Imus and Rutger's Women's Basketball.

Here's what I think about public figures saying crazy things, and then backing off, apologizing, and saying they don't really feel that way:

When you're a public figure, you're by design guarded when you're on the air, when you're being recorded, or when you're talking to a reporter. So when something from that guarded mindset comes out, like Imus' remarks, I get the feeling that not only is that how they really feel, how they really feel may even be more extreme. If he says that kind of stuff on the air, what's really going on in his head?

So to me, apologies don't hold water. You said it, it's how you feel, so stand by it.

You're making a whole lotta assumptions there, Jim.  Unless you have some inside knowledge of what goes on in his head, I wouldn't presume to know a thing about what he "actually thinks".

Everytime someone says something like that the reaction is always, "FIRE THEM!"  That part I don't like.  You know, because the people who want the firing never said anything offensive, controversial, or racisit that would upset another person or race.  Maybe they have.  Maybe they haven't.  If they ever did, they sure as heck are not going to let us peek into that closet.

The man even had enough backbone to go on Al Sharpton's radio show.  I give him credit for owning up to his comment.

If this is true, imagine how Jerry Falwell really feels about Tinky Winky Teletubby.

Sure, I say stupid things all the time. But I'll tell you this, and this I know. If I was at work, in a meeting, and called someone a "nappy-headed ho", I'd be looking for another job. I wouldn't be having meetings with Al Sharpton to discuss my feelings. I wouldn't be offered the chance to apologize. I wouldn't be required to get some "treatment". I'd be handed a cardboard box and promptly escorted out the door.

Of course I don't know what he actuallythinks, but his words on the air give me a clue.

Why would anyone of any stripe, who doesn't consider himself a racist or a bigot, say something like that at work, and on the air?

I don't consider myself a racist or a bigot, and it's not even inthe realm of possibility that I would say somethinglike that. When I'm drunk I don't hurl racial slurs. When I'm angry I don't hurl racial slurs. When I'm trying to be funny I don't hurl racial slurs.

I just can't think of any plausible explanation for why an apology would suffice. I mean, sure, maybe he's sorry he offended someone. But is that enough? Can an apology really settle the issue? To me, only a racist and a bigot would say somethinglike that without a gun to his head. ANd if I own a broadcasting company, and I make my money on advertiser's dollars, I don't want a racist and a bigot working for me.

But that's jsut me.

It's not a free speech issue. Of course, the guy has every right to be a bigot and every right to express his bigoted opinions.

The issue is whether a bigot has the right to have a radio show, employed by a broadcasting corporation who makes money off of advertiser's dollars. I don't know a lot of advertisers that want to be associated with bigots, so now they are pulling their ads. That's their right. And If I own the broadcasting company, and my talent isn't attracting advertisers, then I can't afford to have him on the air.

But Imus is free to go the cable access route, or write a blog, or books (if he can find a publisher). Or give speeches or talk to his friends.

I am so bothered by this whole thing for all of the obvious reasons, but the difference between Hardaway, Michael Richards (Welshy's Ken!) etc, and Imus is this: Imus went after a bunch of college kids- kids who busted their butts to get where they got (grammar ick) who were identified and labeled accoridng to racist and sexist terms. 17-21 year old kids, worked their off to get farther than any other team in their university.  They are not adults, an ex pro player, a rowdy adult at a comedy club... I am not excusing any of these behaviors, but I am so horrified that any adult would speak about kids that way, honest, hardworking young women who were reduced to such hurtful terms. It makes me sick.

It doesn;t matter what you, Bluejack, or I think about this at all, since the decision will be made due to the amount of pressure that the loudest voices offer....

If I were Rutgers, I would be pushing for serious repercussions, if I were a Rutgers parent, I would be crying in my hands that I worked so hard to be able to provide for my kids, help them get to college where they are apparently, not safe.  Ugh, I can;t even talk about this articulately I am so upset by it.

I think you did a pretty good job...

The only reason this is news is that up to the point that this happened, nothing was going on in the news. It took finding out who the real father of anna Nicole's baby was to get this off the front page. This is also a case of select wordings as well. If the whole clip is played, the two are commenting on how cute the Tennessee team is, but that the Rutgers are "nappy headed hoes." I don't think this excuses the comment overall, but this is being construed as racist when in fact it was more about physical presentation than race. I guess my point is how can one call some black girls "cute" and others "nappy" and be racist? If he were truly racist, they would all be nappy, no?

I think there has been a total lack of things that can elevate Sharpton and Jesse Jackson as well. They just need this or Tawana Brawley, et al, to get more prime airtime, so this fits into their bill. If one were to follow Al Sharpton for a year, I bet we could put that guy to bed with all the inflammatory comments he makes towards whites or other non-black "oppressors."

I agree on the free speech thing too. Where is the ACLU? These girl's civil rights have not been infringed upon. If anything, they will ultimately benefit form this: books, interviews, etc. If the news wouldn't have blown this up, these girls would have never heard this, as I am sure none of them even listen to Imus. Also, these girls go to Rutgers. That is a great school! I am sure that they will need counseling and therapy to overcome this insensitivity, and will be downtrodden forever due to these comments.

I have been called worse, as I am sure we all have. If we are looking for an excuse to argue or feel sorry for ourselves, we all have one. Imus apologized, and he will go on. This should be the end of the story. We all get thrown at us all our lives, and always will. Get over it. Man up.

When people say that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have no place calling for his head because the market will decide his fate, what kind of thinking is that?  The advertisers might not be bailing on  him and he might not be suspended if those guys had not raised heck the way that they did.  Don't you think there's a direct correlation there?  Jesse Jackson called for a national boycott of sponsors of his show in a column in the Chicago Sun Times a couple of days ago.

Not that I frequently support Jesse Jackson's tactics.  I love how he jumps on the network right away for not having any African-American hosts of shows.  This is an old pattern.  Many years ago he led campaigns against local liquor distributors and Annheuser Busch because there were no minority owners of liquor distributors in Chicago.  The result?  One of Jesse Jackson's sons ended up owning the distributor that has, among other desirable customers, Wrigley Field in its territory. 

It's also funny to see people's reactions around here to this, because Chicago is a very provincial town and most national radio hosts don't do too well here.  Even Stern took years to finally break into the local market and even then never did too well.  Most people don't even know who Imus is and very few have ever heard his show.  The general reaction seems to be "Why do people care what some radio jerk says?"

As for what's going to happen to Imus, I don't think we have to worry too much about it.

I think Stake has probably already launched some sort of covert op...

Was this supposed to be in Sarcasm font? PLEASE!

These girls were scholarship girls. Title IX, minority. Div. 1 NCAA Womens Basketball is a scholarship sport. There was not a walk on in this team. Also, how does an old guy in NY, make them "unsafe" in NJ? This is way way out.

Here's how it works:

1) Celebrity says racist stuff on the air.

2) Public uproar.

3) Apology ensues.

4) All is forgiven.

5) Listeners get the message that you can say anything, as long as you apologize.

6) Pretty soon, it's so accepted that racist talk is ok, no apology required.

Why is it OK to name call students who are on athletic scholariships? 

Are you a white man?  Do you have ANY idea how  it feels to be a young black woman in this country, where the gold standard for physical beauty is white? Do you have ANY idea about the history and politics of the word "nappy?" Are you a parent of a young woman?

I don't think I am way way out, I think you, frankly, have no idea what you are talking about if you don;t understand the concept of emotional safety.

Cervelo, you have said or written approximately nothing that I have ever agreed with here on BT, which is just fine. I try not to antagonize you or respond to you bc we see things so differently. But in this case, I am sorry. You don;t get it, and you sound really clueless. 

 you do not understand that nappy is a rascist word? OK that explains a lot about the nonsense that follows

 you have been called worse?  Are you a 17 year old black woman?  How can you possibly compare your feelings of "being called worse" to the way a young black women in this country feels? I am stunned at this.

"Man up." yeah, I don;t know why I even bother... 

We all have said things we instantly regret, but it's usually not pre-meditated or intentionally malicious and I don't think it was in this case either.

Imus was trying be funny (which he gets paid for) and instead he stepped on it big time.   And most unfortunately, he did on a major radio and cable network. 

Should he suffer consequences as a result?  Absolutely.   My view of the world is that most everything eventually comes down to economics, and in this case his sponsors will ultimately decide Imus' fate as a broadcaster.

I have to admit that I listen to Imus on occasion and particularly enjoy his directness and candor when discussing political issues.  But at times I am also very uncomfortable with some of the skits and jokes, which can be offensive to my personal tastes and views.  I've heard a lot worse on his show and nothing was ever said about it.

I think that those who are trying to make this offhand comment into a reflection on race or sexual prejudice in our society are way off base.  I don't recall anyone making Don Imus the offical spokesperson for white, middle-class America:  he certainly doesn't speak for me.   And I just love those pillars of morality, Sharpton and Jackson, passing judgement - talk about hypocracy!  They're just pushing their own agendas and Imus' slip up has given them a stage. 

IMHO, this is an issue that should be handled behind closed doors between Imus and the Rutgers women.

Mark

Nappy:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nappy

With regards to your post, we DO disagree on most things, and that is OK. My points were that you made a diatribe of the hardship these girls ha dto get to Rutgers. While none of truly know, we CAN count on the fact that they are scholarship athletes, so There isn't too much hardship in that.

Point 2_ Yes I am a white man. The pinnacle of beauty is a white woman. hmmmm... tell this to tyra, beyonce ,shakira, iman, j lo... I can go on forever. Do YOU have any idea of the history of NAPPY? There is a hip hop group called "Nappy Roots." This is total garbage, IMO, but just that. Just as you can support Imus' firing, etc., I can look the other way.

The concept of emotional safety does not superced the concept of being a strong individual either. Think of the most hateful thing that could be said about yourself. I have had much, much worse lobbed at me about my background, family, and things out of my control that you have absolutely no concept of, but I am sure have things on a similar level that could be said that might inflict the same response. So lets go from there. What would you do? Break down? Cry? Have a press conference? Maybe, but for the most part, you pull it together and move on. which is what needs to be done here.  When I say " man up" I mean get over it.

So yes, we disagree and I can live with that. I am sure that at some point, being that we are both Midwesterners, our paths will cross at a race, and we will more than likely get along swimmingly, but this is something that we will have to agree that neither is absolute, and this is simply a matte rof opinion, which is the purpose of forums and free speech anyways, no?

1.  This dude's pretty much a shock jock in the vein of Howard Stern.  Of course he's gonna say dumb crap like that.  In the long run, all this attention is probably making him money. 

2.  I honestly saw this more as a gender issue than a race issue.  I have called people and been called "nappy".  Generalizing the entire team as "hoes" I thought was out of line.

3.  During their press conference one of the players said something that I think basically summarized the situation (and what I feel most bad about).  Beyond ESPN, almost no mention was made of their accomplishments.  No one cared that they overcame pretty long odds to make it to the finals of the women's tourney, but when some simpleton calls them a name suddenly everyone wants to know what's going on. 

It's a shame it took this to get people to even notice them.  They probably would have been better off if people did what they'd been doing before and not paid any attention to them or Imus and let them enjoy their accomplishments.

bts

I think Imus is an idiot, and his opinion doesn't matter to me.   It's evident to me that these women are championing hard work, good health and team work and should be praised rather than ridiculed.   I think sponsors and listening audience will eventually handle the situation (I hope).

  Not having been the target or slurs (besides my junior and high school buddies, which isn't even remotely the same as a public statement by a radio host), I can't get a good grasp on the impact of this idiot's comments. That's why I put this post up, to see what people thought.  

  To approach a delicate topic: I think we all have some bigotry rattling around in our brain.  I think, to some degree or another, we all have parts of our consciousness that separate self from non-self and prod our more animal self towards certain conclusions.  I think our conscience (superego, spiritual intellect or whatever you want to call it) can overcome some of these impulses. 

  To give an example from my own life> The other day I saw a woman friend of mine who works here at the VA. She is a runner and in the lunch line she started talking about her recent 10k.  Now I like this person and I hoped she and my wife could make  a connection so that Erin (my wife) could have more motivation to meet her fitness goals (she's in a rut).

  "My wife Erin would love to run with you!"  I realized right away that I was assuming that my friend couldn't keep up with me.  Not becasue she was a woman, but because I was tapering for IMAZ and I was some sort of end. stud.  How arrogant that was!

Lucky for me, my woman friend smiled and said, "She'd like to do some shorter stuff I suppose?"

"We could all go together." I said, backtracking. I felt awful.

Now the question is, is that all of me?  That one comment?  It was stupid!  Part of me is some arrogant jerk who thinks he is now the enduromeister (even though I know a zillion people just here at BT, or in Augusta for that matter who can whup my butt).  The fact of the matter is, that a lot of me is a nice fellow that wants everyone to be healthy, and most of me realizes that there are very few people I don't want to learn something from when it comes to my end training.

  And to some degree, I think many of the non-Steve people out there are going to generate some negative responses.  You work on them and try to expose these demons in your soul/mind, but they are going to exist.   For Imus, he probably has more of this particular demon.  It may be even a majority in there.  But I'm sure it is, and he deservs a chance to make ammends.  Not from a material aspect.  I won't say he shouldn't be punished. But I do think we need to try to be forgiving of folks who have made mistakes.

  I remember, vaguely this study from MIT where they flash faces and you get two quick choices for words to describe the face.  The images come very quickly and you don't have a lot of time to think.  What the researchers found were many hidden prejudices that we have. I think that study lends itself to what I'm saying here.

  Just my opinion though.