WWWWF:Don Imus
Yes, he apologized. No, it's not enough.
I was perfectly willing to let the Imus nonsense blow over without so much as a mention, but then I watched his "apology" on Al Sharpton's show and the subsequent analysis by pundits and that's when I got fed up. Nick Gholson's blog gave me enough of a Wichita Falls tie to put in my two cents.
Imus should be fired, not because he's a crude shock jock who made an inexcusably stupid joke. He should be fired to set a clear example that latent, passive racism will not be tolerated on shows that use the public airways. He has every right on the planet to say and think what he wants, but airways that belong partly to me, an African American, shouldn't be used to help him do it. As much as his attempted apology aimed at showing contrition and genuine regret, all it really did was help confirm a worry many African Americans have: that regardless of the civil, polite show being displayed in white America, the Good Ol' Boy, racist network remains and influences a person's ability to advance. That notion poisons every interaction between Americans and erodes any social progress. Stopping it starts with showing such clowns won't be taken lightly.
What worries me is that the real issue gets lost in the whirlwind tour of mea culpas and media backlash. The very fact that Imus treats this as such a minor deal is the very reason it is such a major problem.
I point to latent racism because every excuse he's offered leads back to that conclusion. I want to go through the reasons and why they're lame just to illustrate what really got me upset:
- He didn't know the racial connontations of "nappy"
- He was just making a joke
- African American men routinely demean African American women in rap
- He is a good person and not a racist
- He has apologized so now it's time to let bygones be bygones
Reading the transcript of Imus' interview with Sharpton brings out why the first excuse is lame. He just didn't connect the dots between "nappy" and its connections to race? I'm not buying it. In what other context is nappy used, especially considering he knew enough to know it fit this situation?
Two, the intent of the joke was racist. The punchline isn't that the Rutgers players are ugly (his main point) but a very clear distinction between the folks who have tattoes and are hoes (first mentioned by his partner on air) and his ignorant addition of the race of the players with the use of the word nappy. He wasn't making a comment about race, which might have some satirical merit. He was merely asserting that one of the factors that made these women ugly was partially racially related. Just because you're joking doesn't mean you can't be racist.
The use of "ho" isn't the exclusive domain of African American rappers (otherwise someone didn't tell Eminem, Paul Wall or Bubba Sparks) nor is it the exclusive domain of African American men against African American women. As Imus so ably pointed out, the term comes out of a hip-hop entertainers, but it originates from the word whore. That term has been in use by men of all races since the first man got rejected (hell, it's in the Bible for pete's sake). So the insult is well used by lots of men. Characterizing the term as an African American phenomenon further points to an unspoken but fervently believed racist ideology.
The fact of his good personhood is exactly what's up for debate. While others have justly pointed out that good deeds don't allow punishment to be averted, the bigger issue comes to light: how much can those good deeds be accepted at face value? How much of it is simply for show, as a way to help deflect criticism when his jokes reveal a bit too much of whatever unspoken moronity he's harboring?
My misgiving was really fed by the last excuse made: He's apologized so all should be done. The problem is that the apology smacks of a defiant goof-off looking to keep his job and score points with his audience by showing how he won't back down. It's macaca and Strom Thurman b-day bashes all over again. There are buzzwords and codewords that help redeem people with their chosen group even while appearing to bow to pressure from The Others. That's exactly what happened with this "apology," particularly telling in an exchange between Imus, Sharpton and Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, a Michigan Democrat and chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Just reading it doesn't bring across how it played out as I watched clips replayed during Scarborough Country, The Glenn Beck Show and Countdown with Kieth Oberman (I only watch the last show regularly, the other two benefited from the Imus coverage). Imus seemed jovial and joking, doing the classic bait-and-switch quip of saying "You people" to get a rise out of someone and then explaining his "true meaning" was the two folks he was speaking to at that moment.
Seriously, the guy is hot water for racial insesitivity and figured saying "you people" was a good way to show his regret? Thought saying "jive" was just a hip way of talking even though it's a good three decades past its prime?
No.
He was trying to get a rise (which he got) so that he could then have a punchline (which he got). Simply put, during his "apology" he still refused to take the situation seriously.
Why should anyone take his career as such?
The apology