It's last straw, not last draw. As in the straw that broke the camel's back...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Thank you. I'm a fifty year old middle class white woman living down under and I am gratefull for your article.
I loath the Imusses of this world, but if Snoop can advertise his misogeny with song lirics like, "I'm a bad boy, with a line of hos." then he has no right to expect different treatment than Imus. It's time that black women take a stance and speak up to this kind of lanquage and demand the respect their due.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Your mistake, Mr. Hutchinson, is assuming that this is about discrimination and justice. It's not. Don Imus deserved to be slapped. He didn't deserve to lose his job. Taking his job is how certain black "leaders" demonstrated their power, but far more egregious bigotry is spoken, although with politer language, by other, more powerful white talking heads while these "leaders" do nothing.

Going after Snoop Dogg for his hatred of black women won't gain these leaders any credibility. It won't enhance their stature or power, so they won't do it. Worse than that, they know they won't win in such a battle, and losing will only make them weaker, not more powerful.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I've been comparing this whole thing to what O'Reilly and some conservatives did back in 2003. Since France was not supporting our plan to invade Iraq, many people chose to boycott France. But it was just for show. One diner owner in Jersey even filled a Dom Perignon bottle with ginger ale just to dump it in the gutter. If these guys REALLY wanted to make their point, they might have organized a boycott CHINA campaign; after all they were against our plan as well. BUT THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HARD.

Same thing today with Rev Sharpton, et al. If they truly want to make a point about remarks that degrade women and people of color, then Imus is small potatoes. But then again, he's also an easy target.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I agree with Earl Ofari Hutchinson and commend his courage to say what he does here, but wonder what he might suggest as a general strategy for the Left. I think he correctly sees that much of the appeal of the Republicans during BushJr-time has been their condemnation of excessive "freedoms" in the media-- the sexism and pornography of Hollywood and the music industry. Being against the culture of Snoop, even if veering into racism, being against homosexuality has attracted a movement of people horrified by what they see as moral degradation. But I think the real left, the progressives and radicals, often fail to condemn the excesses of guys like Snoop. The question then is how can the Left develop a languages of moral rejuvenation--thereby attracting new people--without duplicating the hate language of religious right. What will it take for progressives to see the value of fighting in this cultural terrain, and not become complacent because guys like Imus lose a small portion of their income.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

The problem is that the basketball team didn't get much of a chance to lash out. There wasn't a open meeting with Imus so we don't know what happened with Frankenstein and the torch bearers.

We heard from the coach and she isn't the team, though she gets paid more than any of the team players probably in their entire four year college term in just one year.

Since it was a closed meeting. They should of listened to him for 10 minutes and accepted or declined his apology and not listened for three hours. Don't they have better things to do?

This whole thing was hijacked by so called black leaders. Snoop and all those other rappers are just as much black leader and role models as Jackson and Sharpton and their pocket book proves it. Their jobs are opposite of Sharpton and Jackson as well. They are not out to appease and say sorry. They are to be hard, hit back and spare no quarter. You cross them and you accept the laws of the jungle. Ask Tupac about it. Wait you can't.

Rap turned society upside down. And it should. No longer do you have to try out for a team or apply to a college. You can rap with your own lingo and sample other peoples music. You bring all your baggage and dead end jobs and all those encounters with your fellow "people" who aren't there to lift you up financially they are competing with you and are just another obstacles. Observe rap vs reverends. Each is his own frankenstein. There will not be any real winners. Only those who are casual observers will feel like they are being the victims or targets of their vitriol. Sinners or saviors it's all on the same coin.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Do you honestly think that Imus sits around and listens to rap music enough to mimic it? I doubt that Imus can can sing one line from a rap song.

I agree that rappers need to tone it down...but I disagree over the power you think they have--enough to transform grown corporate white men into rapper wannabe's? In other instances Imus used the old stuff--calling Ifill a cleaning lady and Serena Williams an animal. We are not responsible for Imus's views--it's like blaming the rape victim for being raped!!

Let's stop blaming black people for the racist verbiage of whites. All Imus did was pick up a phrase that updated old terms.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

you took the words right out of rush's mouth. "look at some of the music and look at some of the lyrics played on the public airwaves being sung ... by recording artists and stars, and I don't hear the Reverend Sharpton concerned about that. ... I heard Snoop Dogg..." i love it when the hard left & hard right agree.

rush makes some weak points on the rest of that link. but i do agree with the right's (& the anti-authoritarian left's) analysis that this is the political correctness police coming to get you. demand that geffen pull snoop's album & of course maybe the next logical step is to move on to fire the rest of the hate-speech shock jocks. sure, i'd like to see the airwaves full of compassionate lyrics & analysis too. but i heard imus' apology & was impressed & then he also immediately went to dialog with those he hurt. maybe it was just PR damage control. but what if it was sincere? do we want a left that won't forgive its enemies? are these the progressive values we stand for? if he was serious about his apology, he may have become a great ally as a public figure & radio personality took responsibility for what it means to be male & white in a toxic racist & patriarical culture.

the US is chock full of poor racist rednecks (who are offended if you call them racist) who vote republican & love the shock jocks. we need a prolonged compassionate dialog with these folks as they (& the culture which created them) embark on the confusing & painful journey that is the awakening to being "on the hook" when it comes to race & patriarchy. to get imus to the point of apology was a mastery of organizing. then to drive the knife in further & have him fired was perhaps clumsy & counter productive. this is seen (perhaps correctly) as futher offense of "elitist liberals who oppose free speech." in oppression & desperation lie the seeds of facism, authoritarianism & totalitarianism - may we not water these seeds (in "them" or in us)...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Absolutely the left shouldn't mimic the right, ever. But I still think that the debate around Imus and his remarks is largely stuck in a very limited level of discourse. And I'd like to see that the left has weapons other than tolerance-at-all-costs. The sexism in some rap music should stir as big and urgent a debate.

But I agree that the firing of Imus should largely be a matter for his supporters, owners, handlers, and listeners--unless we're going to limit everyone's right to make money off of hate speech.

A great deal of the talk around Imus so far is just political correctness, often by hypocrites like Jesse Jackson (remember his Hymietown comment?) I don't think he should have lost his job for that comment.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

thankfully made a bit clearer by certain differentiators. For instance, Imus owes his career extension to the fact that his show has morphed into a pseudo-political affairs show. Would he be carried by MSNBC and the many news-talk stations on the radio side without having Senators, news anchors, political pundits and the like? I think we can agree that the answer is no.

That fact in and of itself makes any comparison to a rap or hip-hop artist or comedian specious. The context is entirely different and so are the audience expectations. I’ve been increasingly turned off by the Imus show’s cruelty and vulgarity for some time—years before the Rutgers incident. I once heard them call cancer survivor Olivia Newton John a “one-titted skank.” I swear it’s true, but I never heard a word of outrage about it.

The idea that they would be saying filth like this one moment and talking to Joe Lieberman the next is without precedent in broadcasting—and for good reason, they are entirely different kinds of broadcasts. Unfortunately, Imus never got the memo. This was inevitable.

Another differentiator in the Imus case is the target of his abuse: young, accomplished women. This wasn’t just about race—I traveled this past Easter weekend to deep Appalachia, where I was raised. There are hardly any people of color in my hometown and I can assure all that it has a ways to go on the path of being enlightened to diversity.

Can you guess the hot topic between Grace and “just a small slice of cake, please?” It was Imus and the good country folk were pissed off about it. You see, he attacked perfectly innocent, barely adult women—and that stoked the fatherly, motherly, brotherly and sisterly instincts to protect. My family may be lily white, but they’ll stand up to protect a young woman from being called a whore ten times out of ten—irrespective of race.

As for Imus, I wish there was another way. I wish there was a way to roll back the clock to when his show started to gain a political/public affairs audience and temper the kind of humor they were employing. But there’s not, and as our departed hero Kurt Vonnegut would have said “so it goes.”

But most of all, I wish Imus could feel first-hand the pain he’s caused. And I don’t mean the pain of the loss of a career—I mean the demeaning, horrific feeling of being a little person under attack from a powerful media figure who has the ear of Senators and CEOs.

And that’s why EWM took a shot at that, if you're inclined:

Punishment: Imus Agrees to Become Nappy-Headed Ho

...EWM- (April 11, 2007, New York, NY) – In what some are calling an act of desperation and others say is a cry for help, disgraced disc jockey Don Imus has agreed to become a “nappy-headed ho” during his two-week suspension for referring to the Rutgers women’s basketball team by that epithet.

The move comes as damage control efforts have only served to worsen Imus’ crisis. The deal was worked out with the blessing of Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, who noted that, “It will accomplish nothing. But seeing Imus in drag giving hand-jobs to degenerates will be funny as hell...”

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

In the world of destroying other blacks. Black-on-black crime, bad black governments, black ho-hating, disrespecting all and sundry - all these things do more to harm the prospects of hardworking blacks than anything the Ku Klux Klan and their ilk do.

All a white racist has to do is let blacks carry on as usual and watch them fail on mass. It is sad state of affairs. And when the British PM tells the truth about this, everybody jumps down his throat. He is the first politician of the modern age to actually tell the truth on black failure in the western world.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Don Imus gives new meaning to the word “crude” but he is no racist. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have worked so hard to get Harold Ford Jr. elected to the Senate. But clearly the I-Man wandered off the farm of responsible broadcasting. However, rather than fire him, MSNBC and CBS should have extended his unpaid leave of absence.

On the plus side, having forced Imus off the air, one would hope the same media lynch mob led by Al “Tanya Brawley” Sharpton and Jesse “Heimie Town” Jackson would go after Snoop who has made millions trashing black women millions of times.

Don’t hold your breath. This fuss is all about political power, not public civility. In the end, Snoop will sell more records while Sharpton and Jackson continue inflaming the small minority of black people who believe they aren’t a dark version of the KKK.

Hugh E. Scott, editor of King-George.biz -- the only website with hardcopy proof of White House corruption.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

i feel bad about all the fuss.......i figure being that iam a brother...that the only recourse is to be equal,
if we are going to punish don imus...then we need to
take snoop,,rev sharpel ,jesse jackson and any other fool out completely..i agree with the punishment for imus..but we have to look past the color and look at the behavior..now imus isnt the only fool out there,look at these other fools..jackson,sharpel,snoopdog..etc..get rid of them..take snoops.record off the stands.,fire him as well.and both -pastors ..jackson -sharpel..no pastor would defile the good name of the lord like these two have..we as people who believe in God for give not take revenge.and this upcoming presidential canditate..obama. fire him ..we dont need a brother in office who is going to only start a race war..we need a leader ,who will unite us.
iam sorry for these 4 men..my gender..please forgive them ,they know not what they do..
but if we must be equal and fair,,fire them all...
AMEN................

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

We already heard about the double standard ad nauseum this week. But I guess everyone has to jump on the rappers-do-it-too bandwagon.

So are you going to burn Snoopy's records like they did when Lennon said he was cooler than Jesus?...Or when the Dixie Chick said whatever she said?

If and when this blows over, so-called "progressives" will go back to complaining about how the Religious Right or the Neocons are taking away our free speech, and never see the irony.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

doesnt mean you have to be nice...

and maybe being on the radio means you have to be nice...

I still have to figure it out...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

All of this is a smoke screen as to what is really wrong with this country. Angela whatever her name was and the 'father' of her child was too.

The fact is the major media is creating this circus to reach our baser instincts and cloud our minds, and to distract us.

What really matters is the sub-moronic chimpanzee in the white house and his band of henchmen. The media is afraid of the FCC becasue if they really presented the problems wrong with America right now they would lose their licenses or the IRS would audit their taxes--and subsequently shut them down.

Consider: The pentagon is unlawfully extending tours of duty in Iraq. The chimp wants to send thousands more troups to and illegal and unwinnable war. The so called 'Green Zone' that we created and are maintaining in Iraq is pourous and bombers can get to the newly empowered parliment in Iraq. Literally thousands of emails are suddenly 'lost'. And the list does on. One has to go to the foreign press to learn the facts.

We had something like this in the 70's with another president--remember Dick? The 18 minutes of audio tape that was missing/erased? All of the lies and deaths--and another illegal war?

I tell you this: What Tricky Dick did pales in scope compared to the crimes that are being committed on a minute by minute basis by the current administration.

And it seems to me that all you people are interested is passing gas about things that are truly trivial in comparison to what you should really be concerned with.

Do you choose to implode as a nation/civilzation while being prepared for further suppresion by this criminal regime? Or will you do the right thing and put this pure effluent aside and deal with the real issues of life in this country and the world?

Go ahead, take another big whiff of the smoke. Let your minds be clouded... Get dumbed down some more. Or take a deep breath of fresh progressive air and get up and do something useful for yourselves and the world!

To h*ll with celebrities, money, insults, racial bickering. Fix the world with the energy you are wasting here....

Regards.... j

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Whoa! Imus's atomic sound-byte unleashed quite a few, un-countable really, dimensions into our atmosphere. I'll leave discussion of Snoop's alleged 'sins' within the Black community, as I am not black. There's a disconcerting and very worrisome phenomenon taking shape, however, and not only along the racial-relations or gender-relations lines.

One of these aspects is the 'morality' and 'propriety' dimension, and I'm afraid - terribly afraid - that there''s a subtle re-alignment happening here with 'moral majority' type movements of past and present -- this is at its core a repressive and reactionary stance in its general contours. Restrictions of liberty have never helped make any social relations better, more enlightened or more equal - even in realms of rights. It's prudent to move really carefully here - these waters are quite murky at the moment. Censorship is not a simple object to contemplate or to act on.

And there's more than censorship and speech issues flying around these days after the exploding Imus affair. The State is active on many fronts in its attack on each and every one of us - not abstract "individuals" but concrete flesh and blood ones. There's much more to ethics and morality and conduct than just shutting people up. Better to sit back a bit and think this through a little; there's implications in all of this that just may not be in the interests of democracy or our civil relations. So far, the only real beneficiary of all this seems to be the corporate State and capitalism. It's best to be on guard against precipitous moves in a hurricane. We haven't even addressed or exhausted the repercussions of Katrina yet!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Let's not forget that Don Imus works for radio which is supposed have ethical guidelines created by the FCC. On the other hand rappers work for record companies who are owned by old white men who could care less about young black men calling their black women out of their names. Young white kids buy 80% of rap music, this music could not make the kind of money its making just by black patronage alone.
I would also like to address this misconception that black people haven't complained about the rap lyrics in music. Black women's groups have been fighting for the last 15 years as well as Sharpton and Jackson, black women's magazines such as Essence have covered this, its just not covered by the mainstream media. And we all know who owns the media.
Rap music is a young boy's game which caters to the young minds of America. Not every black person in America goes around calling each other out of their names. We all know that if you call a black woman out of her name and there is a black man there, you will be chin-checked, make no mistake!!!
Freedom of speech isn't "free" when you abuse this freedom, a price is paid. Let's not forget that the KKK has freedom of speech also, does that mean white America will do as the KKK do?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Usually it's political liiberals, lead by the ACLU, who fight censorship in the USA. Right wingers are usually the ones accused of trying to cemsor air waves and recorded media.

This spat over Don Imus and Snoop Doggy-dog, or whatever his stage name is, has revealed that the left is just as open to censorship of material they don't like as the right.

If enough people would just ignore those who say things they don't like, they will just go away. Imus was fired, so the censors won. If people had just stopped listening to and watching his show, he'd have had the show cancelled anyway. If nobody buys Snoop's record, and I suspect most potential buyers are African-American, Snoop will not be making any more records.

Fight censorship in all its forms - you might be the next one to be censored.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Predictably, when a major white media figure takes a pratfall over matters relating to race, the "mainstream" punditry rush out any and all excuses for how it could have happened.

The first ploy, already embodied in this article, is to blame elements of the minority community in question for creating the "environment" which made the gaff "acceptable." To wit: Black rappers have been using the word "ho" for ages, therefore its perfectly acceptable for Imus to have used the term, while "not understanding" how derogatory it was.

This is pure idiocy. Are we to understand that Imus, a long-time icon in the broadcast business, is now taking his cues from Snoop? Just because Snoop says something, Imus can follow suit? Its obvious that if Imus verbalized on his show all of the curses that so-called gansta rappers use, on a regular basis, he would have been fired a long time ago.

Newsflash: the music/rap industry and the mainstream news media are completely separate and therefore have different standards. You wouldn't expect to find the content of a rap song being read on a news broadcast, nor would a rap record contain nothing but mainstream news. So the idea that just because certain words were used by rappers make it "ok" for news outlets to use is ludicrous.

I decry the use of words like "b*tches" and "hos" in rap records. I wish that the record industry -- which by the way is controlled by white males, not Black rappers -- would clamp down and not allow such lyrics to appear on records. In rap's earliest days, such foul content was not included and the genre was brilliant. However, once the record labels stepped in and rap went "mainstream" the torrent of insults and denigrations began. What a coincidence.

Imus made his own bed, and now has to lay in it. He should have been fired a long time ago for racist and sexist comments made on his show. None of what has happened to him has the slightest thing to do with the rap industry or Snoop, as this article intimates.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

African-American women have long railed against the misogyny of the Gangsta Rap sub-culture of hip hop. C. Delores Tucker, former head of the National Congress of Black Women, took on the producers of this so-called music a few years ago. For her trouble, she was harassed and attacked by her brothers and their bankrolling underwriters. She has since passed away. Our African-American leaders must continue Ms. Tucker's campaign and take a stronger stand to shut down this vile genre because of its effects on our culture both domestically and internationally. I cannot help but believe that the sofa manufactured by a Chinese company and described as "N-- Brown" according to the Toronto Star was given that unfortunate description by those who learned about the N-word via our gangsta rap music in addition to longstanding racist utterances from members of the majority community. The white community, from whom we learned these words as slaves, is therefore not excused. But brothas, we African-American women are not your enemies. Enough of the "bootyfication" of our image and culture!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

80% of rap music sold is sold to young White kids. Why? Maybe because of their fascination with Blacks calling themselves N's and Ho's. If the racist Neo-Conservative want rap to end so badly, just tell their kids to stop buying it and it will surely die. The Black community doesn’t have the publicity hogs to promote their disgust with negative rap music. When White media pick up a story it will go around the world. When Blacks have a concern over negative rap, only Black media pick it up and no one else pays any attention. Now the Racists are pretending they are concern with rap negativity only after Imu foul mouth racist rants have been made obvious. This has been going on for a long time. Let’s call for the 80% of White rap purchasers to stop buying negative rap and stop buying the video “White Girls Gone Wild”.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Don Imus stepped over the line, but he was just offering a riposte to a comment one of his cohorts made about the Rutgers women's basketball team. They thought it was funny, just like some of the other crude comments they make about celebrities every day--except these women weren't fair game, because they were just college kids playing the game of basketball. If Imus had used the phrase, "nappy headed ho" to describe Snoop Dog, then there wouldn't have been any cause for apology--it would not only have been accurate, it would even have been funny. Snoop thinks that he has the right to demean black women but Imus doesn't. He's wrong. But the people who make money on his recordings don't care. Where is the outrage from women's organizations against Snoop? They should be leading a boycott against his albums.

Some people don't like "shock jock" radio or television. That's fine. Just turn the channel. What happened to Imus after his unfortunate remark shows how hypocritical Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Snoop really are. Remember, it was Sharpton and Jackson, that dynamic duo, who jumped on Joe Biden for calling Barack Obama "clean" and "articulate." Who are they to be the gatekeepers of political correctness? Where were Sharpton's apologies to the Duke lacrosse team for slandering them after the charges were dropped. We all remember Jackson's slurs against Jews, as well. Why aren't they deploring Snoop's recordings? Well, he's black; and it's all about the money, baby.

The worst offenders in this mess are the heads of CBS and MSNBC. First they demand apologies, which Imus contritely issues. Then they give him a suspension. Finally, when the PC crowd really gets loud, and sponsors threaten to pull ads, they fire him. What a cowardly, gutless thing to do. Imus, along with his irreverence and iconoclasm was actually one of the only commentators who made critical comments on the political scene. Many politicians were on the receiving end of well-deserved zingers--including George H.W. Bush for his meagerly charitable contributions. Even if you didn't agree with him, you knew he wasn't going to pull any punches. With Imus gone--and before him Howard Stern on radio--we aren't going to get anything on our corporate stations except pablum. One wishes that CBS had been so protective of viewers' sensibilities when they helped cheerlead for the invasion of Iraq.

What should have happened in Imus' case was simply his apology to the Rutgers women's basketball team. That was issued and it has now been accepted. That should have been it. But that wasn't it, and we'll all be the poorer for it for not having access to Imus' dissenting opinions. If you're like me and are really ticked off about CBS's bottom-line, money-grubbing behavior, I suggest that you watch CBS just so you can boycott the products of every single advertiser that pressed CBS to fire Imus.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Mr. Hutchinson, thank you very much for your analysis. It's refreshing.

We're long overdue for some public, mainstream dialogue among people of different races, in which we can look at assumptions about each other with understanding and analysis that doesn't go for the kill.

I agree that Don Imus went over the line, but I am appalled that, in the examination of what should be said on television, several commentators have sidestepped or excused the bile that pop artists like Snoopdog put out, by characterizing him as an "artist."

Maybe I'm older than some of the crowd that reads Alternet, but I can recall another media firestorm, maybe twenty years ago, over the trends in music, when the musician Prince was in the headlights of the media for some sort of offense. I liked (still like) Prince and I couldn't figure out what ignited the fire storm (very similar conditions to what's now going on). I was troubled by the attack on him.

But when it came to others defending Prince, something really stuck in my craw. One of his corporate backers said, in excusing him, that he was an artist comparable to James Joyce. Maybe, except James Joyce was broke, had a mad daughter, and struggled to get anything published (including books that had taken him decades to write, due to his sense of artistry) because of obscenity laws.

I think that we have, these days, a cheap sense of what it means to accomplish something artistically, and Snoopdog and others like him think that the ability to exploit others, easily, cheaply, somehow an "artist" makes.

Imus (not an artist, but a shock jock) lampooned others, took cheap shots at many targets, got too lazy to remake his show and raise the level discourse, and is paying a very hard price. Why shouldn't people like Snoop and others also be examined for their cheap and exploitative tactics? It only seems fair. Thank you for taking a step in this direction.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

A Republican response: This is nothing more than 'political correctness' gone wild. The liberal media is trampling on Imus's civil right to 'free speech.'

A Democratic response: There is no place in our society for such remarks.

A non-political response: Who the hell is Don Imus? Never heard of him.

A Christian response: Forgive me God, I am a sinner. May you bless Don Imus, Osama bin Laden and George Bush, for they know not what they do. Comfort these people, so that one day they can live in peace with all people.

My response: With all the crap going on in the USA today, this is the best reaction we can come-up with? If you like women's college basketball, go to a game and yell for your team of choice. If you like Don Imus, write him a letter of support. If you do not like the lyrics of rap music, don't listen to it. Anyway, what's the difference in what Imus said and some of the things that were said about Saddam Hussein prior to March 2003? Stupid, hate-filled speech! Thank goodness, Imus's words will not get 100,000's killed at a cost of billion$, if not trillion$. I never listened to Imus before, and doubt I will in the future. Neither do I listen to rap music nor keep up with women's basketball. Seems to me, there are plenty of other bigger problems to deal with - like our federal, state and municipal deficits, the War in Iraq, War on drugs, and the vile speech that erupts everyday on our TV's, in our schools, etc. Maybe one voice is silenced, but now we need to get to the task of closing a few more mouths.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Blacks folks should KNOW BY NOW, that they can't do or say anything that EXPLOITS their/our culture, and have the NERVE to believe that its EXCLUSIVE to them Alone! Give me a freaking break! Fact is Blacks HATE IT, don't buy it, and the black parents that allow their children and young teens to listen and dance to those demeaning lyrics, are as sick as the bums who made it!

Personally, this type of so-called rapping should be BANNED from ever entering the market place!

The bottom line in all of this, even though at first, I did not believe Imus should have lost his job, is that when white folks get a hold of something, they BROAD BASE and COLOR the WHOLE CULTURE, and FURTHER "PROMOTE" the belief that ALL BLACKS behave like this, when they know better!

I really didn't understand the whole picture until I saw it was hard working, ethical young ladies who he was smearing with those lines from the HARD UP RAPPERS!

In addition, because Red Neck Racists like Rush, Ann Colture, O'Reilly and our current Administration, who are NOW in the process of creating GENOCIDE in Iraq against BROWN PEOPLE, does it whenever the opportunity presents itself, then why should Imus be the EXAMPLE; THEY ALL SHOULD BE BANNED! Therefore, if you allow these individuals to continue their PROMOTION OF HATE, SEGRATION, and DISCRIMINATION, why should Imus suffer? They get rid of him, yet these Racist's are allowed to stay on NATIONAL MEDIA and continue to PROMOTE the EXACT SAME BEHAVIOR ... NO, NO, NO!

Each and EVERY Human Being should and must take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for their action and behavior!

I won't use, sell or participate in the drug world because I KNOW FIRST HAND what it has done, and continues to do to our Society! Crime escalates, and we are not safe to walk our streets, and I don't give a damn where you live; for each of us KNOW someone who indulges, and eventually end up being vandalized for being associated with this person, despite the fact they were decent before they got sucked into the drug world.

Despite the fact that the Degrading Hip-Hop Rappers did not say that DIRECTLY about the Rutgers Basketball Team, but they put the language out there for others to pick up on and use, and whose to say they don't mean it about ALL BLACK WOMEN! For their Video's certainly says OTHERWISE!

I DESPISE BET for SELLING OUT for the Almighty Dollar to GIVE PERMISSION to the White Man to EXPLOIT BLACKS, and they TOO, are JUST AS GUILTY, for you do NOT Promote, nor SELL, what you have an INTENSE DISLIKE FOR!

If we haven't learned anything else during these Bush Era, its all about MONEY! And People we use to admire and Respect has SOLD OUT FOR MONEY! Not realizing, when they should have, that they are just as guilty, if not MORE SO, for doing so, or else how could they have escalated into the POWERFUL POSITIONS they hold today?

Our EARTH consist of EVERYONE, not just the Rich and Powerful; for in the END, they will be effected too, despite their riches and outrageous lifestyles!

MOney can only do so much; we can use it to PROMOTE health and happiness, but when it is used to DESTROY and DEMEAN others, then this is what we end up with!

Therefore, all of you whom have investments in Weapontry and DESTRUCTION, well know that, you're just as GUILTY AS BUSH, CHENEY and the Neo-Cons who have DESTROYED AMERICA, and well on its way to destroying the World!

I hope you feel the profits you have coming in is WORTH IT! Believe me, What Goes Around, Finds its way back to those who CONTRIBUTED TO THIS DESTRUCTION, all for MONEY! HOW SAD, HOW FREAKING SAD!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson has/have/are getting into these Rappers Butt! Problem is, our Media don't let us know these facts, AS THEY DO WITH many other IMPORTANT facts! Like this Administration can check our dirty underwear, all while they do ANYTHING NECESSARY to keep us out of their Corrupt and Evil Empire!

Know too that White Teenager's buy this degrading rap music, much more so than Blacks! Its Whites that support and promote this demeaning behavior, NOT BLACKS!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

All women....not just black women...are demeaned in gangsta rap. Check out the videos. It's women of all races.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

As per usual, it's all about the money. More importantly, it's all about corporate control of nearly everything in our modern lives.

Long, long ago, artists recorded songs and albums for a recording company that was one of hundreds of such companies. DJs, working for locally-owned independent radio stations, played what they thought people would like.

Nowadays, there are a handful of ginormous corporate recording entities and whatever they decide will be heard on the airways (also controlled by a handful of media conglomerates) will be played. Many radio stations don't even have DJs any more. It makes the Payola scandal of the '50s/'60s seem like nothing.

Gangsta Rap is not the only form of hip hop. There are thousands of progressive, socio-politically relevant rap and hip hop artists out there. But you'll be hard pressed to ever hear their works--not if you, like most Americans, only listen to mainstream radio and purchase CDs at the handful of national retail chain stores.

There's a whole world of music, talk, and news available to everyone on the web. If you don't have access to the internet at home, go to your local library and spend some time checking out the universe that exists outside of tightly-controlled corporate media.

Why devote so much airtime to this brouhaha when the issues that threaten most people's lives every day (global warming, losing their homes to foreclosure, the unsafe food supply, and on and on...) goes barely covered? Until the masses--who I truly believe are sick to death of "controversies" like Imus's "nappy headed hos" tempest--reject the capitalist deathcuture, this kind of crap is all we'll get.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Should they all be banned and brought to bare? They say demeaning and completely innappropriate things all the time, directed at many different audiences and spanning several albums.

I am suprised to see no one sticking up for Snoop. He is addressing his audience. He is speaking in terms that they find entertaining and MANY of those people are males and women of all colors.

I am a metal head when I'm not dressed in a suit and working in an office. I listen to singers belittle Christianity and other religions, curse the government, drive nails through there noses, and cause wave after wave of women to show their breasts to thousands of people surrounding them. Demeaning and inappropriate? Yes. But I CHOOSE to experience that because I find it entertaining. But do I take any of it seriously? Well maybe the cursing the government part...

I hate Snoop Dogg's music. I think his rap sounds bad and his voice is annoying, and his lyrics are not funny. But that does not mean I think he should be boycotted.

The point is, you can't fix the problems of the world by censuring the music and speech we use to deal with it, no matter what the political, economic, or moral substance of it is.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

http://betboards.bet.com/forums/193563/ShowPost.aspx

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

What's up folks, Yahoo yanked its discussion boards so now you have to invade ours with your vile hatred and ethnic slurs? All people who want to engage in meaningful discussions should report these folks to Alternet. There's a big difference between being anti-PC and being hateful.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

While the Imus comment’s about the African-American girls on the basketball team were unconscionable they pail in comparison to the prevailing words in today contemporary “rap” music, which appears to be dominated by African-American musicians and entertainers. I do not condone the Imus comments, nor do I feel the offense “rap” musicians irrespective of color should get a pass.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

that should say it all, but i'll go into detail.
defecting blame and crying about a double standard is absolutely ridiculous. until snoop or any black man for that matter is on MSNBC or CBS radio calling women(black, brown, white, or purple) "nappy headed hos" and not getting fired for it, then you can call it a double standard. any person being that abusive or hateful in mainstream news should have to answer for it. BET, itunes, and the record company don't have nearly as much influence or have to answer as many sponsors.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I'm not saying that to demean his age. i'm saying that to remind you that he should know better. he's not being influenced in his opinions by snoop! he's not some naive suburban teenager (the typical purchaser of snoop's records). i don't think we can defend Imus AND his producer McGuirk (who Imus himself admitted was hired to tell "nigger jokes) and say that he was influenced or learned it from Snoop. Maybe he picked up the actual words. but definitely not the intent. Without snoop, it may have come out as "darkie whores" or thick lipped sluts." who knows?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I think it is a great point that Imus was apart of a news program. It definitely makes sense that our news and shows interpreting them should be as non-biased as possible.

All of us our biased, even though some of us try really hard not to be. Its inevitable. And without the entertainers of the day pointing out those biases, intentionally or not, we wouldn't be having the discourses we are now.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

nobody is telling imus he can't release any records or dvds or sell out shows in madison square garden as snoop does. by firing him, cbs and msnbc are telling him they can't afford to support his show because the sponsors don't want to be associated with those kinds of offensive sentiments. if Imus can drum up a loyal fan base of suburban teenagers and attract the eye of a giant record company and it's stockholders that will pay for his brand of news/entertainment/humor/hate-filled rants, then go for it brother. i won't try to stop him. but i'm personally happy that we have one less hateful mesage clouding the people's airwaves. maybe cbs or msnbc will have room to invest in a show that supports positive images of black and brown and white people around the globe. (okay, i know i'm asking for too much.)

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

The rise of Rap and Hip Hop can be traced to 1986 with a record label called Def Jam and a white act called "The Beastie Boys" that happened to pay whatever payola they could afford to the mob record promoters of the time, while the major labels were engaged in a big bucks boycott of them. The entire sordid story is in Frederick Dannen's "Hit Men". The promoters ruled the airwaves, so they took what money they could and presto! Good-bye Pink Floyd, hello Beastie Boys.

1986 was a VERY long time ago. 21 years to be exact. The only reason Rap and Hip Hop has lasted as long as it has is because, like the rest of popular culture, it has continually pushed the envelope of propriety, to the point of a brick wall; it simply cannot go any further, cannot sink to any more possible vile level; there IS NO PLACE LEFT TO GO.

Another reason for the longevity of the genre is the racism of the executives that promote it and perpetuate it. On the one hand, you have white racist executives, that instead of making music like Berry Gordy that elevated black people and black culture, instead perpetuatate filth that degrades and divides the entire black culture. This is not by happenstance or by commerce, it is done by deliberate design.

On the other hand you have the small handful of black executive purveryors of filth, that came from nothing and only care about making as much money as possible and damn the consequences to society, culture, or anyone or anything else as long as they and theirs get their McMansion cribs filled with coke whores and their fancy cars.

Here's the problem with the longevity of Rap and Hip Hop compared to rock, swing, and every other form of pop music that came before it. While those musics were PERCEIVED as pushing the envelopes, and some actually had SUB-genres that actually did push the envelope, it wasn't true of the entirety of the genre. Each form of pop music that came before Rap and Hip Hop had its softer side, had its ballads, its love songs, the tender stuff that tends to appeal to people AS THEY AGE and is the stuff they remember and continue to buy and listen to.

Rap and Hip Hop has no such material. Even the "love" ballads are embarrassing filth; everything else that comes close is in a minor key inbued with such overwhelming end-of-the-world desperation that even a kid who loves, lives, and breathes this stuff at thirteen is going to discard it completely by the time they are thirty and going to either seek out something else or ignore music completely; either that or commit suicide.

And THAT is why Rap and Hip Hop culture is terminal, and breathing its last. With nothing of any value whatsoever that can appeal to an adult over 30, even mere nostalgia, and its first fans hitting their 30's, the genre has finally breathed its last.

Racism by white record executives and greed by black record executives and payola can only keep a dying genre with no appeal whatsoever to adults alive for so long, and once parents quit disapproving of it becuase they grew up on it too, it's over. Kids will seek out something else to piss their parents off, and it won't be Snoop Dog. My guess what follows is going to be the whitest, corniest scariest stuff that a rap/hiphop parent could imagine; something like gay white rock bubblegum, which would also have a nostalgic appeal to older audiences who still actually BUY Cd's. Miko, The Forever Family, Scissors Sisters anyone?

In fact, the reason the record industry itself is dying is it continues to cleave to old business models that insist only young people buy records, when the truth is exactly the opposite; young people STEAL music, older people buy it ON THE RARE OCCASION they can even FIND something that appeals to them. As long as rap and hiphop are the dominant form of pop music, the record industry will die right along with it.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Your posts are jive bullshit, sorry I took the bait

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. It is for this reason, I'm glad the Imus situation went down the way it did. He was long overdue for a pink slip anyway, but now, perhaps we can speak more candidly about misogyny in lyrics, the "ho-etry" rampant in music videos, and the video vixen lifestyle that has come to be so glorified. I'm sorry, Russell Simmons. I fail to see the difference between Imus and hip hop. It's a vicious circle. Why target one artist, though? It's rampant within the halls of rap, AND OTHER GENRES as well. HOWEVER, I have this criticism. Before we lambast the hip hop and rap communities, what about the INDUSTRIES who fund them? And ironically, the consumers, too. A statistic I KEEP coming across over the last five years is this: 70% (SEVENTY! SEVEN, ZERO!) of all hip-hop consumers are NOT Black. So the three minutes of degradation, I, as a Black woman, sit through in order to stake my claim in hip hop is sponsored by the same sorors and frat boys in colleges across the nation--INCLUDING MY OWN--throwing these ghetto gangsta parties. They think it's cute. What further saddens me is that while they do it for fun, my own brothers and sisters do it because they think they have to. Where are we for them? Too busy worrying about "acting white" and not "keeping it real". What's real is that we need to STOP THE MADNESS! NOBODY can escape blame in this one. NO ONE. I love Black people--and I know FOX thinks that's racist--but I don't want to continue to see us suffer like this. We're caught in the transfer between defining ourselves, protecting our communities from this Oppressor that history has made manifest to us, and battling the reality people keep telling us isn't real. What's real is the current, 2007 state of New Orleans. Sean Bell. AIDS in Africa AND the US. VH1 bastardizations of Black culture for your comedic pleasure. The Video Vixen "culture" that's being created. The reality of the "A Girl Like Me" doc. We don't know who to trust as a people. And it doesn't help our advancement when you set up puppets to tell us this is the lifestyle that permits our expected rebellion.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Good for Reverend Jackson and Reverend Sharpton for seeing this as a broader issue and doing something about it. Imus' remarks were not just blatantly racist, they were sexist as well. We can still say things about women we would not say about any other group and get away with. This is especially true of any woman who does not look like Hollywood's cookie cutter of "beauty." Don Imus is an emotionaly abusive jerk who attacked many groups. Shame on him! And shame on listeners who made such behavior popular. That goes for all the other shock jocks too. If you need to put someone else down, you have low self esteem! Grow up!

"Weight obsession is a social disease. If we cared more about CO2 than BMI there would still be time."

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I have never embraced rap. It's a tired replay of 70s themes, with no originality or anything new for 30 years. It is vulgur, ignorant and makes black people look like stupid heathens. The message is poison to black youth. I have banned BET & MTV for years and do not allow my grandkids to watch it. Less they start singing the vulgar lyrics with the profanity and Lord forbid the girles start dressing or acting like the hoes in the videos or my grandson starts acting like the gangster thug pimps in the videos.

After 400 years of Slavery & Oppression by whites, RAP is the most ignorant thing that black people have embraced - EVER. It justifies the negative image of blacks and gives police a reason to profile black youth. If 9 out of 10 images that the world sees or black people is that of rappers and & ignorant heathens, then guess what -- that is what they are going to believe about blacks. The same can be said of movies that depict blacks as criminals, thugs, hoes, etc.

Look at the first Oscar win for a black woman -- Monsters Ball. She is doing nothing more than sexually pleasing a white master -- just like slavery. But the first Ocsar win for a white woman is all peaches & cream. There are no Oscars for any white having graphic sex with a black man, like there is in Monster's Ball with Halle (ho) Berry and Billy Bob. No wonder white men call us whores. 9 out of 10 movies are videos depict us that way. I boycott halle berry, all rappers, BET, MTV and any movie that continues the 70s theme of blacks being hoes, thugs, pimps, etc.

PRIVATE Boycotting is not enough. Blacks need to send emails, faxes, letters to the Oscars, Networks, BET, etc. Sure, there are some black woman who are really whores and black men who are really criminals. But when the entertainment industry tries to send a message that MOST or ALL or black people are criminal -- then I have a problem with that. I have sent my hateful rants to the Oscars via mail and email. I do not watch the Oscars after Monster's Ball and never will again, no matter how many awards they are giving now for decent works (like Dreamgirls). Lionsgates need to BAN and destroy the master tape for Monster's Ball. The movie only enforces the image of black women sexually servicing white master just like the good old days of slavery. How they got away with that without any black protest is beyond me. But then again, most people were busy being fooled by the fake war. Then again, I think the Oscars gave the awards to Halle & Denzel BECAUSE of the war so that the US wouldn't look racist.

The US is still and will continue to be the most racist country in the world. And that is why the black videos, music and movies are so screwed up. Think about the message the negative movies and videos send to black kids who look up to the fools that are putting them out. Oh wait -- I forgot. halle berry does not have any kids or girls that she can sit down and watch Monster Balls. And most of the rappers don't let their kids watch that crap. Talk about black on black crime -- the crime of producing crap entertainment for black kids to emulate that make them into losers. One final thought - can you imagine how easy it would have been to change Slavery and the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s if blacks had access to EMAIL and the INTERNET? Can you imagine how much longer it took for blacks to contact other blacks through phone or mail to tell about upcoming marches? Now compare how quickly all that would have happened if blacks had internet and email back then. We have it now, but don't use it enough for Civil Rights. Civil Rights did not end in the 1960s it is still going on but much more subtle. Blacks still need to use the internet and email to boycott all this unsavory entertainment that is happening now in the name of Black people. If blacks don't protest it, then we're stuck with SNOOP!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Yeah, without the constitution protecting everyone from what everyone else says we can do without it for a while. How long can you go without it?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I'm a black person whom had a bad taste of PUSH, and it means this
Push
Up
Sh*t
High
and has been that way over twenty years since!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

What does this do to Barack Obama's campaign? I've got to say that the overall outcome from this incident is that many white's are going to take a fearful position that "the blacks" are gaining too much power in the US. This fear will dissuade voters from considering Barack come Nov 08.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Your first tendency is to crack an evil grin when a self-serving, smug rich white guy like Imus gets the heave-ho, particularly after a voluminous outcry from people of color and their community spokesmen.

But Imus aside, one wonders if Imus' corporate executioners, namely Proctor & Gamble, can boast of any African Americans on their board of directors, or whether any women in the company have been promoted over the middle management level. Let's be honest: the Imus scrap is not about civil rights, nor the First Amendment, nor is it about hurt feelings. It is about, literally, selling soap.

P&G is absolutely the biggest and most terrifying corporate pimpdaddy in America. When it comes to commercial media, they are Godzilla, owning dozens of brands and probably spending, all told, given billboards, radio, TV and Net advertising, easily a billion a week. Quite frankly, you don't offend P&G and stay alive for long. After the corporate decision came to pull the plug on the Imus spots, he didn't last 24 hours at CBS. And this is a guy with a 30 year resume hauling it in for the network to the tune of hundreds of millions. And certainly if Imus can be given the heave-ho, so can relative newbies like Rosie O'Donnelll, Bill Maher, Ward Churchill----all btw who have been targeted by outraged rightwing hit groups.

So to hail Imus' downfall as a great moment for progressivism, uh, kind of misses the point, no?

The guy made an unforgivably stupid and crude remark and got his ass handed to him by corporate America. But does that mean corporate America is now wetting its panties for social justice and equality?

Proctor & Gamble, as we all know, is a conglomerate obsessed with the scouring of America: dazzling smiles, shiny floors, blindingly white shirt collars. And indeed, to satisfy P&G all of our facades must be scoured of overt and impolitic references to racism and sexism. "The N word" is gone; so is "chick." Let's take the Playboy logos off the mud flaps, please, and no more dirty jokes at the water cooler. But doesn't all this attention to cosmetic detail merely mean that the same old racist and exist patterns that have governed American life for centuries can continue unabated----and worse, unmolested by any sort of energetic progressivism, which has been successfully diverted into worrying about things like epithets and jokes, rather than genuine economic advancement and status?

Let's face the fact that although it had been the hope of the Left that rhetorical reform if you will, would have become a precursor to real social change, it has become instead, a substitute for it. A diversionary cul-de-sac sapping our energies, our best fiery debating skills, and our political capital. Call me paranoid, but maybe that was the point all along? As long as we can be kept busy arguing about jokes, expressions and song lyrics, the impetus for real change in our society goes begging. I guess I don't have to tell you that in the 3 generations or so since the 1954 desegregation ruling, the family income in real dollars of American American households has gone DOWN vis a vis whites. And a woman born today has a not much better chance of growing up to head a Fortune 500 company than one born in 1950.

But hey---no one says "jungle bunny" anymore. Isn't that great?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

It's not about Niggers, ho's, or bitches.
It's about BUCKS$$$$$$$$
The corporate gollums who run the media in America couldn't care less about what they put out as long as it makes money.

They have their media ho's like sharpton and "Hymie Town" jackson who are always ready with a sound bite that attacks an individual but never the corporations that profit from them.

Now that's the political incorrect truth, deal with it.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Although Don Imus clearly said some things that were racist and mean spirited, all the hoopla over his big mouth is only a symptom of a much more egregious problem.

All the hoopla directed at this issue serves only to distract people from focusing on real issues that are far more critical to America. This kind of stuff only further enables those who want to lie, deflect the truth, prevent American's who are literally walking around in a coma from facing the truth and facing real issues at hand, head on.

We still have free speech in this country and although what Don Imus said was certainly not a demonstration of kindness, and compassion, there are real acts of pure hate being done to many, and not enough people are even raising an eyebrow about it.

The hoopla over Don Imus implies that it's ok to cause the deaths of many based on lies, it's ok to cause many to be maimed based on lies, but God forbid Don Imus says something inappropriate and everyone gets their knickers in a twist? Why are people getting their knickers in a twist over all the wrong issues and not paying attention to the acts, criminal acts that have been perpetrated against humanity? That's what I want to know!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

What Imus said was inappropriate. I am not defending him. I am however, pointing out that comparable things are said on radio and TV everyday by black "artists" The other day Al Roker called attention to a man with a large hat as looking. "47th(st/Ave?)" which leaves a semetic challenge. Not a word was said. Not long ago on ESPN a black ex-football player refered to the possibility that a certain QB's gradmother was fooling around because he has too much athletic ability to be rore white. That was OK.
Stupid white people sit and giggle when a character on TV, radio or movie refers to: honkey, whitey, white bread, tight ass, stick-up the butt and/or other trems I am unfamiliar with. The speakers are not called to task or berated. It seems that racist term directed at white people are ok.
Then we comes the stereotypical fugitive from the lodge hall of the Mystic Nights of the Sea, Al Sharpton. Shall we talk about the Tawana Brawly? Was there an apology there? I must have missed it.How about screaming at the brutally braten andraped Central Park jogger. "She's a WHORE" as he and the mob he brought with him stood on the courthouse steps where her 6 attackers were being tried for the crime (and found guilty). That was OK. I do not recall sharpton apologizing andI don't recall a public outcry for him to apologize. WhAT AN ATTITUDE FOR A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.
Howard Cosell and Jimmy the Greek paid aheavy price for their comments which were construed as anti black or racist but we can have a movie titled "White Men Can't Jump" and that is OK. Think about it.
'

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

He's merely a colorful reflection of contemporary black culture.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

"But Imus on his own would not have slurred the Rutgers women with the pejorative term "nappy headed ho's.""
You can not blame what Imus said on anyone other than Imus. Imus is in control of his own mouth. period.
Comparing Imus to Snoop is a little disingenuous. Snoop works the ghetto. Imus picked on royalty. Imagine the outcry had Snoop referred to Princess Di or any of the white tween stars on the Disney channel in gangbanger terms...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

For everyone who is wasting an enormous amount of time and energy on the Don Imus issue, it's beyond high time for all American's to take the bull by the horns and spend time and energy on more important issues. Until people wake up, snap out of the self induced coma of denial they have chosen to live in, racist issues will continue to arise. Read this:

By Lee Iacocca with Catherine Whitney

04/11/07 "ICH" -- -- -Had Enough? Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a
hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course." Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned Titanic.

I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out! You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need
it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do.

And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you? I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have. My friends tell me to calm down. They say,
"Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people." I'd love to, as soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention. I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

By Lee Iacocca with Catherine Whitney cont:
I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not pretty, but at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians to represent their interests.

Hey, America , wake up. These guys work for us. Who Are These Guys, Anyway? Why are we in this mess? How did we end up with this crowd in Washington ? Well, we voted for them, or at least some of us did. But I'll tell you what we didn't do. We didn't agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn't agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that's a dictatorship, not a democracy.

And don't tell me it's all the fault of right-wing Republicans or liberal Democrats. That's an intellectually lazy argument, and it's part of the reason we're in this stew. We're not just a nation of factions. We're a people. We share common principles and ideals. And we rise and fall together.

Where are the voices of leaders who can inspire us to action and make us stand taller? What happened to the strong and resolute party of Lincoln ? What happened to the courageous, populist party of FDR and Truman? There was a time in this country when the voices of great leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better. Where have all the leaders gone?

A Hell of a Mess.So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.

But when you look around, you've got to ask: "Where have all the leaders gone?" Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, competence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened. Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when "the Big Three" referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it? Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energycrisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

By Lee Iacocca with Catherine Whitney cont:

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bobblehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change? Had Enough? Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope. I believe in America . In my lifetime I've had the privilege Of living through some of America 's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises, the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Kennedy assassination, the Vietnam War, the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this: You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action.

Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to action for people who, like me, believe in America . It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the horseshit and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had enough

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Snoop doggy is an American citizen whose speech is protected by the first amendment. Who cares what he says? The issue isn't why he isn't similarly censored, the issue is why there is any censorship at all.

The reason black rappers aren't chastized by media, academia and the political system (collectively the opinion elite) is because those institutions are overrun by pro-minority chauvinists and bigots.

Their dogma goes something like this:

"If you go against your group interests while black you're an uncle tom, if you do so while white you're open-minded. If you express group interests while black you're standing up for your people, if you do so while white you're racist."

They enforce this dogma with neo-McCarthyite persecutions, i.e. organized blacklists, intimidation and economic strangulation of dissidents.

That's the issue. Just because we face neo-McCarthyite persecution for "racism" for expressing group interests while white doesn't mean we should have everyone else subject to the same treatment.

"Liberals and respectable conservatives say there is this RACE problem. Everybody says this RACE problem will be solved when the third world pours into EVERY white country and ONLY into white countries."

"The Netherlands and Belgium are as crowded as Japan or Taiwan, but nobody says Japan or Taiwan will solve this RACE problem by bringing in millions of third worlders and quote assimilating unquote with them."

"Everybody says the final solution to this RACE problem is for EVERY white country and ONLY white countries to "assimilate," i.e., intermarry, with all those non-whites."

"What if I said there was this RACE problem and this RACE problem would be solved only if hundreds of millions of non-blacks were brought into EVERY black country and ONLY into black countries?"

"How long would it take anyone to realize I’m not talking about a RACE problem. I am talking about the final solution to the BLACK problem?"

"And how long would it take any sane black man to notice this and what kind of psycho black man wouldn’t object to this?"

"But if I tell that obvious truth about the ongoing program of genocide against my race, the white race, Liberals and respectable conservatives agree that I am a naziwhowantstokillsixmillionjews."

"They say they are anti-racist. What they are is anti-white."

"Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white."

http://mantra7777.blogspot.com

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

With the Fairness Doctrine cast to the wayside (by the Reagan administration) we must be clear in differntiating between a host of an ostensible news/information program over public airwaves, and an artist spending money to make an album he hopes outlets related to music will play.

One operates institutionally; the other hopes to access the institutions.

All this is couched in the fact that people all the time fail to distinguish between rap (corporate) and hip-hop (culture); this will help you live the distinction:

Differentiate between "rap" and hip-hop culture...

An example of how hip-hop elevates women (as opposed to some forms of "rap")

Studying that which is shared in those links will help you properly locate Snoop's efforts. And Imus's. And the corporate forms behind both.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

This is yet another story to keep us entertained while more important things are side lined. This is not about race or the women at Rutgers. American Express, GM, Staples, Nextel. These are heavy hitters and they pulled their money from the Imus show. Imus's contract is about $10MM a year. I just don't believe the story as we're hearing it. The Rutgers team is being used to serve someone else's selfish interest. And it's not Imus. More apologies to come. Thanks, ANNA

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

is geffen the one behind the record label here, the same one who gave all that money to obama? i will be following this angle too. its not just about the black recording stars, but also about the ones who buy and listen and the ones who produce these. and i bet these are whites. the money passes many hands here, black and white and certain white ethnic groups. hope they all go to their respective churches and synagogues to atone. the womens groups dont care about women, just a single note group at this point .

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

The fact that Don Imus got fired is nothing more than the "Chickens coming home to roost" (Remember Malcom X speaking about President Kennedy when he was killed).

Please read this article with an open mind because we are discussing some racial problems that still exist in this country.

White America and mainly the white man has made many laws and rules in america that has come back to haunt him and cause him alot of pain and suffering. The reason I say the white man mainly is because he is the one who made the laws and rules to keep his own white woman oppressed and as a second class citizen.

So now think back to some of the laws and rules that were written by white america just to keep black people in america separated and oppressed. Many of the laws in america has been written and re-written to catch the black man in his web of racism.

Please keep in mind the racism that blacks in america have lived with after white europeans crossed the boarders of america and killed millions of native american indians. They stole the land from the indians and then had the guts to call the stolen land "The United States of America".

Remember the white man stole this county from the native american indians. After europeans arrived in this county this country was never united. That was one of the main reasons there was a Civil War. So as we talk about racism and chickens coming home to roost please keep an open mind.

I will give you a few incidents that has happened in this country in the past several years that are good examples of the "chickens coming home to roost".

1. The white man decided to sue OJ Simpson in a Civil Trial even though he had been found NOT GUILTY by the court system. This created a civil case feeding frenzy in america and now look at all of the white people who has been sued in civil trials since OJ Simpson. Many of these white people would have been able to keep all of their money and riches if they were not so hungry to change the laws just to go after OJ Simpson for killing a white woman and man.

2. When Justin Timberlake pulled back Janet Jackson's top and exposed her breast the country went crazy and started making all kinds of laws and penalties for those who crossed the line in media and television. Janet was "blackballed" from appearing at any future Super Bowl events. Remember around this same time the country was in a feeding frenzy over her brother Michael Jackson. The white media in this country made so many laws and penalties targeting Janet Jackson that it has now caused Don Imus to lose his job. The censorship chickens have come home to roost.

3. The white man changed his steroid rules just because Barry Bonds was getting ready to break Babe Ruth's homerun record. This steroid rule has now brought many of baseball's white heros crumbling down. During the 1970's and 1980's baseball was approxmately 30% black. Now today in 2007 it is approxmately 8% black. Now that the steroid rule is in place don't be surprised if in the next ten years baseball will again be approxmately 30% black. The reason is that if you know baseball at the high school and college level, you will find out that the majority of the white players are taking steroids just to improve their performance and make the team. This has led to a decline in black players who otherwise would have made the team. Remember black players are naturally gifted in the areas of speed, jumping and running and the majority do not take steroids. With the use of steroids the white ball player can compete and win a spot on the team. Since there will be testing for steroids you can expect a decline in the performance of white baseball players leaving the position to be filled by a naturally gifted black baseball player. History will show you that I am correct.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Back down on your complaining about Snoop. He is the official voice on treating Black Girls! Snoop knows what they want and how to give it to them. We lesser dudes simply follow his lead in treating the Black Girls tight and right.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

This is a great article. I was just reading a lot of the commentary. It surprises me when I hear people saying that Imus got a raw deal - that he deserves his right to free speech. He has his free speech. He just can't insult groups pf people on the public airwaves.
Imus needed to be fired because CBS could have lost their license. The people of the USA own the airwaves (not cable). The FCC regulations require that the people on the airwaves act in the public good.
Look around - more than half the population is female. We are a moving force in our society. Imus's comments were the tipping point. Women are tired of being called whores.
Check out the FCC regulations before you start complaining that Imus's firing was the result of liberals who want to ban free speech. If you think that Imus's firing was unjust you need to "bone up" on your American history.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Let's see....sex, violence (mostly against women), misogyny, lots of sick subliminals (mostly women in various grisly conditions of rape murder ect)....

But nooooo let's all crucify the black rappers......

It's ALL their fault, right?

Geez people..... OPEN YOUR EYES!!!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I guess ranlove really likes it here or he wouldn't have posted the same tired comment numerous times.

Really ranlove, don't be a dickhead. Once is enough. Your post wasn't that good and was far from original.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

There is a war: in Iraque. (in case you have forgotten!!!!!!)
Do you really think this issue is important enough to take the focus away from the war?
Who cares what this guy said... he has done this for years, and is known for his verbal assaults. . No news there!
Why are you serious about what he said at this time? Diversion?
Taking the focus away from Gonzales, from bush (spelled with a lower "b" deliberately), and his cronies? From Wolfowitz?
Don't fall for this BS!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Like a mooing herd, you people waste your time bickering about a non-issue such as the Imus 'scandal' while the USA is becoming more and more of a fascist state by the day.

Shame on you all.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

When is George W Bush going to apologize for the incredibly bigoted he has made toward African-Americans and muslims? Rather than try to attempt to make amends for their errors, the Bush Administration tries to justify their racism, and can't understand why he has such a poor showing among African-Americans When is Condoleeza Rice going to apologize for the ridiculous remarks she has made in the name of diplomacy? Contrary to what conservatives may think, she is a true embarassment to most people I know, and a disgrace to most African-Americans I know.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Indiana University just announced 3 Six Mafia, who won the Oscar for their song "It's Hard Out Here to Be a Pimp" will be performing at the Little 500 bicycle race. Wonder if the Lady Hoosiers will mount a boycott?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

roll down the windows and blast out all the things they, themselves would never dare to say. But I goddamn guarantee you that the words are racist just the same.

Sort of a proxy display of racists remarks they can claim innocence from because " they didn't write it'.

Well guess what, they bought it, they play it , they listen to it, so they must believe in it.

If someone where to get a copy of a David Duke speech, lay it down on a CD, and sell it to people, he would be a racist.

If someone buys it and puts into they're player and listens to it.....well, you do the math.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I see reverse psychology here, in Snoop Doggies new album agenda.
I see it as being Snoop Doggie's attempt at nfluencing positive attitudes from his brothers/sisters, and changes for the betterment of new generation Blacks.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Real girls get down on the flo' on the flo' [4x]
Like a Pimp
Real girls get down on the flo' on the flo' [2x]
Like a pimp
Real girls get down on the flo' on the flo' [2x]

[Lil' Flip]
By the time I hit the door
I saw hoes on the flo'
Niggas dressed in suits
Tricking all they dough*
Me imma pimp
I aint paying for no sex
Man I'd rather buy a car
Or a new rolex
Cause I got street fame*
So hoes flock like birds
I got one holding the weed*
I got one holding the serve *
When I hit the club
Imma be wit David Banner
A thug ass nigga
Wit bad table manners
We act bad (my nigga what is yall saying)
when we walk inside clubs*
Niggas hold they gal's hand
Cause they know we run trains (choo choo) all night
How could yo gal leave me
And be wit you all night
But its all right
Cause you know we don't kiss
Like Too $hort said
Bitches aint shit
I tried to told ya
Dat most girls really freaks
And dis is how they gotta
make they money every week

[Chorus {repeat 4 times]
Real girls get down on the flo' on the flo' [2x]
Like a pimp

[David Banner]
Step into club looking just like a pimp
We got cash
So we screaming out "shake something BITCH"
This is the song
Tell the DJ put it on
Micheal Tyler made you shake
Sisqo made you show your thong
Bitch im dead wrong
The playa from the crib
So get out on the flo'
And girl get it how you live
And since you so hot (hot)
Then show yo pussy lips
Go to Tugallo, but I know you still flip
Bitch don't trip
Aint a damn thang changed
I still love my queen
But bitches keep me to the game
So if you gotta hoe
Shake em up and let em go uhh
And let them girls get down on the flo' on the flo'
Like a Pimp

[Chorus]

[Lil' Flip]
Now don't you hate them ole'
Lying ass hoes
Smiling in your face
Wearing her best friends clothes
I suppose
They like the way me and Banner pimp
You can catch us at Poppa Do's
Eating steak and shrimp

[David Banner]
Or you can catch us at E&G pouring it up
Flip whipping Cali trucks
Guls licking my nuts
We some south side pimps
And we aint giving a fuck
Fuck yo gul up in the throat
And make her swallow the nut

[Lil' Flip]
We make em
Swallow the nut so
Follow the truck
Lil' Flip and David Banner
We got all of the butts and
All of they sluts and
All of the hoes
So drop it like its hot girl
Touch yo fucking toes
Oohh

[David Banner]
Gone touch yo toes and
Make me a roll and
Gone hit the mall
And buy me some clothes mayne
And if yo boy's trill
Imma bust a clip
Yall bitches can't fuck wit me
And

[Lil' Flip]
Lil' Flip Nigga
Nigga Nigga
Yea nigga
This for the real money makers out there you know
Get yo mother fucking money
Don't worry bout the next nigga
Get yo mother fucking money
Get yo mother fucking money nigga
Uh get your money money
Money money

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

There's your comparaison. Not the entirety of Hip Hop music and the comments of Imus. The gay community rallied against Isaiah, which led to his termination (maybe if the gay community had more recognizable 'spokespeople' like Sharpton or Jackson, you could call them out, too). Was there a backlash against gay people being able to use the word f*ggot amongst themselves, but not the general public? Is there a difference when gay people call themselves queer than when straight people do it? I don't understand why Hip Hop, in it's entirety, should be compared to the comments of one individual. If not Isaiah Washington, what about Mel Gibson or Michael Richards? This has become less about the repercussions of an individual making an insensitive remark and more about telling an entire community of people to check themselves... and I don't get it. Comparing apples and oranges if you ask me. A lot of people (black, white, purple, blue...) speak out about the negativity of SOME hip hop. What does that have to do with Imus?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

This is not the first time that comedians making profane and offensive remarks in political venues have been fired because of market pressure. When Whoopi Goldberg made racy Anti-Bush remarks at a John Kerry fundraiser, she was terminated (within a week) by Slim Fast execs who acquiesced to threats made by conservative websites to organize a boycott of the Slim Fast product. Whoopi did not get the option of a two week suspension for this first time transgression. She was fired.

When Don Imus made profane and offensive remarks on his show, which has been building a political forum since 1988, for his 47th transgression, he was first presented with suspension and then subject to termination. Organizations committed to protecting the rights of blacks and women may have brought attention to Don Imus’ racist/sexist rant but it was the threat of a broad multi-cultural and non-gender specific boycott of MSNBC and CBS corporate sponsors that caused Imus to be fired. The FCC did not fine him or pressure anyone to fire him, corporations did.

Although, I agree with the writer that Hip Hop has serious issues as it relates to women, black women in particular. I think the articles attempt to address the perceived hypocrisy in the entertainment industry as it relates to race, misogyny and power (specifically that of negative expression) is off target. The problem is that Hutchins gives the impression that Snoop and Don Imus are professional equals. They are not. It would be like comparing Vanessa Del Rio (porn star) to Janet Jackson. They both are entertainers with broad television exposure but, as a porn star, Vanessa can bare her breast without the threat of FCC fines and large scale public objection that threatens her career. Janet Jackson cannot.

Also, we should not forget that for many years there has been many black/feminist organizations and cultural critics who challenge the representation of race and misogyny throughout American culture and hip hop as a microcosm of this culture- C. Delores Tucker, Joan Morgan, Patricia Hill Collins, bell hooks, Kevin Powell and the Women at Spelman College who offered to engage Hip Hip artist Nelly in dialogue regarding his offensive “Tip Drill Video” to name a few.

On this issue, Don Imus is not the victim of hypocrisy. He has made a thirty year career of verbal violence and did not have to change his style for fear of reprimand or redress until he was close to retirement. Black/Feminist/Womanist organizations have been challenging questions of race and misogyny for many years despite efforts to undermine their success(es). Don Imus’ created his own hot seat. He should be allowed to sit there- Alone. He should not be able to share responsibility and blame with anyone else for this matter; especially those organizations, who in this case. have made valiant effort to stand up for young people and protect the value of womanhood, identity and cultural respect in this country.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

..as opposed to the racist propaganda of the 'zj' element
('wrinkled nose' sniff...sniff...) :O)
CREWHH

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

There is white man rage against african american man's slurs -some is accomplished through harsh immitation and some through sardonic humor, perhaps both dashed with a hope that the african american community would step up against the wasteland of rap guetto sentiment and put a pin in the media industry that has benefited from the largely ugly debasement of human nature and the twenty-five year,extremely successful industry it has spawned-
Is it uglier than calling a basketball team ho's- you're right it's the Minter of the phases that has created the pseudo legitamacy of the semantics, in this case referring to women. Rap (ironically called), is the inventor, of the venacular, that creates the frankensteins in us all..as we try to see human potential and call it out in our expressions that can have newly minted powerful meanings in our media culture. What's next?

Can we only suggest that this might be the moment when a culture offers a new venacular, making peace not hatred, humanism not human debasement the franc dejeur.

Of course we could, but in our post modernist struggle with optimism, we will need a whole sea change that sees the damage that words can cause in our efforts to create civilization we will want our children to live in.We don't really mean african american woman are (whores) ho's any more than we mean that the Iraq War is a part of the (Global War on Terror) GWOT, unless it suits our cynical purposes.So it's about time we stopped the syn-ical mis-use of our language and suggested that our dignity as a common people demands more of us. There is hope in the crash of the shock-ful use of language that creates anxiety and fear-let's see if we can advocate and to a large extent invent it's alternative: One conversation, one song, one video, political speech and media program at a time.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Joe Francis the founder of 'White Girls Gone Wild' videos which are advertised on numerous channels, once had Snoop Dog promoting the degradation of White women in their videos. Snoop got pissed off because Francis would not include Black women in his videos and quit. White men have promoted their women as Hoes for years, now they are all of a sudden up set because Blacks ask them to stop degrading Blacks and Black Women. If we choose to attack our own women that's our business. Now, do you really believe I like what Black men are doing to Black women? NO! But we have for many years been fighting to bring that sickness to a end. What are Whites doing to stop the degradation of their women. You may want to start with " Girls Gone Wild."

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Although he's a scumbag and deserved to be sacked, lets be done with Imus already. His scandal came at a good time for Bush - drawing attention away from the (let me put it in gentle terms) major clusterfuck that the Bush Administration has created.

Time to refocus the national attention on Bush and his messes and scandals. And the ones yet to come - I think we are seeing just the tip of the melting iceberg.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Suggesting Snoop Dog's new album be halted from release is some crazy fascist jive! That's big time censorship (granted 2 Live Crew set the precident with having a banned album in many places...). Censorship is the job of Fox News and the rest of the goon media.

The Imus story is another scenario altogether. The radio has FCC language guidelines and an unwritten ethics code, much like television. Radio and TV are so tied to advertising, that ethics must be involved.

Music is art and Snoop Dog pisses off many folk, but he is an artist whose album you don't have to hear a pipsqueak from if you don't desire. Just laugh AT him for thinking he's a pimp- are you mad that you're not?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

how steeped in filth white racist ,misogynistic 'civilization' is and has been for decades ...centuries ..INDEPENDENT of 'gangsta rap' Who the F are you kiddin'???..Here is just a small sampling based on the last few decades :
RES (SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM ON HOT LINK)
DPTH
I defy any of the 'poor baby' dejected white boys who lost their leader to read thru the stuff on those two sites alone, rife with nearly every conceivable female debasing perversion,and then shoot your mouth(s) off with pious outrage as if BLACK 'rappers' had somehow invented that which YOU have $$wallowed$$ in for who knows how long....what hypocrites.
BTW...I didn't notice you particularly engaged in one of the most hotly debated Alternet articles about the deep seated WHITE based misogyny in addition to white racism in the porn industry:
Facing the pornography industry forces us to acknowledge the deep misogyny and white supremacy that still exists in the culture, even with the gains of the feminist and civil-rights movements. Both women and men might understandably be afraid of confronting what pornography tells us about the cruelty of our culture, our own sexual socialization, and the difficult struggles we face to create a world free of sexual violence. From:
ALT (SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM)
No...like I been sayin'..How quickly white racists forget about THEMSELVES : :O)
In February of 1998, Pistol offered Monica Lewinsky and President Clinton $2.5 million each to perform sex in an Arrow remake of Deep Throat. "This is a dead serious offer," said Pistol. "The checks are on my desk already made out to President Clinton and to Monica.
===============
Arrow communications director Marc Medoff says Deep Throat has grossed over $250 million, making it the most successful independent film of all time.
The necessary changes--and they ARE needed-- to Black culture must originate from within...not imposed by some wrzj lynch mob. :O)
Oh ....how's that middle aged jewish woman who was stomped out
(literally..kicked in the face, etc.etc.)on a bus in Jerusalem by jew men in some (Yiddish rappers?) religious sect ,because she refused
to sit in the back of the bus!!!!.....what's up with that ?? :O)
(THE ACTUAL HOT LINKS ARE A FEW POSTS UPTHREAD
WHERE THIS IS POSTED AS A REPLY TO veggiegrrrl)

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

This writer is way off base targeting the "artist" Snoop.

It is the capitalist corporations, and not the "artists", that are the ones spewing this poison into the "culture". It is no different than someone poisoning the water system, or cutting bread with sawdust.

That is why there is a Pure Food and Drug Act.

The main difference is that what constitutes "artistry" is much more a question of subjective taste and judgment than with food. Therefore would-be artists are to be free to demonstrate their appeal in whatever private venue (nightclubs, etc) appropriate to the artform. It is then left to the individual to judge the "artistic" merit of the Snoop Doggys of the world.

By the same token the "public space" should be free of those expressions which can be determined to be poisonous to the participants in that space. And that CAN be determined: just ask African Americans, women, etc.

The real problem is that we don't really have a "public space" worthy of the name. It's been appropriated by the capitalists for their private use. Consequentially is is no surprise that it is not only a sewer of racism and sexism, but also of militarism and perpetual war. A whole network of foul smelling underground sewers. How can there be anything that can be referred to as a "culture" without a public space?

But we don't see Al Sharpton and the rest of these grandstanding frauds addressing that.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

There are many black and white young women who are raised to ,"go for the money". Some are taught by their parents and others are just plain opportunist. They would only
date black men that were drug dealers,rappers and those involved in sports. These are the black men that could afford their materialistic life style.

When snoop dogg and other rappers became successful they remembered those women and called them what they felt they
deserved. I am a black woman that was raised up in the hood
and I never felt offended by any of the condescending lyrics,
because I knew who the rappers were referring to and it certainly was not me. It was instilled in me by my parents to continue to achieve a higher education and depend on self,which, I have accomplished.


I am not condoning the use of those degrading words,however, what I am stating is that , Don Imus
did not discriminate...he just did not care, those young ladies
did not deserve that. He put all black women in the same catorgory. The rappers do discriminate,because their are white women as well as black that fall under those negative terms.

Let's not get it twisted, Imus has been in broadcasting for over forty years, he has a clue,he has never been made accountable for his actions.

The real sad part of it is:Racism is a mental illness.
There is alot of mental ill people in this world.
You have to be insane to dislike someone because of the color of their skin...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

It is really very simple.

What Imus said was wrong.
He may have been kidding. He may be a nice guy.
What he said was wrong, and this time he got called on it.
That is all there is to it.
Very few criminals get caught for committing there very first crime. So maybe this wasn't his first time?

Ad guys got Imus removed from radio, not minorities.
He needs to apologize to the companies that pay his salary.
They felt slighted for the possible offenses taken by their customer base. That is why they pulled their money and his job along with it.

The apology to the team was nice. But Imus, they never listened to you anyway.
The good news is.........
Now you can be a rapper!

Free speech Imus, sorta (Lol)

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Read Buckley's column on web. Hundreds of dignitaries(?) , including network ceos and both Bush and his wife, enjoyed Imus' half-hour of smut and insults at a glittering get-together for the power elite. Yes, they loved every minute of it.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Somebody should sign this wrinkly little shit to a gangsta label. He's hot. Maybe him and Snoop lurching out the hits...

Ebony and ivory, we don't need no stinkin' irony...

Gabba gabba hey!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I agree with your comments, but, please, do not blame the left for what some black leaders are doing. Right now, I am ashamed to be a Democrat since I disapprove of Sharpton and Jackson for their moronic actions. While I do not care for,or watch Don Imus, I do not think he should have lost his job.
I see blacks claiming racism everytime they do not like something being said and meanwhile, Snoop- Dogg that acts like a pig, lives on. Shame on all of them.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

in his pandering to the new-old conservative streak in black america, earl ofari hutchinson is pushing a false argument--by unethically leaving out much to this Imus scandal and (like the mainstream media) focusing on one word--"ho". Hutchinson doesn't mention the use of "Jigaboo" in that same discourse, or a month earlier where the show referred to blacks at a Civil Rights march as having "gold teeth and cornrows" and comparing them to gangmembers, or mocking poems that made light of slavery. And the list goes on, from references on the Imus show to Venus Williams as an "animal" who belonged in "National Geographic" to the lack of blacks on the show Jeapordy being because they don't recruit at prisons or have affirmative action. and this guy was not in the dismal gutters that Savage and Limbaugh dwell in, but on mainstream media, interviewing and associating with elite pundits and politicians. That's why he had to go. Of course, that's too much nuanced thought for Hutchinson. Blaming Snoop for "Jigaboo." Hmm. Hard to fit. And since he had an axe to grind with Hip Hop, he unethically narrows the story so it fits his angle, and once again allows whites to (endlessly) duck the self responsibility they constantly *whine* others should follow. If you have an issue with Hip Hop Earl, state it. But doing it this way, is pathetic. Keep up the shoddy work. With journalism like yours, who needs FOX News ?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

what Hutchinson (and the white crybaby chorus on Alternet that he protects) seem to miss, besides the glaring difference between an entertainer who can never interview presidential candidates and a media elite engaging in derogatory comments, is that the same "thug" hop they throw up repeatedly as a smokescreen to hide their white-guilt (or lack-there-of) is not consumed by Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, those black players at Rutgers or most blacks. by all stats, some 70 to 80% of it is consumed by *whites*---particularly white males.

so eliminating thug rap and words like "ho" from music is right up there with eliminating porn. noble yes. realistic, doubtful. sex and violence is all-american. and if u add a black face to it, it becomes a multibillion dollar boon consumed rapaciously and primarily by whites. so since its doubtful u're going to get "thug" hop artists to change their lyrics, any more than you'll get a white female porn star to become a feminist (there's money to be made, even if its in your *own *exploitation), u're left to go after the people who consume most of it--white males. and the chances of getting white males to wean off their long-time addiction (take it back to minstrels and vaudeville) to blacks as stereotypical entertainment is high up there on the implausibility meter.

so Earl's going after the rappers, and the producers of the movies and music is not going to/hasn't worked--just like going after Imus in previous yrs to change his show (black journalist Clarence Page actually had him take a pledge back in 2001--which he immediately broke) never worked. in the end, what brought Imus down was that his enablers/backers (advertisers, large media outlets, etc) were pressured by a sustained and swift campaign. they knew that were the *full* story of Imus show be outed (past references to the Williams sisters as animals, making fun of slavery, etc), it would be indefensible as part of the mainstream.

so Imus was sent back to the dungeons--like Limbaugh had
to do after his mishap on espn. can't take away the freedom of speech of Imus, or thug hop. but u can demand that they be divorced from the mainstream, and relegated to the dungeon--like porn. and let those that want to go seek it out, be able to do so. but just like Imus need not be the mainstream face of msnbc, thug hop need not be the mainstream face of black culture on BET or MTV. case in point, VH1 Soul is a station that shows primarily black music--Hip Hop, RnB, etc. But it's like night and day from what is marketed mostly for white male (and tragically, black children's) consumption on Viacom owned BET or MTV. For some reason, corporate forces have decided that adult content is fine for black mainstream culture. Any other type of Hip Hop or RnB is considered "alternative."

mainly black activists (yes, including Sharpton and Jesse) have been screaming this for *years* at the big media groups/owners (all remarkably white) to no avail, and with no press to back them up. they've been demanding that adult content Hip Hop and RnB be placed as late-nite entertainment or in a separate space. And that less violent/derogatory black music (again--its right there on VH1 Soul!) be the mainstream. but ain't nobody been listening.

so when Earl and all you white whiners who hate thug Hop (tho' u probably own all the albums) want to join in to demand some FAIRNESS for black media, so that we are not reduced to just those blacks who either feel they must pander to white fairytales of noble savages and sexual exotics to make money, or (worse yet) those who have actually begun to believe the stereotypes created to define them, we'd appreciate ya' support.

tell me when ya' ready.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

The Amos n' Andy duo was a creation of and played by two WHITE MEN on the radio from 1928 to 1943...it was a savage weekly exploitation of the worst imaginable racist stereotypes of blacks. For many of you whites, this was how your parents and grandparents were encouraged to view Black America.Do a Google Advanced Search with Amos n' Andy as an exact phrase and 'racism' as a single word above the exact phrase box: The Mark Freeman article AMOS 'N' ANDY: PAST AS PROLOGUE? should be among the first listed:
Right at the top:
Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia
CLICK THIS MUSEUM LINK FOR FULL COLOR VERSION!
AMOS 'N' ANDY: Past as Prologue?
By Mark Freeman Excerpt:
This is how the NAACP characterized it's objections to the
TV show: (Premiered in 1951)
1. It tends to strengthen the conclusion among uniformed and prejudiced people that Negroes are inferior, lazy, dumb and dishonest.
2. Every character in this show with an all negro cast is either a clown or a crook.
3. Negro doctors are shown as quacks and thieves.
4. Negro lawyers are shown a slippery cowards, ignorant of their profession and without ethics.
5. Negro women are shown as cackling screaming shrews, in big-mouthed close-ups using street slang just short of vulgarity.
6. All Negroes are shown as dodging work of any kind.
7. Millions of white Americans see this Amos 'n' Andy picture and think the entire race is the same.
Why was the NAACP eventually more successful in mounting a campaign against the TV show than the radio show? Before World Ware II the NAACP had been a shadow of its postwar size and strength. But "membership increased 10 times over during the 1940s. By.....
continuing Freeman writes:
Even The Cosby Show while seeming to be the exception to this trend, ironically its portrait of successful blackprofessionals may have reinforced pre-conceptions among white viewers. For both Amos 'n' Andy and Cosby live in world which seems determined only by personal choice. Cliff Huxtable's affluence and the Kingfish's chronic unemployment are not placed in a social context. Racism,discrimination, the historical roots of poverty and lack of opportunity are nowhere to be found in these shows. Cosby and the Kingfish both move in a world without social constraints, wher individual initiative or it's lack are the only determinants.
..as one can see
White America's eagerness to help black America develope a robust healthy productive self image is well known!!!
Also.... (Back to Imus)..Google Eleanor Clift's online Newsweek article " Market Forces" (42007)
Excerpt:
Former Newsday columnist and editor Les Payne began writing about Imus’s racist invective as far back as the 1970s. And the liberal Web site TomPaine.com’s archive is full of “Imus Watch” items detailing his racist, sexist and homophobic remarks over the years.
In a May 23, 1993, column, when Imus was “on the verge of national syndication,” Payne wrote: “No advice on good taste breaks through the studio din, where, like David Koresh in his tower, Imus works surrounded by a choir of white male sycophants doing backup singing ... Black female celebrities, such as Oprah Winfrey and Aretha Franklin, are invariably put down as ‘black hos.’ Funny? I don’t think so. Rumors of a relationship between Whoopie Goldberg and Ted Danson struck [producer Bernard McGuirk], to the roar of the white male locker room, as ‘jungle retardation.’ Upon hearing his boss cite a black woman defending Imus against my criticism, McGuirk, in his best Amos ‘n’ Andy voice, mocked, ‘You ain’t no racist, Mister Imus, nah suh. No, thank you, I don’t want no watermelon!’"
There's much more.... guy!!! :O)

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Bascially, we have a LOT of posters (mainly white and male) who seem to think Snoop Dogg is the cause of all the negative images surrounding black people, and therefore because of something they've heard him or other rappers say, means that what Don Imus said really isn't all that big deal.

Again, for those who aren't smart enough to grasp this concept, I'll simplify it for you...TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE A RIGHT. Just because some rapper said it, or you heard it on BET doesn't make it right, nor does everyone in the black community refer to women in this fashion. Aren't you folks teaching your kids this?

By the way, since most of you obviously don't get out or read much, there have been people in the black community who've spoken out against the negativity in rap and hip-hop. C. Delores Tucker instantly comes to mind (and I'm sure that many of you white guys vilified her as some kind of censor). There were also the women of Spellman College who boycotted Nelly. There are groups on HBCU campuses made up of young black men who are taking an active stand on violence against women. Several years ago there was a pastor of a large church in New York who took a steamroller to hundreds of CDs that featured negative depictions of black women and the black community (I forget what his name was at the time of this post, but I'll find it). It would be nice if you guys would actually do your homework first before you open your mouths.

Long before Snoop and 50 Cent, there was the idea that black people were only 3/4 of a person and that we did not have souls. Who can we blame for this? Certainly not Lil Jon not the Yin Yang Twins. This was how you justified slavery and Jim Crow, through dehumanizing black people.

The thing is, most white folks have ALWAYS had negative feelings about blacks in some form or fashion and blaming Snoop for this is not only silly, but proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's easier to point fingers at someone else's backyard than it is to look at the mess in your own.

Again, TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE A RIGHT. The excuses have run out.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

To all the people protesting and saying black women need to stand up for themselves, you need to get out of a bubble. Black women and men have been criticizing black entertainers that demean the black community for years. It is just that white people are not privy to this because they assume that black people do not take try to take care of themselves and do not even try question their biased assumptions. I read black publications,articles,and websites all the time and it is full of self-critique. This issue has been brought up several times-several times. Which means that if these entertainers and rappers have caught flak for this, what makes Imus so special. And to be honest, I know white people, and all groups for that matter, can say rightfully offensive things within their group that they do not want others to say, why the double standard with us; why should we be so different. No group has the right to flaunt their sense of entitlement, be self-righteously condescending, and expect the said targeted group to take this without a whimper of protest. This is a free country We have the right to talk about ourselves the way we like with out anyone else censure or seal of approval. I do not approve of what Snoop says either, but I do not see any reason to let Imus off the hook; and the devil with anybody black or white that think we should.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]