree with a book, don’t read it but don’t burn it. If you’re offended by a picture or display, avert your eyes but don’t deprive others the right to see it. When enough people turn away, stop listening, don’t read it or cease to buy something, it will disappear of its own accord. In America we vote at the ballot box and we vote with our feet. When you start dictating and legislating things away, it becomes another place.
No, Don Imus shouldn’t have said what he said but neither should this have been a career-ending episode. He sincerely apologized and the young ladies at Rutgers accepted. It was Sharpton, not the girls, who called for his dismissal. Is ‘Nappy’ going after the Rappers now? They’re heard on the radio, too, but I’m betting he’ll measure their coarseness with a different yardstick. I don’t want anyone, least of all the gutter-mouth Sharptons of the world, dictating what is or is not acceptable. He says he’s looking out for “people of color”. Well, I’m a person of color. I’m pink and you know what? I can look out for myself just fine.
R.S.F.
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