DON IMUS' FIRING

[brendywendy]

PERSONALLY, I THINK HE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN FIRED, BUT INSTEAD SUSPENDED FOR A LONGER TIME, SEVERAL MONTHS AND TOLD WHEN HE CAME BACK, IF EVER HAPPENED AGAIN, HE'D BE FIRED....
HE DID MAKE LOTS OF RACIST JOKES FOR YEARS BUT STILL I LIKED HIS SHOW...I'M SURE NBC AND CBS KNEW HIS RACIST REMARKS THRU THE YEARS, BUT NEVER A BIG STINK ABOUT IT, SO NOW THEY'RE SHOCKED AND OFFENDED, SIMPLY COS SPONSERS HAVE ABANDONED HIM...ALL COMES DOWN TO MONEY....
I THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING BY HARVEY FIERSTEIN:

By HARVEY FIERSTEIN
Published: April 13, 2007
AMERICA is watching Don Imus’s self-immolation in a state of shock and awe. And I’m watching America with wry amusement.

Since I’m a second-class citizen — a gay man — my seats for the ballgame of American discourse are way back in the bleachers. I don’t have to wait long for a shock jock or stand-up comedian to slip up with hateful epithets aimed at me and mine. Hate speak against homosexuals is as commonplace as spam. It’s daily traffic for those who profess themselves to be regular Joes, men of God, public servants who live off my tax dollars, as well as any number of celebrities.

In fact, I get a good chuckle whenever someone refers to “the media” as an agent of “the gay agenda.” There are entire channels, like Spike TV, that couldn’t fill an hour of programming if required to remove their sexist and homophobic content. We’ve got a president and a large part of Congress willing to change the Constitution so they can deprive of us our rights because they feel we are not “normal.”

So I’m used to catching foul balls up here in the cheap seats. What I am really enjoying is watching the rest of you act as if you had no idea that prejudice was alive and well in your hearts and minds.

For the past two decades political correctness has been derided as a surrender to thin-skinned, humorless, uptight oversensitive sissies. Well, you anti-politically correct people have won the battle, and we’re all now feasting on the spoils of your victory. During the last few months alone we’ve had a few comedians spout racism, a basketball coach put forth anti-Semitism and several high-profile spoutings of anti-gay epithets.

What surprises me, I guess, is how choosy the anti-P.C. crowd is about which hate speech it will not tolerate. Sure, there were voices of protest when the TV actor Isaiah Washington called a gay colleague a “f*g**t.” But corporate America didn’t pull its advertising from “Grey’s Anatomy,” as it did with Mr. Imus, did it? And when Ann Coulter likewise tagged a presidential candidate last month, she paid no real price.

In fact, when Bill Maher discussed Ms. Coulter’s remarks on his HBO show, he repeated the slur no fewer than four times himself; each mention, I must note, solicited a laugh from his audience. No one called for any sort of apology from him. (Well, actually, I did, so the following week he only used it once.)

Face it, if a Pentagon general, his salary paid with my tax dollars, can label homosexual acts as “immoral” without a call for his dismissal, who are the moral high and mighty kidding?

Our nation, historically bursting with generosity toward strangers, remains remarkably unkind toward its own. Just under our gleaming patina of inclusiveness, we harbor corroding guts. America, I tell you that it doesn’t matter how many times you brush your teeth. If your insides are rotting your breath will stink. So, how do you people choose which hate to embrace, which to forgive with a wink and a week in rehab, and which to protest? Where’s my copy of that rule book?

Let me cite a non-volatile example of how prejudice can cohabit unchecked with good intentions. I am a huge fan of David Letterman’s. I watch the opening of his show a couple of times a week and have done so for decades. Without fail, in his opening monologue or skit Mr. Letterman makes a joke about someone being fat. I kid you not. Will that destroy our nation? Should he be fired or lose his sponsors? Obviously not.

But I think that there is something deeper going on at the Letterman studio than coincidence. And, as I’ve said, I cite this example simply to illustrate that all kinds of prejudice exist in the human heart. Some are harmless. Some not so harmless. But we need to understand who we are if we wish to change. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should confess to not only being a gay American, but also a fat one. Yes, I’m a double winner.)

I urge you to look around, or better yet, listen around and become aware of the prejudice in everyday life. We are so surrounded by expressions of intolerance that I am in shock and awe that anyone noticed all these recent high-profile instances. Still, I’m gladdened because our no longer being deaf to them may signal their eventual eradication.

The real point is that you cannot harbor malice toward others and then cry foul when someone displays intolerance against you. Prejudice tolerated is intolerance encouraged. Rise up in righteousness when you witness the words and deeds of hate, but only if you are willing to rise up against them all, including your own. Otherwise suffer the slings and arrows of disrespect silently.

Harvey Fierstein is an actor and playwright.

[robertaxel]

I personally could not stand him, I didn't think he was funny and catered to the lowest denominator. I do agree that the story was way overplayed and there are more important things to worry about, though

Robert

[erik]

Of course, this would not make Imus any different from Howard Stern; and it wasn't exactly a state secret that both Imus and Stern were in very nasty competition with each other for shock-jock king status when both were on terrestrial radio.

In all good honesty, however, there is something inherently wrong when somewhat like Don Imus or Howard Stern, both of whom are white, can get into trouble for using racist language like that because they are white, when rap and hip-hop stars get a pass from Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson because they are black.

This is all about political correctness, which I have a severe bug-a-boo against. I am all for wanting civility in our society--up to a point. But when people can act with such outrage over comments like these and not emit the same outrage over Bush and Cheney and their f***ing immoral war in Iraq, there is something catastrophically wrong with this country of ours.

[brendywendy]

I USED TO WATCH THE SIMULCAST IN THE MORNING GETTING READY FOR WORK & ENJOYED IT COS THEY HAD LOTS OF SINGERS ON AND LOTS OF POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS WITH REPORTERS AND POLITICIANS....THEY MADE FUN OF THEMSELVES AS WELL, I THINK HE SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN A SECOND CHANCE, A WARNING BEFORE HE WAS FIRED....I THINK HE WOULD HAVE CUT THE RACIST HUMOUR DOWN,NOW THAT HE REALIZED IT WAS GOING TO CAUSE HIM SO MUCH TROUBLE, THEY SHOULDA SUSPENDED HIM FOR A COUPLA MONTHS, A REAL PENALTY, NOT THE TWO WEEKS SLAP ON THE WRIST....AND LET HIM COME BACK AND PROVE HE MEANT IT WHEN HE PROMISED TO CHANGE....THEN IF HE DIDNT' , LET HIM GO....
HOWEVER AS LONG AS HE WAS MAKING THEM PLENTY OF MONEY, NEITHER CBS NOR NBC CARED A BIT ABOUT HIS JOKES...THESE WERE FAR FAR FROM THE FIRST....
AND THEY ONLY FIRED HIM COS ALL THE SPONSERS LEFT....STRICTLY FINANCIAL DECISION , NO MATTER WHAT THEY CLAIM....

robertaxel said:

I personally could not stand him, I didn't think he was funny and catered to the lowest denominator. I do agree that the story was way overplayed and there are more important things to worry about, though

Robert

[robertaxel]

Certainly it was financial... when the sponsors leave, it is all over for the artist. However, people who complain about a 'double standard' in hip-hop culture (which is certainly highly misogynistic and violent) may be forgetting, or not aware that people from the African American community have been fighting that for years..

[erik]

Quote by robertaxel:

However, people who complain about a 'double standard' in hip-hop culture (which is certainly highly misogynistic and violent) may be forgetting, or not aware that people from the African American community have been fighting that for years..

All true, of course. But now it is the African-American community that needs to settle this issue internally with themselves. If they don't, it'll just keep going on and on (IMHO).

[brendywendy]

::)THEY HAVEN'T BEEN FIGHTING IT HARD ENUFF....BET IS LIKE A PORN STATION....IF I WERE BLACK, ALL THOSE VIDEOS WOULD EMBARRAS ME.....

robertaxel said:

Certainly it was financial... when the sponsors leave, it is all over for the artist. However, people who complain about a 'double standard' in hip-hop culture (which is certainly highly misogynistic and violent) may be forgetting, or not aware that people from the African American community have been fighting that for years..

[robertaxel]

I find those videos embarrassing and I am white.. I think they should embarrass any thinking person, IMO

[brendywendy]

THERE HAVE BEEN BLACK PEOPLE WHO PROTESTED IT (MOST FAMOUSLY OPRAH WINFREY), BUT EVEN OPRAH NOR THE BLACK PEOPLE ALONE COULD STOP IT...IT WOULD TAKE WHITE SOCIETY WHICH DOES MOST OF THE BUYING OF IT AND IS THE LARGEST AUDIENCE OF IT, TO STOP IT...AND WHITE PEOPLE ARE AFRAID TO CRITICIZE BLACK PEOPLE EVER OR THEY GET CALLED RACISTS...

robertaxel said:

I find those videos embarrassing and I am white.. I think they should embarrass any thinking person, IMO

[erik]

Quote by brendywendy:

WHITE PEOPLE ARE AFRAID TO CRITICIZE BLACK PEOPLE EVER OR THEY GET CALLED RACISTS...

Very true...which means blacks can use the race card as a crutch to excuse their particular economic and political situation.

On the one hand, they don't want a "hand out from 'whitey'" But on the other hand, they will use their race to justify the supposed continuing abuse of them by white people. If they want to be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin, then they're going to have to knock this s**t off!

[Andrew]

Note #1: I'm noticing some overgeneralization about black people in this discussion.

Note #2: Harvey needs to look at his American history again. This country has never been kind to strangers. Never ever ever.

[robertaxel]

andrew said:

Note #1: I'm noticing some overgeneralization about black people in this discussion.
Note #2: Harvey needs to look at his American history again. This country has never been kind to strangers. Never ever ever.

Re: #1 - agreed
Re: #2 - - Some 'strangers' to his country (i.e Pilgrims and their immediator successors) were not very kind to the native Americans they found here either... however, you are correct about the xenophobia shown to immigrants also..

Robert

[Andrew]

robertaxel said:

Re: #1 - agreed
Re: #2 - - Some 'strangers' to his country (i.e Pilgrims and their immediator successors) were not very kind to the native Americans they found here either... however, you are correct about the xenophobia shown to immigrants also..

That is a good point. I guess I was thinking about visitors since that invasion.

[brendywendy]

:(NOT GOOD FOR ANY ONE GROUP TO BE SCAPEGOATED (IS THAT A PROPER WORD, LOOKS FUNNY??? HA!

andrew said:

robertaxel said:

Re: #1 - agreed
Re: #2 - - Some 'strangers' to his country (i.e Pilgrims and their immediator successors) were not very kind to the native Americans they found here either... however, you are correct about the xenophobia shown to immigrants also..

That is a good point. I guess I was thinking about visitors since that invasion.

[egoodstein]

From Wall St. Journal- Jim Fusilli comments on Don Imus and possible 'hip hop lingo' link. Ed

Hip-Hop 'Artists' Are No Better Than Imus
By JIM FUSILLI
April 17, 2007

In case you missed it, on Friday afternoon the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), an advocacy group for the rap and hip-hop industry, issued a press release "differentiating between Don Imus and Hip-Hop." That such a press release is required suggests there may be reasons to confuse these two reliable sources of offensive speech—but no, say Russell Simmons and Benjamin Chavis, HSAN chairman and president, respectively.

After pointing out that Mr. Imus "is not a hip-hop artist or a poet," the release states: "Hip-hop artists rap about what they see, hear and feel around them, their experience of the world. Like the artists throughout history, their messages are a mirror of what is right and wrong with society. Sometimes their observations or the way in which they choose to express their art may be uncomfortable for some to hear, but our job is not to silence or censor that expression."

One might quibble and say the quest for commercial success, and not artistic integrity, is the driver for many major-label rappers, but let's accept the statement as fact so that all those in favor of freedom of expression may line up behind Mr. Simmons and Dr. Chavis. Mr. Imus might join the queue, arguing that his comedy sketches provide him with some claim to free speech in the service of satire. But Mr. Imus abused that right on the public airwaves for quite a while, and it's about time he was sent to his room.

Mr. Imus's skits with producer Bernard McGuirk were among the most vile, sexist, racist and homophobic on mainstream public radio. His attack on the young women of the Rutgers basketball team in which, smirk firmly in place, he called them "nappy-headed hos" was far from out of character for the program. Good riddance, and the satellite radio network that will inevitably revive the Imus program can deal with its equally inevitable return to the bilge and bile of hate speech that may be protected by law but is not immune to public outrage that compels laudable action.

Perhaps the reason HSAN feels it must differentiate itself from the radio bigots is that, in attacking the Rutgers basketball team, Mr. Imus and Mr. McGuirk co-opted the language of hip-hop. In fact, one might argue that they were empowered by the language of hip-hop, which is now mainstream and in play both in schoolyards and penthouses in the U.S. and many parts of the planet. In the world of hip-hop, a woman who displeases the narrator is often referred to as a "ho," a shortened version of "sleeper." To use a phrase popular among hip-hop purveyors and their fans, to "disrespect" women is an everyday thing, a sign of authority and virility. Because it's a common enough expression in some circles, Messrs. Imus and McGuirk thought their listeners would let their remarks slide.

Not familiar with the latest hip-hop lyrics? Sample these: "I got a lot but baby you can be my best ho," "The hos love it when they see a coupe roofless," "A lot of hos give me they numbers but I never call." Call it cherry-picking to make a point, but these lyrics aren't on obscure recordings. They, and others far more coarse and offensive, appear on three of the top five CDs on Billboard's Top Rap Albums chart—and are marketed by units of EMI and the Universal Music Group.

HSAN argues that Young Buck, Mims and Rich Boy, perpetrators of the aforementioned lyrics, are playing characters that represent urban archetypes. But hip-hop has enormous cultural influence that blurs such distinctions, and Mr. Simmons and Dr. Chavis know it. When rappers imply that all women who don't acquiesce to their demands are hos, the young, impressionable part of their audience may think that's a valid point of view—and take that attitude with them into adulthood.

The undeniable link between the Imus flap and hip-hop is how people in some segments of society now feel free to bring such an opinion of women into public discourse with confidence that others believe it's true. Mr. Imus, Mr. McGuirk and their sportscaster, Sid Rosenberg, who chimed in with equal venom, saw assertive black women and believed they could denigrate them with impunity. Some rappers think the same way, and thus it must follow that so do executives in companies that profit from selling their product.

The HSAN press release went on to say the following: "Our job is to be an inclusive voice for the hip-hop community and to help create an environment that encourages the positive growth of hip-hop. Language can be a powerful tool. That is why one's intention, when using the power of language, should be made clear."

As Mr. Simmons and Dr. Chavez strive to "help create" such an environment—an admission that one does not yet exist—they might keep in mind their own words. Language is indeed a powerful tool. Ask any young woman who's been called a "ho" by some dimwit who heard it on shock radio or a rap record and thought it a fact of modern life. Whether the speaker was trying to emulate Don Imus, Young Buck or an executive profiting from hate speech , the intention was the same: to degrade our daughters and sisters.

Mr. Fusilli writes about rock and pop music for the Journal.