Imus called women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos"
On the April 4 edition of MSNBC's Imus in the Morning, host Don Imus referred to the Rutgers University women's basketball team, which is comprised of eight African-American and two white players, as "nappy-headed hos" immediately after the show's executive producer, Bernard McGuirk, called the team "hard-core hos." Later, former Imus sports announcer Sid Rosenberg, who was filling in for sportscaster Chris Carlin, said: "The more I look at Rutgers, they look exactly like the [National Basketball Association's] Toronto Raptors."
McGuirk referred to the NCAA women's basketball championship game between Rutgers and Tennessee as a "Spike Lee thing," adding, "The Jigaboos vs. The Wannabees -- that movie that he had." McGuirk was presumably referring to Lee's 1988 film, School Daze (Sony Pictures), though co-host Charles McCord misidentified it as "Do the Right Thing" (Criterion, June 1989).
In a June 2, 1991, review of Lee's Jungle Fever (Universal Pictures), The New York Times described the rivalry depicted in School Daze:
"School Daze," his 1988 satire on an all-black college similar to his own alma mater, Morehouse, turned the friction centered on color into a pointed burlesque. The college's women divided into two camps, the dark "Jigaboos" and the fair "Wannabees," who taunted each other in one scene with the epithets "pickaninny," "Barbie doll," "tar baby" and "high-yellow heifer."
Rosenberg's comparison of the Rutgers women's basketball team to the Raptors recalled comments he made in June 2001 about Venus and Serena Williams, two African-American female professional tennis players. According to a November 20, 2001, Newsday article, Rosenberg said on the air: "One time, a friend, he says to me, 'Listen, one of these days you're gonna see Venus and Serena Williams in Playboy.' I said, 'You've got a better shot at National Geographic.' " Rosenberg also referred to Venus Williams as an "animal." Media Matters for America noted those comments when Rosenberg alluded to them on the March 28 edition of Imus.
Also, on the March 30 edition of Public Broadcasting Service's The Charlie Rose Show, regarding the NCAA "March Madness" basketball tournament, host Charlie Rose asked CBS sportscaster Billy Packer: "Do you need a runner this Final Four? Because I could jump on a plane and I could be there." Packer replied: "You always fag out on that one for me. ... [Y]ou always say, 'Oh yeah, I'm going to be the runner,' then you never show up."
In 2000, as noted by an article on ESPN.com, Packer made comments that were viewed as disparaging to women, when he said, "Since when do we let women control who gets into a men's basketball game? Why don't you go find a women's game to let people into?" Also, as noted in a March 4, 1996, article in The Washington Post, Packer "describ[ed] Georgetown guard Allen Iverson as a 'tough monkey' during the Hoyas' nationally televised game against Villanova" during that year's NCAA tournament. Packer later apologized for both comments.
From the April 4 edition of MSNBC's Imus in the Morning:
IMUS: So, I watched the basketball game last night between -- a little bit of Rutgers and Tennessee, the women's final.
ROSENBERG: Yeah, Tennessee won last night -- seventh championship for [Tennessee coach] Pat Summitt, I-Man. They beat Rutgers by 13 points.
IMUS: That's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and --
McGUIRK: Some hard-core hos.
IMUS: That's some nappy-headed hos there. I'm gonna tell you that now, man, that's some -- woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like -- kinda like -- I don't know.
McGUIRK: A Spike Lee thing.
IMUS: Yeah.
McGUIRK: The Jigaboos vs. the Wannabes -- that movie that he had.
IMUS: Yeah, it was a tough --
McCORD: Do The Right Thing.
McGUIRK: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
IMUS: I don't know if I'd have wanted to beat Rutgers or not, but they did, right?
ROSENBERG: It was a tough watch. The more I look at Rutgers, they look exactly like the Toronto Raptors.
IMUS: Well, I guess, yeah.
RUFFINO: Only tougher.
McGUIRK: The [Memphis] Grizzlies would be more appropriate.
From the March 30 edition of PBS' Charlie Rose:
ROSE: Do you need a runner this Final Four? Because I could jump on a plane, and I could be there.
PACKER: You always fag out on that one for me. You know, you never -- you know, you always say, "Oh yeah, I'm going to be the runner," then you never show up. But I'm sure they can find a place for you. You've got all the connections in the world. You can go ahead and be a runner any place you want to.
I smell a rehab moment approaching...
When Mike Lupica used to appear on Imus' show when it was only carried locally on WNBC-AM in NYC, he used to refer to comments like that as the product of Imus's "vodka brain cells".
I wonder how many cells the I Man has left nowadays.....
Sadly Mike Lupica still appears on this hatefest. So did Chris Dodd this morning. So do politicans such as
John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, Senator Schumer, Harold Ford Jr, John McCain, Senator McCaskill, Senator Biden.
Whan will these politicians stop appearing on this racist show?
When they stop pandering to the racist audience.
For all you who believe in prayer, you better start praying like hell for the Iman, I'm sure there are some uncles, grand fathers, cousins, boyfriends, fathers, mothers, sisters etc. who will take offense at "That's some nappy-headed hos there" when refering to some exceptionaly dedicated, talented and smart student atheletes.
Why does that demented slab of badly maintained leather still have an audience?
It's amazing, when he's not saying something as mind-bendingly stupid as his "nappy-headed-ho's" remark, every time i have tuned into his waste-of-wattage-tv-time-and-bandwidth show, he's as interesting as listening to water evaporate
I say this because the sound of paint drying is actually more interesting than Imus
So I guess these means that NO Democrats will be appearing on Imus ever again. And IF they do MMFA will call them out for it, the way they did when McCain appeared on Beck's program.
Yeah right, well I believe in the Easter Bunny...oops not politically correct--might offend someone...the Spring Bunny too ;-)
THIS means.
Look for that on MRC. MMFA highlights conservative misinformation.
I hope they do. And since you're (understandably) worried that they won't, why don't you preempt this and e-mail MMFA. I'm sure they won't turn a deaf ear.
Cool it with the PC War on Easter bunk, Jeter. That bunny didn't die on a cross for us to be called the Spring Bunny.
I'm really sorry that I've got to be the one to trample on the tenants of your faith. Here's a link that will put to rest your belief in the Resurrection of The Bunny.
[link to thepoodleanddogblog.typepad.com]
I am surprised that ANY politician appears on Imus. The guy is rude, crude, and a self-described biggest ahole on the planet and yet politicians line up to kiss his butt. Go figure. It might be interesting to see the ratio of conservatives to liberals on his show.
I think you are confused on political correctness, I think in your Bunny example religious correctness is more appropriate. Speech surrounding religion get conservative Christian armpit hairs in a twit but for example I don't know of any political correctness campaigns against Happy Holidays vs Merry Christmas. Thats not to say a new movement could not be started called called CPVC (Christian Victums for Political Correctness). BReilly could be the chairman. Placing CPVC on hats, sweatshirts, mouse pads, etc could be a great new marketing opportunity for Bill.
Jeter,
You are right. Of course, MMFA will never comment on these idiotic Democrats who keep going on Imus, but I am glad to see you bring it up here on occasion. These Democrats should not go on Imus anymore. Imus is worthless.
I will never understand how MSNBC continues airing Imus when his show promotes some of the most hateful, sexist, homophobic, racist garbage imaginable! I stopped watching the show long ago because McGuirk and his disdain for anything that's black. Imus gives McGuirk free rein to air out his hatred towards blacks, and in typical conservative fashion -- despite McGuirk pretending to be a free-thinker -- he'll pass it off as satire; whoever offended is being a liberal, politically correct sissy.I don't mind it when whites make jokes about blacks and poke fun at the stereotypes; at least when Sarah Silverman, Howard Stern, Lisa Lampanelli and the great Don Winkles, joke about blacks, you never sense this arrogance, ignorance and disdain in their statements. There's a deep appreciation for blacks and our culture (and no Hip Hop isn't our only culture, it's a sub-culture that stems from black urban youth).
With Imus and his team -- especially the vile McGuirk -- there's this pompous, elitist, "exclusively for whites only" attitude that comes with their remarks. They may consider themselves free-thinkers because they trash the Bush Administration and this senseless war he has gotten us to, but they’re very calculating to the sense they know exactly what to say and do to reach a particularly demographic that enjoys racist remarks dressed as social satire. Its the same tactics Rush Limbaugh and Weiner Savage employs
Imus, McGuirk and Rosenberg go far beyond racially insensitive satire; they're hateful, condescending, ignorant, destructive remarks that lack irony, grace or intelligence. What’s even more outrageous is that McGuirk wouldn’t DARE make these same remarks when there’s a black guest on the show. McGuirk enjoys bragging how he was raised in an all-black urban area and how he survived, but he’s sure spineless when there’s a black guest on the show.
My bad, I mean to say "the great Don Rickles" than Wrinkles. Damn, talk about a Freudian slip!
I guess this just shows that their mainly corporate/yuppie audience is filled with far-right racist jerks. Seems to be the talk radio crowd. The liberals are all out grooving to tunes in their cars while the right-wing orcs are all drooling over some sociopathic talkshow host bashing minorities and insulting everyone from the safety of their driver's seat.
Does anyone here realize what today is? This is the day that MLK was shot and killed.
For these slimeballs to spew this overt racist garbage today is obviously a provocation.
Colon-'el' Campbell: you have every right to be a racist, ungentlemanly oaf, and mankind has the right to regard you as such. I suggest you return to whatever cave you came from.
This has me shaking, I'm so angry. Don Imus thinks our athletic daughters should be held to a different standard than their male counterparts. Evidently, our daughters are there, not to play the game, but to turn on old white men. If they do not live up to this sexual standard, Mr. Imus is there to casually remind them that they are ugly whores- and he will tell our black daughters that their hair in its natural state is ugly, and that they are ugly whores. Sickening. I've emailed MSNBC, Oprah Winfrey and several blogs- Imus and Co. need to see that they can't say these things without feeling the logical, negative consequence.
Hear, hear! These comments were not only racial insults, but misogynistic as well. How dare these men act as if women are only put on this earth to be attractive to them?!
I will never understand how MSNBC continues airing Imus when his show promotes some of the most hateful, sexist, homophobic, racist garbage imaginable!
Because he makes them lots of Benjamins. If he didn't, he be a "where are they now" candidate.
It makes me wonder if Michael Savage would still be there at MSNBC had he brought in huge ratings from his show.
Unfortunately, you're right Dave.Imus, Paris Hilton,Fox News, Sanjaya, The corpse of Anna Nicole. This is what sells the ads to a lot of Americans.
A bit unfair with Packer's exchange with Rose. The expression he used is not related to sexual orientation.
I hate to admit this, but I do listen to Imus in the background most mornings. He is refreshingly bitter, pissed off and angry at everything, just like I am most mornings. It makes my fact based cynicism feel less deranged, although his is more of a personality flaw and the consequence of brain damage and the corruption of wealth and power. He is correct about half the time politically and that is exactly 100 percent more accurate than anything else on cable "news" networks. What ya gonna do when you want some semi brainless entertainment that doesn't involve teen talent shows and Oprah/"dr" Phil drivel? Imus is a country fried hick, although he is a fake cowboy wannabe from New York. But he is better than most of what is out there. Sad really. But I need something to listen to while brushing my teeth.
Why? All you're doing is giving him a rating point and encouragement. Best to turn him off completely and start the morning with some upbeat music. Don't feed the orcs.
That's what I did. I turned them off as I had to do with Bill O'rielly and the HANNITY show. The world evidently conflates high ratings with the audience being in agreement with these dim wits. I the dim wits think so.
Don Imus is a decrepit old turd. He should watch himself on TV and listen to himself just so he can see what a creep he's grown into. The few times I have subjected myself to this man, he came off as a bed-headed fool who had no idea what he was talking about.
I'm astounded that people listen to this crap. He's not only a bigot, but he's really talking about...nothing.
Have these idiots always sounded this comfortable saying these horrible things? I've never listened to them before. I know it's not the topic, but with the spotlight on Obama, there seems to be a growing level of comfort with this sort of blatantly racist nonsense. I say that because most of it seems centered around Obama, but maybe this Imus example is part of a ripple effect. And it could easily escalate as they all goad each other on to say more and more outrageous things. We should have some sort of pool to predict who will be the first one to use the n-word on the air. My money is on Melanie Morgan and/or Lee Rodgers, but Limbaugh could easily come through for us and clearly Imus and McGuirk are in the running.
clams casino, I think since Bush has been in office these types have been getting more and more comfortable saying what they have thought all along.
Keith Olbermann needs to take out the Trash---the Imus trash.... MSNBC: Grow a pair and DUMP IMUS!!!!!!
CrazyMonkeyLady's gone all WWF om Imus!
Before the only talk radio station in my area was changed to a country music station, I loved listening to the I man. His comments were so outragious that I knew that he couldn't be serious. And so I found them to be funny. And now it cracks me up to see so many people on this comment board getting their panties in a bunch over something that was said on the Imus show. But I guess it's hard these days to tell the difference between satire and serious, what with the likes of limbaugh claiming what they're saying is just joking.
So Imus is only satirizing obnoxious racist shock jocks, but isn't actually one himself? So it's all a Stephen Colbert-like act?
I don't know how anyone can label these racist remarks as "satire" when it lacks wit and irony to give it flare. Maybe others can enjoy laughing at old white men sitting around and calling black women "nappy-headed hos" but I don't see what's so funny about it.
It's funny that people enjoy putting all the blame on some rappers degrading women -- rightly so -- but you wouldn't dare hear a peep out of these some folks who listen to Imus and McGuirk doing the exact same thing.
Where's Jackson,NAACP??? Where's the outrage??Where's Edward R. Olbermann? Will Imus be the worst person in the world???
No. Why?? Because hes a liberal and MSNBC is a liberal network.
Is MM calling for him to get fired????
What if some one on FNC said this??Thias and every leftwing site would be raising holy hell!!!!
This sorry
"nappy-headed hos"?! Take a look in a mirror, "I-man". Jeez!
just to make a point...the girl's hair is nappy, calling them hos though is not exactly a fair point unless he heard it from someone at rutgers.....and i digress....
You would need to define "nappy" in order to make your point. When I was a child nappy meant "tangled." Therefore are you saying the women's hair are tangled. Or are you using a racist signifer to describe the texture of their hair, and if so, are you asserting that each and every one of these women have the same exact texture of hair or are you grouping them all with one large brush stroke which would be quite racist because it would suggest they are all the same because of what signifer?
Oh, please. Everybody knows--and if they don't, then they should know--that spoken by a white person, "nappy headed" is a racial slur. Black hair is a big part of black identity and anytime a white person makes some ignorant or negative comment about hair, they are crossing a line.
just to make a point...the girl's hair is nappy, calling them hos though is not exactly a fair point unless he heard it from someone at rutgers.....and i digress....
I know it was racist. I was responding to the above. ngdoms seems to be saying it is okay to say the girl's hair is nappy. As if we do not know what he or she is really saying.
I'm with you. I was responding to ndgoms. I'm in agreement with you.
i would define nappy as the overall texture of the hair that generally all black people have in north america. i mean there is nothing wrong with their hair, it just is what it is.
lets just say that black people generally have the same kind of hair, and for one to say that black people generally have "nappy" hair, isnt in itself racist. white people generally dont have nappy hair, its usually straight or curly. some people do though, and i imagine that some black people may have straight hair but honest to god i never seen one. of course i could use nappy as an insult, but would that itself be racist? or me just pointing out an obvious characteristic of a group of people and making fun of them for it because i want to be mean? lets be careful when throwing out the racist card, its very easy to associate it with anything when refering to a group of people. someones people are not racists, they are just jerks. clearly imus falls into the jerks catagory, is he a racist though? that i wont make a call on
You're wrong, but feel free to go out and test your theory. Get into a conversation with a black woman, and as politely and innocuously as possible refer to her hair as "nappy." I guarantee that she won't just take it as an obnoxious insult, but she will regard it as a racist remark.
Yeah Clams Casino, I would like to see that conversation when he or she tells a black woman her hair is "nappy." LOL!
I dare him or her to do it.
But using the word "nappy" is racist because it suggests something negative, undesirable, not as "good" as the "standard of beauty," ---i,e, white women's hair or straight hair.
You know you have no business trying to dissect that nappy is okay but ho is not. Both words are horrible.
And incidentally, not only is it completely ignorant to say that all black people have nappy hair, but it's also not correct to say "black people generally have the same kind of hair." Your really just revealing your own stereotyped image of a what a black person looks like.
Exactly right clams. I am white and my son is black (adopted). I made the mistake of complaining about how long and nappy his hair was in public and my wife (who is black) made it clear that black people who do not know me might get pretty upset about that remark. I learned that lesson and I do not say such things like that anymore.
Calling someone's hair "nappy" is a pretty severe insult in many black communities. Also saying that "i would define nappy as the overall texture of the hair that generally all black people have in north america." is pretty darn ignorant. Black hair has a pretty wide variety of thickness, fullness and curliness.
Thank You, maybe this guy lives in an North American area where all the Blacks are of 100% African derivation or maybe he's just lying because I know of no place in America like that. I look at my own family and I see various colorings (very light skinned to brown) and various hair texture (strait to very curly) . I must say I don't see nappy hair as a negative. If that's the hair God gave you it's his gift to you; but Whites historically have viewed natural Black traits in the negative so comments like this coming from Whites is viewed as suspect and coming from known racist you know exactly what they intended. Historically in White societies White physical traits are considered good an natural and Black physical traits are considered bad and ugly. We internalized this in our own communities as Spike Lee illustrated in his movie "School Daze". Good and Bad hair are terms that persist in some areas in the AA community. Now my mother told me if you have hair covering your head, it's good hair.
Depends on where in Africa someone is from. I know plenty of Ethiopians and Eritreans with loosely curled hair that nobody would ever describe as nappy. In fact, just the other day I encountered someone who made the ignorant statement that Eritreans didn't "look black." This is basically the same perspective that ndgoms is working from.
You are absolutely correct.
its really all about context, i believe there is a fine line between being a bigot and racist and being a jerk, to be racist is to have a pre-concieved idea about a group of people that gives you contempt for their kind. was imus mearly acting like he was 17 again? or are their deeper issues involved here, i dont think imus would get through his career as a known racist and get away with it, and if black people do come on the show, they ether dont think he is a racist or they just dont know what he says (if they are important enough however SOMEONE would bring it to light for them, they have interns for this kind of stuff)
Where does Imus get off criticizing ANYONE'S hair?
Hair is a definite issue with that crowd. Besides Imus himself, McGuirk has a shaved head and Rob Bartlett, in his various characters, has more bad-hair wigs than any dozen people in the Western Hemisphere. Not to mention that creepy "Karl Childers" 'do.
But apropos of the racial issue, it must be pointed out that Imus directed considerable ire at the Bob Corker "call me, Harold" racial-slur/campaign-ad which sank Harold Ford, Jr. in Tennessee. He gave on-air condolences to Ford, and has had him on the show since. Of course, I notice that McGuirk gets awfully quiet when he's on, and that "Cardinal Egan" FedEx-envelope-"mitre" does look rather like a KKK headdress,don't 'cha think?
Sorry, I'm getting the order of comments mixed up.
its really all about context, i believe there is a fine line between being a bigot and racist and being a jerk, to be racist is to have a pre-concieved idea about a group of people that gives you contempt for their kind.
I've heard it all now. So when white people use the N-word, it is not racist, it is just being a jerk? When people who belong to the oppressive group use code words to incite negative images of people who have been traditonally oppressed, it is okay, because it is just being a jerk, nothing else?
Yes, the racists are really becoming very comfortable with themselves.
Seems like Rosenberg is getting another bye. Seems like he was the big offender AGAIN!!!!!
These guys are all pieces of garbage. Savage, Imus, etc. They're just polluting our airwaves and stifling productive thought as well as tossing salt onto racial wounds.
I hear what Redking is saying. I felt like that for a time also. It just angers me that the media is full of people like this. They're crowding the room. People who actually have something intelligent and thoughtful to say, people that could actually make a difference, can't get inside.
It just seems like everything is getting worse too. I thought for a time that it was good for people of Imus' and Limbaugh's ilk to make racist remarks. It exposes them for what they truly are. But they just seem to keep getting away with it, laughing at us in their ivory towers.
We need some sort of hostile takeover. Seriously. Ignoring them isn't working. They're almost taunting us from behind a forcefield. They have all of this money behind them. I just want them all to fall.
ok ok lets calm down and relax. let me try to put this another way: you ever want to insult someone? or wait, i guess most of you wouldnt because you would never insult someone even if you hated everything they stood for because we are all so smart and socially progressive enough to not do that (btw i am a democrat, want to challenge me on it? go ahead i am not concerned and do not want to deal with you completely left wing progesives who are throwing their arms up over every little thing that might be considered racist, after saying that let me say i am not specifically refering to the imus program), am i in the ballpark? well honestly most people do have a problem with people who piss them off, and when they do they usually go after and insult various traits of these people in order to insert their dominance over them (i.e. make themselves feel better about themselves). if a person i know is pissing me off because of their attitude, then i can choose to do nothing, confront them about it, or insult them to their faces or behind their backs or confront them and still insult them. but even if i do that, am i a racist because they might be black, or asian or mexican or anything else? honestly lets just say imus is an old white guy who doesnt think women should be in sports. to me its not attractive and no matter what you people say i will still say a strong, athletic woman who is taller and weights more than me and sweats a lot is not attractive, and i will say that till i die and i am with my wife, because i know what i am attracted to and i know what im not, but dont u dare call me a racist for it because i think that white women who are short, skinny and clean are attractive. but everyone else who isnt i wish all the best of luck, wish they find happiness and wish that they do what they do and do it well. god bless these women basketball players and any other woman who does what they want, and if a guy like imus doesnt like them, then screw him they will live well without his approval. gooo uconn men and women huskies!
give me a break, prove to me that black people have this wide variety of hair, go ahead prove it to me. i am not saying this blindly, find me a legitamit, peer reviewed article on the hair of african americans, or dominican americans, or just plain africans and tell me that they generally do not have nappy hair. (i defined nappy in a previous post, look it up). it is not an insult, it is what i would discribe as their hair, and if they find it an insult then clearly i would talk to the person and recant my description of their hair, but honestly if its the best way to desribe it then i wont stop saying it. someone give me another word and i would welcome the different descrition of the hair they have but until then ill say it and just apologize only when i offend someone personally.
Wow, you're a complete dick. Good luck with that.
NGDOMS3075, I don't care if you are a Democrat, you're just as insensitive, self-righteous and pompous as Imus and McGuirk. And your resistance at understanding how race is the fabric of our society—how Global European Imperialism is responsible for the racial paradigm today—is typical from someone who is so conditioned by the effects of history that you become oblivious at the effects this history has had on minorities.
Have you ever heard of the term Internalized Racism? Well, Internalized Racism is when some people become ashamed of their own race and at times, no longer want to identify with it. Internalized Racism USUALLY (not always) is most evident in Non-White people, from a statistical standpoint that is. Indeed, research confirms that people who have been the recipients of imperialism and oppression tend to subconsciously develop lower self-esteem about their own races while unknowingly perceiving the oppressors as superior. This mentality is categorized as an inferiority complex. As a result of the low-self esteem towards one's own race, many of those people tend to self-destruct unknowingly. Self-destruction comes in many different forms such as suicide, homicide, theft, drug addiction, cosmetic surgery (to look more white), changing accents (to sound more white), changing personalities (to act more white), associating less with one's race while associating exclusively to white people (to be more white), etc., etc.
Internalized Racism is the main reason why Asian people, from a statistical standpoint, tend to color their hair blonde, and try to undergo Eye-Lid Surgery / Blepharosplasty http://www.drmccurdy.com/double.htm (to make their eyes look more "Caucasian") or Nose Surgery / Rhinoplasty http://www.plasticsurgery4u.com/procedure_folder/rhinoplasty_asian.html (to make their noses more pointed like "Caucasian" noses). Of course, these idiotic practices are not only limited to Asians, but also to Whites, Latinos, Blacks, and so on. Just look at Michael Jackson as an example of Internalized Racism. You see, hatred towards one's own race is a direct manifestation of Imperialism (in this case, European Imperialism), because European Imperialism established a subconscious status quo of "Whiteness" as the dominant culture. Anything that would stray away from the dominant culture would be perceived as "Exotic,” "Different,” or "Ethnic". Minority groups are then constantly subjected to an identity crisis which in turn, manifests into internalized forms of racism and self-sabotage.
There can be no doubt, for research has confirmed time and time again that the race who has been the oppressor of other races will tend to subconsciously develop higher self-esteem about their own race while unknowingly perceiving oppressed people as inferior. This mentality is categorized as a superiority complex. As a result of this subconscious superiority complex, those people tend to be apathetic of the sufferings of the oppressed. Their apathy causes them to either deny that Imperialism ever happened, easily forget that it happened, downplay Imperialism as a "moment in history" thus implying that it cannot produce emotional scars passed down from generations to the next, or worst of all, attack the image of the oppressed people, as Imus and McGuirk demonstrates on the program.
I don't care who you are! Right, Left, Center, Up , Down, Beat writer, Small town paper, Big City Paper, pundit, whatever, whoever. After saying that! You would still have a job the next day. At the least! a suspension!
Imus? Nothing! Even a spokesperson for Rutgers said they didn't have a problem.
And Rosenberg, how many times has he been kicked off the show? Imus wants him back, nobody says boo!!
Somebody please tell me how does this guy keep getting away with this?
And watch, out of this his ratings will go up. Amazing!!!! I'm Stumped!
Whats next? B**ch slapping fests? Cross Burning Week? F-Bomb Day? Oh wait they did that one.
A couple of weeks ago that racist pig McGuirk called a duely elected senator the "B" word on the show, no one flinched because he's still there. Evidently Imus thinks it's funny to call Black women nappy-headed $%&@#* White America is this what you have come to? is this how you want to be seen? I predict that McGuirk will be the first White man to call a Black person a N*&&^% to his/her face on live tv.
listen, i know plenty of people with plenty of backgrounds, i judge people personally on who they are, not by their skin. but dont insult me by telling me that black people dont have certain attributes and that other people such as asians or whites and anyone else dont have certain traits and stereotypes that are infact true in a lot of ways. honestly not everyone is the same and stereotypes exist only because peoples experiences generally concure with what they see, and are perpetuated because of what they might hear from others as well. i will not sit here and be told that i shouldnt believe that certain people have certain physical attributes. and if i wish to point that out? what im a racist because of that? listen, ill take the fact that i am a jerk, but dont tell me i am a racist because i dont mind telling you the bold truth. i would tell any african american he has nappy hair just to prove the point that he/she does and that who gives a crap ? it is what it is, and i dont care, the racist do care and well...f them. imus may give fodder to the racist but in all reality they wont change or become less racist because of him or anyone else, their preconceptions are built in by family and enviroment. have any of you realy listen to the guy? and if u do, do u realize that you are just helping the person you aparently haate?
Wow..... for someone that doesn't care you sure are going out of your way to convince people that your not being an ignorant on this issue.
Bold truth? What bold truth would that be? That some black people have nappy hair? The term nappy does have negative racial overtones for some people so why would you use it? Just because you can? If your familiar with black culture in a historical context you would realize why hair texture is an issue of contention for some people. It's similar to the issue of having a very dark complexion vs. being very light skinned. Due to the way that white society at large has treated black people in a historical context many black people have tried to fit in by not to appear as being "too black" and have tried to conform to white society's ideal for beauty. Can you imagine how difficult and hurtful it must be to question your identity or the looks you were born with because society keeps telling you that the more "black" you are the more inferior you are?
Read up about this and here is a place to start.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro_textured_hair
It's called being polite and respecting other people. What's your next campaign? Are you going to walk up to overweight people and say "you sure are fat" just because you can and it might be true?
Great post and the Wikipedia summary is excellent.
Thanks Lynn
This issue is a pet peeve of mine as most people try to tie insensative speech with being PC. I have no idea why some people find it so difficult to be respectful of others? Freedom of speech is a great right and with that right comes responsibility. Each of us has the duty to protect that right by exercising it, but also by being thoughtful before speaking.
It reminds me of my 4 year old niece. She has realized how fun it is to shock adults with the words her daddy uses while driving. Fortunately most people grow out of this.
Imus spoke glaringly this morning about his major sponsorship by Verizon communications. I am writing Verizon to tell them I will not be expanding my patronage of their services. Too bad, I was looking forward to Fios.
As a Rutgers alumni I find it particulalrly insulting that despite having been seeded near the bottom of the bracket and the first appearance by a Rutgers team in a NCAA basketball championship game this is the way Imus chose to comemerate thier achievement. Not to mention that he broadcsts form Secaucus, NJ.
Please take the time to contact Verizon. If they are your cell phone carrier the call is free (611). I can't wait until computer TV/radio becomes readily avaible. I will cut the cord on the traditional broadcast mediums and never look back.
To those who claim Imus and Co. are even handed in thier commentary I would beg to differ. I used to listten/watch Imus and I never heard this vitriole hurled at other ethnicities (or religions).
Verizon customer relations 1800-483-7988, meidia relations, 212-321-0500. Ivan Seidenberg, CEO 140 West Street, NY,NY 10007 floor 23.
Every resident of New Jersey should be outraged.
I don't know if it is considered fopah to comment on your own post but here goes anyway.
I hope you all get your pencils out this weekend and write to Verizon as I will be. Imus and his cohorts will be banking this dies over the holday weekend (no pun intended). Let's retire Imus to New Mexico where I think he wants to go anyway. Who will be retiring west with him is up to the sponsors. "Money Matters", I liked that one.
The New York Times has an article crediting MMFA for bringing this to light. Thanks MMFA, I don't know what this country would do without you.
Best regards to all.
So, when are Imus and McGuirk heading to Rutgers for the cross burning? Frankly, I'm surprised that they stopped at nappy headed hos. Why didn't they just call them the "N word"? We know that's what they were really thinking. I supposed they would have preferred that these young women were perpetuating the stereotype of African-American women having out of wedlock babies and collecting a welfare check, rather than attending a top university and trying to better themselves.
What a couple of weak, pathetic, bitch-ass losers. They make decent white men look bad.
I GUESS WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN IS IMUS HAS TO COMMIT ISWHAT A RECENT DEJAY HERE IN THE NEW YORK CITY AREA COMMITED TO BE BANNED OFF THE AIR OR SHOULD I SAY SOMEONE ON HIS SHOW HAS TO COMMIT. THE DEJAY KNOWN AS STAR INFERED ON HIS SHOW SOMETHING TO THE AFFECT OF DOING SOMETHING UNPLESANT TO THE DAUGHTER OF ONE OF HIS RIVAL STATION DEJAYS. THIS SITUATION WAS TOTALLY OVER THE TOP AND HE WAS TERMINATED.STAR WAS A (BLACK VERSION TO SOME EXTENT IMUS)HE DIDN'T HAVE THE SIDE MEN PERSAY AS IMUS ALTHOUGH HE DID HAV E PEOPLE ON WHO GAVE CERTAIN OPINIONS SUCH AS IMUS DOES,BUT HE WAS THE MAIN MAN.HE ALSO MADE SOME OUTRAGEOUS STATEMENTS AT TIMES.WHICH IN THE END CAUGHT UP WITH HIM.MAYBE THE SAME WILL HAPPEN HERE . I HAVE POSTED BEFORE ABOUT THE IMUS SHOW AT THAT TIME IT WAS A REFERENCE TO THE LATE REP. SHIRLEY CHISOLM BY HIS PRODUCER. HE WAS EQUATING HER NAME WITH SEIMEN AND FROM THAT DAY ON I STOPPED WATCHING .I SEE FROM THE REPORT THE MORE THINGS CHANGE THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME.
I think Imus and guys like him keep getting away with garbage like this partly because they're fixtures on the air. Plus, how many minorities listen to his show? How many progressives? Maybe one reason why I'm troubled by this is because people like Imus might merely be a symptom of a larger problem. What does it say about us as a country when Imus keeps doing things like that, says he's sorry, and ends up with a slap on the wrist.
I'm just frustrated. This site keeps shining the light on this underbelly but nothing happens.
now listen MHK you sure are using a big fallacy with that argument. just because i do a doesnt mean i am going to do b. i get waht your doing, trying to deduce that i would just call fat people fat, mexicans dirty and etc. i am just saying that i can be polite and i can be a jerk. and if i want to be a jerk and some overweight person is getting me angry, then maybe i would choose to call that person out on the fact that he is twice my size and 3 times as wide as me. that could be considered mean, but its the truth. so am i wrong for pointing out the truth? i mean am i really wrong for highlighting the truth of a given situation even though i am not being polite? listen, i am all for people being nice to eachother but i will not go after someone for not being polite as long as they are not using lies to prop themselves up. what does this have to do with nappy hair? well surely there is a different way to desribe someones hair, but wouldnt nappy also be considered the corect term, regarding that one defines and uses the word right? of course anyone who uses that word is just trying to be insulting, but it doesnt mean he is wrong, maybe rude, immature and definatly not polite. so you can be mad at me and anyone else who does that, but dont lump us into a whole group of people who wish that black people didnt exist or have the same rights as anyone else. and your right, i am defending myself because while i dont care that you think my comments are mean or that if you think i am a jerk, but i do care if you all misconstrue my comments to mean i am a bigot or a racist. big difference
IF THIS IS WHO I THINK IT IS I MUST REFER YOU TO SHOW THAT THE BISHOPS WIFE WAS ON AND I COULD FEEL THE REAL REVERENCE OF THE CONVERSATION. YOU KNOW BETTER.
I check in on this program regularly hoping this hateful jerk will be off air permanently. I pity those ailing kids that have to spend a week or so with him on his ranch...
As a vol fan and alumnus. I was offended that ANYONE would take that position - let alone 3 producers. I wonder what IMUS' thoughts would have been had anyone made those comments about his four daughters or either of his wives? My opinion- all three of them should be at the unemployment office on Monday filing a claim only to be DENIED. Monetary reparations should be made to the Rutgers University and to the NCAA Women's general scholarship fund. The payout should continue until it equals the number of members on the team (both of them). It is filthy comments of this nature that completely taint any philanthropy he and his wife are engaged in. No player on that court deserved to be identified as anything other than 1. Student, 2. Athlete 3. Citizen and 4. Female.
"no one gives it to you, you have to take it" if more people of minority decent were like bill cosby and would listen to the guy instead of being angry with him for being honest with the black community, things might change for the better, because in the end, not everyone is gonna change their ways and it is going to take a great deal of self effort from the minorities who are being oppressed to just move forward and not be discouraged and self-hating. dont make excuses is what i was always told, no matter who is bringing you down you have control over what you want to do in the end. you have to fight for it, yes, it is hard when it seems like the whole world is bringing you down but in the end it takes a group effort from EVERYONE to solve the problem. i dont blame black people for all the hate that people throw at them and the racial prejudices they suffer, but its on them to continue the fight instead of pandering and complaining about us keeping them down. group effort, and i suppose by pointing out imus' comments we are at least doing our part