[Rhodes22-list] Don Imus

[Brad Haslett]

Just getting caught up on reading the papers around the country this morning
after a mid-week run to Gulfport to deliver a dump truck and a couple of
sims back home.  The WSJ always has insightful columns and this week was no
exception.  I especially like the trouble Larry King is in for his comments
on Alzheimer's (near the end). I was driving home late one night listening
to Mike Reagan's talk show and a guest mistakenly referred to President
Reagan (while he was still alive but out of office) as President Carter and
then quickly apologized.  Mike Reagan quipped, "don't worry about it, Dad
won't remember".

Brad

---------------------------

*Imus and Obama's
Daughters<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/business/media/12dismiss.html?ei=5090&en=451f6c8447386c2b&ex=1334030400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all>
*
This column has no brief for Don Imus, the liberal radio shock-jock who lost
his gig yesterday after calling members of the Rutgers University women's
basketball team "nappy-headed hos." CBS (and NBC, which simulcast the Imus
show on one of its little-watched cable channels) were perfectly within
their rights to defenestrate Imus for his gross remark. But by waiting a
week to do so, they showed themselves to be craven rather than prudent, and
they did more to promote bigotry than to combat it.

It's clear that the networks fired Imus not because what he said was
unacceptable but because the controversy it stirred up was not going to go
away. This means that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson--two men whose bigotry
has done a thousandfold more harm than Imus's--are able to declare victory
and pose as moral arbiters.

Oh well, at least we can have the audacity to hope Barack Obama will be a
new kind of "black leader." Or can we? From yesterday's New York Times:

Senator Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat who is running for president,
called on MSNBC and CBS Radio to disassociate themselves from Mr. Imus, and
said that he would never go on the show again. He said he had appeared once,
more than two years ago.

"He didn't just cross the line," Mr. Obama said in an interview with ABC
News. "He fed into some of the worst stereotypes that my two young daughters
are having to deal with today in America."

So according to Obama, the problem with what Imus said wasn't that it was
shocking but that it was so ordinary. Imus gave voice to stereotypes so
prevalent that Obama's daughters "are having to deal with [them] today in
America."

In what segment of American culture would one be most likely to encounter
such stereotypes? We'd venture to say the answer is rap music, also known as
hip hop. There's one rap band that actually calls itself Nappy
Roots<http://www.nappyroots.com/pictures.asp>.
And of course references to women as "hos" are commonplace in rap lyrics,
such as this one by Christopher Bridges, who uses the stage name
"Ludacris<http://www.lyricsandsongs.com/song/115403.html>
":

Ho (Ho)
You'z a Ho, (Ho)
You'z a Ho, I said that you'z a Ho (Ho)
You'z a Ho, (Ho)

You'z a Ho, (Ho)
You'z a Ho, I said that you'z a Ho (Ho)

You doing Ho activities
With Ho tendencies
Hos are your friends,
Hos are your enemies

At this point it gets too vulgar for this columnist to feel comfortable
quoting.

Anyway, let's salute Barack Obama for taking a stand for decency, for
protecting his two young daughters from invidiously racist and misogynistic
stereotypes.

On second thought, let's not. It turns out that Obama's outrage with Imus is
highly selective (dare we say opportunistic?). Blogger Joshua
Claybourn<http://www.intheagora.com/archives/2007/04/nappy_roots.html>notes
a Sept. 15, 2006, Associated Press dispatch from Louisville, Ky.:

Obama made a pitch for Democrats running for local government and for
Congress at a rally that drew a few thousand party faithful to a minor
league baseball stadium in downtown Louisville. . . .

Before Obama's speech, the crowd was warmed up by a performance by Nappy
Roots, a popular hip-hop group.

All right, maybe this is nothing. It's not as if Obama himself invited Nappy
Roots to play at the rally, and anyway "hos" is a lot more obnoxious than
"nappy." But here's another Associated
Press<http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=2006-11-30_D8LNFUCO2>dispatch,
from Nov. 30, 2006:

The stars were aligned in Chicago Wednesday, and they were there to talk
about lighting the way for the nation's youth.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, contemplating a run for president, met privately
with rapper Ludacris to talk about young people.

"We talked about empowering the youth," said the artist, whose real name is
Chris Bridges. . . .

The gathering at Obama's downtown Chicago office was a meeting of two star
powers: Obama, who enjoys rock star-like status on the political scene, and
Ludacris, who has garnered acclaim for his music and acting. . . .

Bridges said meeting Obama, known for his warm personal style, was like
meeting with a relative.

If Obama's two young daughters are having to deal with Imus-like invidious
stereotypes, then, it would seem a major reason is their father's friends.

The problem the Obama girls face in America today isn't just prejudice. It's
cynicism.

*Metaphor Alert*<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/13/business/media/13carr.html?ex=1334116800&en=ed710bb384dd5e9a&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss>
>From today's New York Times:

 For a few days, it seemed as if Don Imus would somehow *pull out of the
death spiral.* After all, once he came *under fire,* Mr. Imus said he was
sorry. . . .

But . . . the *drumbeat* was not going to stop. The controversy *
metastasized* and by Monday, the media began to *lock and load.* Mr. Imus,
who had *shrugged off* the initial criticism last week, was *fighting for
survival. . . .*

The *toxicity* of Mr. Imus's remark, the innocence of his targets, and his
refusal to *put down the shovel*--he *dug himself deeper* just about every
time he opened his mouth--made last night's decision by CBS to end his show
seem almost inevitable. . . .

Time heals, time forgets, but Mr. Imus was seeking to *shore up* his career
immediately. Mr. Imus never *caught a breath* because he was in the middle
of a 24-hour news cycle that kept him in the *cross hairs.* It is the kind
of media ceremony that generally ends in a *human sacrifice.*

Those Times guys can really write.

*What Would We Do Without
Experts?*<http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070413/ts_nm/usa_race_imus_debate_dc_1>
"Imus Firing Should Not End U.S. Race Debate: Experts"--headline, Reuters,
April 13

*Whoops!*<http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/lacrosse/bal-te.to.dukemedia12apr12,0,4622359.story>
Imus's sacking coincided with the dismissal of all charges against three
Duke University lacrosse players in what appears to have been a politically
motivated prosecution. As the Baltimore Sun reports with some
understatement, "the news media might not be off the hook" for rushing to
conclusions:

Ever since it emerged in March last year that a stripper had accused three
Duke students of raping her at a party, some reporters and columnists have
come under attack for making points that seemed at odds with the few facts
that were known.

The Duke story had all the elements of a dramatic tale--a black woman
alleging that she had been attacked by a handful of supposedly drunk,
privileged white athletes at a top private college in a North Carolina town
with a long history of racial tensions. The news media had a field day.

A particularly egregious comment came from Selena
Roberts<http://select.nytimes.com/gst/tsc.html?URI=http://select.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/sports/31roberts.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q26refQ3Dsportsspecial1&OP=41446663Q2FXzsBXVCGQ5DQ5DVXFQ3DQ3DQ26XQ3D-X-Q3CXC8Q5DGVCX-Q3CGQ5DBsGVCQ51Q27Vjv>,
a New York Times sports columnist (link requires TimesSelect), who, on
March 31, 2006, actually dehumanized the Duke Lacrosse players:

At the intersection of entitlement and enablement, there is Duke University,
virtuous on the outside, debauched on the inside. This is the home of Coach
K's white-glove morality and the Cameron Crazies' celebrated vulgarity.

The season is over, but the paradox lives on in Duke's lacrosse team, a
group of privileged players of fine pedigree entangled in a night that
threatens to belie their social standing as human beings.

Even after the Duke players' vindication, ABC News's Terry
Moran<http://blogs.abcnews.com/terrymoran/2007/04/dont_feel_too_s_1.html>piles
on them:

Let us also remember a few other things:

They were part of a team that collected $800 to purchase the time of two
strippers.

Their team specifically requested at least one white stripper.

During the incident, racial epithets were hurled at the strippers.

Colin Finnerty was charged with assault in Washington, DC, in 2005.

The young men were able to retain a battery of top-flight attorneys,
investigators and media strategists.

As students of Duke University or other elite institutions, these young men
will get on with their privileged lives. There is a very large cushion under
them--the one that softens the blows of life for most of those who go to
Duke or similar places, and have connections through family, friends and
school to all kinds of prospects for success. They are very differently
situated in life from, say, the young women of the Rutgers University
women's basketball team.

That last point is indisputably true. One reason they are differently
situated is that the Rutgers women were merely insulted, not put through a
yearlong legal ordeal. Moran continues:

And, MOST IMPORTANT, there are many, many cases of prosecutorial misconduct
across our country every year. The media covers few, if any, of these cases.
Most of the victims in these cases are poor or minority Americans--or both.

If the media don't cover these cases, it's not clear how Moran--who is,
after all, part of the media--knows that there are many of them, let alone
how he has data on their wealth and ethnicity.

The news media, supposedly vigilant against racial stereotypes, actually are
relentless in promoting politically correct ones: privileged whites,
victimized blacks. As with all stereotypes, these have a degree of
truth--but as the Duke case shows, stereotypes also can obscure the truth,
sometimes with unjust results.

--------------------

Goodbye Larry?

First it was Imus. Now another talk-show host is under attack for
insensitivity, United Press International reports:

A spokesman for Alzheimer's patients said U.S. TV talk show host Larry King
may owe an apology for his recent remarks about the disease.

Patrick Moffett, author of an Alzheimer's book, in a news release called on
King to apologize for insensitive remarks about Alzheimer's disease he made
during a recent interview with The New York Times. At one point [King] said
he would retire "(if), God forbid, I had an onset of dementia or
Alzheimer's. That would be it."

"I'm still a Larry King fan," Moffett said. "I just think he should be a
little more sensitive about Alzheimer's for the sake of all of us that are
dealing with this dreadful disease."

But King probably won't suffer Imus's fate. Alzheimer's patients generally
are willing to forgive and forget.




On 4/13/07, elle <watermusic38 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Waslly
>
> You said:
> "For sure there is a double standard.  I will never
> understand why
> Sharpton and his followers are ok with the hate spewed
> by rappers."
>
> Numbers. Sharpton & Jesse  et al couldn't care less
> what the rappers are spewing; he (& his cronies) have
> that crew & followers supporting them by their NOT
> criticizing their invective. Can you imagine what
> would happen if the rappers  & MTV etc were to come
> out against Sharpton etc? Sharpton would lose any
> standing in that sphere.  How better to keep stirring
> the pot of racial disharmony than to use thugs who can
> do it with just a lyric & a beat? (One would have
> thought he's be dead in the water after the Tawanna
> whatever incident several years back in upstate NY. )
>
> Woouldn't it be great to see a pitch  to the younger
> generation between Oprah & Jesse's crew? Why isn't she
> coming out against the rap garbage etc.....She is
> about the only one who could yield the influence of
> the others....
>
> After all, if we all coould just get along there would
> be no photo ops for Sharpton et al anymore to proclaim
> how oppressed they are.
>
>
> FYI..I agree with Wally that it is difficult to
> discuss this with out perhaps sounding prejudiced. I
> have been called many things in my lifetime, but
> prejudiced was never one of them. (Dago, Wop, Shorty
> were some of the more endearing terms.. .;^)(Of
> course, there are those who send me toilets....;^)
>
> They all need to GET OVER IT.  Sharpton et al just
> neded a photo op.
>
> elle
>
>
>
> --- TN Rhodey <tnrhodey at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Guys,
> >
> > For sure there is a double standard.  I will never
> > understand why Sharpton
> > and his followers are ok with the hate spewed by
> > rappers. I also don't
> > understand why more woman of color are not speaking
> > out against rap lyrics.
> >
> > The network saw that the dust wasn't going to settle
> > quickly. They pretty
> > much had to fire Imus. Imus made a hateful racist
> > remark about a group of
> > successful student athletes. This is not a good
> > "target". If he had said
> > something equally negative about the Iranian Women's
> > Weight Lifting Team
> > Sharpton and Jesse would not have cared. Shock jocks
> > walk a fine line based
> > on how much money they bring in verses potential
> > loss of revenue. I was kind
> > of surprised he wasn't fired the same day....I guess
> > it took longer to
> > crunch the numbers.
> >
> > I can think of people (white ones of course) who
> > have been fired in the past
> > for public racist remarks...think Jimmy the Greek
> > and Al Campanaris (sp?) of
> > the Dogers. Thecomments were quite tame compared to
> > "nappy headed ho" and
> > todays rap lyrics. It is hard to make written
> > comments regarding this
> > subject without one sounding racist....so please
> > note I am not agreeing with
> > comments made by the "Greek",  or "Campy" I am just
> > mentioning them for
> > reference.
> >
> > Wally
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > >From: Rik Sandberg <sanderico at earthlink.net>
> > >Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
> > <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > >To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
> > <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > >Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Don Imus
> > >Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 05:38:37 -0500
> > >
> > >Slim,
> > >
> > >Ya just gotta laugh ......
> > >
> > >Seems like we should have been seeing picket lines
> > outside of all the
> > >rappers offices for a while now, if they're going
> > to make such a stink
> > >about this. Don't recall any of them being even
> > much noticed let alone
> > >fired. But wait ..... could there be a (gasp)
> > double standard here???
> > >
> > >People been calling me a dumb Swede for years.
> > Maybe I am ..... just too
> > >dumb to care???
> > >
> > >I expect Imus will be able to thank all these fools
> > for the free
> > >publicity later ..... after his book comes out.
> > >
> > >Rik
> > >
> > >Slim wrote:
> > > > What's the deal here?  Don Imus is a shock jock
> > and he's hired to be
> > > > shocking and now has been fired for being...
> > um... shocking.  He
> > >referred to
> > > > the Rutgers women's basketball team as
> > "nappy-headed hos" which is
> > >certainly
> > > > racist and offensive to be sure, and I'm in no
> > way defending that
> > >rhetoric,
> > > > but he's supposed to be shocking, right?  No
> > less than CBS CEO Les
> > >Moonves
> > > > personally caved in to public outrage and fired
> > him for doing his job.
> > > > Isn't this just a sticks and stones thing?
> > Freedom of speech?  Do shock
> > > > jocks now have to be PC?  Howard Stern (I'm no
> > fan of his either) has
> > >done
> > > > much worse.  I really don't like either Stern or
> > Imus and I'm not sure
> > >why
> > > > I'm writing this but it seems like a stab at
> > freedom of speech and I
> > >feel
> > > > bad that Imus was fired--he shouldn't have been.
> >  I've been known to use
> > > > some very un-PC songs and jokes myself and it's
> > all in the context of
> > >humor
> > > > and entertainment.  If you don't like it,
> > there's a Chucky Cheese right
> > >down
> > > > the road--go there and have fun!
> > > >
> > > > Slim
> > > >
> > > >
> > __________________________________________________
> > > > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help?
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> > > >
> > > >
> > >__________________________________________________
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>
> We can't change the angle of the wind....but we can adjust our sails.
>
> 1992 Rhodes 22   Recyc '06  "Water Music"   (Lady in Red)
>
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