traveling in home

The Don Imus debacle

Oh, what a sanctimonious nation we’ve become.

After referring to the Rutgers women’s basketball team as a bunch of “nappy-headed hos,” radio host Don Imus was pilloried by everyone from Al Sharpton to Matt Lauer. There were crocodile tears from the players (one even professed to being “physically” wounded by Imus’ words), boycotts by mighty advertisers and self-righteous condemnation from the president of NBC News.

Imus apologized ad nauseam and after an embarrassing week of self-flagellation was fired by MSNBC and CBS anyway. That’s what he gets for apologizing. Maybe if he’d gone the Ann Coulter route and stood by his comments he would still have his job.

Of course, no one is defending what Imus said. It was an idiotic and offensive thing to say and yet another example of the descent of our culture and of public discourse in this country to crass name-calling. And, really, what’s a 67-year-old white guy doing calling anyone a “nappy-headed ho”?

But the hypocrisy surrounding the whole affair is reaching astounding levels. There’s Jesse Jackson demanding Imus’ head, even though Jackson once referred to Jews as “hymies” and New York City as “hymie town.” He apologized, was forgiven, and continued about his career. But Imus, it appears, does not merit the same opportunity.

Then there’s Sharpton and other black leaders, who are condemning Imus’ use of the public airwaves to spout language that demeans blacks and women. Yet Sharpton and others have ignored the steady flow of similar language that has spewed for years from urban-format radio stations, where describing women as “hos” is considered mild and de rigeur.

And the nation’s gay rights groups are pouncing on the incident, firing off indignant press releases, even though this has nothing to do with gay rights. There have been many references this week to Imus as “homophobic,” but little of substance to back up the claim. Yes, he made a joke about “Brokeback Mountain,” referring to it as “Bareback Mounting.” But didn’t everyone make that joke? Imus once referred to an NBC correspondent as, “the enormously attractive Chip Reid, I can say without being accused of being some limp-wristed ‘mo.” He has thrown around anti-gay jibes for years, but Imus is an equal-opportunity offender; it’s part of his act.

Maybe I have developed a thick skin and these kinds of things just don’t bother me as much as they should. Being gay will do that to you.

Even gay actor Harvey Fierstein got in on the action in an op-ed published by the New York Times.

“We are so surrounded by expressions of intolerance that I am in shock and awe that anyone noticed all these recent high-profile instances,” he wrote. “Still, I’m gladdened because our no longer being deaf to them may signal their eventual eradication.”

Don’t bet on it Harvey. You cannot eradicate intolerance and it’s a waste of time to try. You can work for equality under the law for all citizens and then let the chips fall where they may on a level playing field. But all the finger wagging in the world won’t stop people from making stupid, offensive remarks.

Imus didn’t deserve to be fired and all these self-appointed enforcers of politically correct speech need to take a long look in the mirror and then read up on our nation’s history of cherishing the freedom of speech. The Imus episode should have presented an opportunity for dialogue on these sticky issues of racism and sexism. Instead, it has taught us to keep our mouths shut and our prejudices in the closet.

The wild world of radio, home to outsized personalities like Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, and a host of others on all sides of the political spectrum, is a place Americans have long turned for uncensored, unvarnished debate. Silencing those voices, no matter how much we may disagree with them, is a mistake.

Posted by Kevin Naff, Washington Blade Managing Editor | Apr. 13 at 7:59 AM | knaff@washblade.com

Tags: soapbox

the insults are flying.

for the past few months celebrities have found themselves in the spotlight for speaking their minds. you had the guy from grey’s anatomy and his homophobia and kramer from seinfeld and, more recently, shock jock imus on the racial rants. and folks have been calling for their heads.

i on the other hand was wondering if i suffer from tunnel vision and only get bent out of shape if things are racial or apply to me somehow. i wondered because when the grey’s anatomy star was accused of his statements i didn’t think he should be fired. all of a sudden i questioned if my motives were skewed because he is black and his statements were about gay people while i am black and not gay.

but yesterday i got confirmation that that isn’t the case.

in all fairness if my sister hadn’t blogged about imus i wouldn’t have known anything about it. i haven’t watched much television this weekend so maybe i missed the whole thing that way…but at any rate he apparently called a predominately black women’s basketball team “nappy headed hos.”

now i’m both black and female so i could have been offended in any number of ways…and while i find his statements despicable – i do agree with his right to say it.

these incidences are different to me than the one that recently surfaced about a military recruiter going to the mat with a gay “potential applicant”. the difference there is that there are explicit directions regarding her behavior as a military recruiter and she ignored them. she has grounds for firing. movie stars and shock jocks with a history of such behavior in more tolerant times do not.

i know this skates on thin ice. earlier today a friend of mine questioned i could be ok with it. ultimately i have a litmus test for my life and social or actual politics. if i want a right i assume that everyone should have that right. i don’t believe in suspending it for the moment…or revoking it so someone else can’t have it. by doing that i do harm to myself. by doing that we do harm to a system – that while not perfect – does allow us a degree of freedom and expression that is luxurious.

of course inciting violence is against the law. but calling me a darkie or a hoe or any other vulgar or inappropriate name is not.

do i want to hear imus on the radio? i don’t. i don’t care for his opinion. as a result i will continue to do what i’ve always done…and not listen to him. people who agree i urge to do the same. write letters or blog or whatever…but random firings at the behest of a lone person’s outrage or indignation is precarious footing…it doesn’t take much for someone not to agree with my own opinion and my right to have it.

one other tiny thing annoys me about this recent fervor…people immediately want apologies. i can’t for the life of me understand why. if i kick you in your shin deliberately how is my apology worth anything? if people clearly feel a particular way what does an apology do? you can apologize for vocalizing your opinion in an inappropriate manner…like the military guy a few weeks back ( i can respect his willingness to stand by what he said and believes if not his opinion). for everyone else “i’m sorry” rings hollow…

Tags: soapbox