I don't get the Imus defense here.

[donco6]

I just imagine what would happen if one of our teachers made a comment even HALF as outrageous as his. Not only would they be fired, they would probably lose their license and face bodily injury to boot.

So why is it OK for him to "apologize" and go on as if nothing happened? Why are our $40,000/year teachers held to a higher standard than this "gazillionaire" (to quote a phrase)?

I just don't get it. He should show a shred of decency and resign.

[MichiganVote]

1. That is good old fashioned straight thinking

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. There are two lines of reasoning...

1. What Imus says wasn't racist. (Yeah, right.)

2. What Imus says was racist, but it's no big deal. (yeah, right.)

[piedmont]

3. I think Imus should be fired too, but...

the reasons I hold teachers to a higher standard are 1) they're entrusted with imparting knowledge and discipline to our children; and 2) most of them in this country are paid with public money-- OUR money. I can ignore Imus, but kids can't ignore their teachers.

[sandnsea]

4. pssst... secret racism of white folks

Most white folks know that they have made racist or bigoted or insensitive comments at some point or other. Imus is the exact kind of subtle racist most white folks are. They would defend any minority from a lynching - consequently they don't believe they're racist. That's about as far as their thinking goes. *sigh*

The racism people have been hearing from these pigs in the last few years has always existed behind closed white doors.

[butterfly77]

5. And this is known ...

by most blacks...

[MichiganVote]

6. And the white kids who grew up with the racist whites yet reject it today

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. It's known by everybody.

So I don't know who these people think they're fooling, except themselves.

[donco6]

7. But I can say with all honesty:

I have never, ever even THOUGHT of the term, "Nappy headed hos." Really. And my parents NEVER said the n- word - at least, not in my presence. And I'm as white bread as you can get. If I ever made an insensitive comment it was out of sheer ignorance, followed by enlightenment. With Imus, it's pervasive, repetitive and intentional.

[sandnsea]

18. There's more than one white door

Certainly not every white person is a bigot. Those words aren't said behind my door either. But they're said behind A LOT of white doors. The particular terms may change, but that subtle superiority is what allows those words to pop out of peoples' mouths. Same reason we only have one minority hosting a show on MSNBC.

[donco6]

19. I guess my point with Imus is . . .

some people seem to WANT to learn how to do the right thing, and others seem to revel in their existing thinking.

I'm thinking of a meeting we had here at school the other day. We were struggling with a problem of graduation requirements and how to address some unintended consequences of a policy. When someone got up and showed how the policy was unfairly harming minority and low-income students - well, that was just the end of the policy. Now, the policy probably wouldn't have been put into PLACE had someone been more sensitive, but once the problem was pointed out, there just wasn't any discussion.

With people such as Imus, we go through these events over and over and OVER, and nothing seems to change. They're only sorry because their thinking was made known to X number of people. They don't seem to see a need to change the thinking at all. In fact, I often feel they are laughing in the back of their hand just offstage while all this is going on. It's very infuriating.

I know I have a lot to learn and there are issues out there that I go along with every day without knowing how they may impact someone else. But what I can say is when I learn about them, I work to change myself. I don't think that's true of a lot of people. I hope I'm mistaken about that.

[sandnsea]

24. That's right

There is also such a thing as having things just come out wrong. I've had DUers explain things that I had never thought of, and I'm 50. I think if Imus goes down, they're afraid their entire line-up of bigoted creeps will follow and they won't have anybody out there saying the stuff they know they can't get away with.

[DemBones DemBones]

22. My Southern mother told me never to use that word back in the Fifties,

for the love of Pete! We were living in South Carolina at the time (the military had stationed my dad there) and Jim Crow laws were still in force but we interacted with black people regularly at the market, in stores, at the museum, and I saw that my parents were as polite and friendly to them as to white adults. I don't think it would have occurred to me not to be but I'm sure I'd have been punished if I hadn't.

"Jigaboos" was outlawed in my family, too, which someone said was also on the transcript of the Imus show. "Wops," "gooks," "spics,"etc. were also words not tolerated. Part of the credit goes to my dad but my Southern-born, Southern-reared mother had figured out racism was wrong long before she married him. And they voted Republican!!!

[donco6]

23. I often wonder what planet my parents came from.

I KNOW many of my friends' parents not only used those words, but actively believed them. But we never did. They're dead now, so I guess it will always be a mystery to me.

[democrat2thecore]

8. Let's be honest

It's not a "white folks" only thing. There are plenty of "black folks" who are very racist in their attitude toward whites and hispanics. PEOPLE are racist. This kind of talk (secret racism of white folks)just inflames things. PEOPLE are racist. They come in all colors and flavors. It's unfortunate, but true.

[jakefrep]

10. I don't get the furor over Imus

I could give a shit what he has to say.

[MoonRiver]

12. You must not be a minority or female.

Otherwise you would care.

[donco6]

13. Don't limit it to that.

I'm a white male and I care very much. It was grossly, unacceptably offensive.

[jakefrep]

14. Even if I were, why should I give a shit?

[MichiganVote]

17. You're right. You probably shouldn't give a shit.

[KharmaTrain]

11. He Knew He Was Saying This "On The Air"

This isn't a Michael Richards where this occured in a closed setting...to a limited audience. Instead, Imus was "on the air"...sitting in MSNBC studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey and uttered this crap into millions of radios and televisions. He's someone whose made a career of timing and knew the timing and value of words and the shock value they can have. Over the years, Anus has stirred up "controversy" with some outrageous statement, but only gains from the epsiode. He pisses off Clinton in '92 and Infininty puts him on dozens of radio stations. He trashes Clinton at a White House press dinner and does endless Monicagate jokes and he gets a cable TV show.

[LibraLiz1973]

26. Yeah... the Michael Richards thing was SO MUCH WORSE!

He verbally attacked a man at a club & went OUT OF HIS WAY to keep it going.
He used the N word as a slur repeatedly and with no apology.

[donco6]

29. So give him a medal already. Sheesh. n/t

[orleans]

15. i don't understand his support from tom oliphant, howard fineman &

jonathan alter

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME??

alter said on tucker's show that he will continue to go on imus


"Tom Oliphant to Imus on racial slur controversy: "Solidarity forever, pal"
http://mediamatters.org/items/200704090007

"Fineman to pal Imus: Racist comments aren't OK any more like they used to be"

"And I would like to continue to enable you to do a lot of the good things you do. Including, you know, talking about stuff happening in the world, which you do a very good job of on this show."

http://mediamatters.org/items/200704090002

WTF???

[donco6]

16. I really respect Tom Oliphant. But this . . .

I just don't know how he can even utter the phrase "Solidarity forever" to that man.

[Catherine Vincent]

20. Apparently because he did good things for cancer victims, he should be excused.

Also Armstrong Williams was on with David Gregory and he said it was dispicable what Imus said but he should not be fired because he believes in free speech. He pointed out the good things Imus has done.

[Kelly Rupert]

21. Neither do I. This is about as indefensible as they come. nt

[LibraLiz1973]

25. HE ISN'T A TEACHER!!! Why are you all so insistent on comparing

apples with floor polish?

[donco6]

28. Well, at least we all know what a "ho" is. eom

[Bluerthanblue]

27. I don't want to 'get' it- but it is hard not

to think that people either condone his behaviour-
or they don't care because it doesn't effect them personally-

neither answer is good.

peace,
blu

[Withywindle]

30. Thank you!

Wow, I'm pretty blown away by the response to this whole thing. How can anyone miss the fact that this is insulting to (1) all African-Americans (many of whom are women) and (2) all women (many of whom are African-Americans)?

This is not "misspeaking." Misspeaking is my 87-year-old grandmother using the words "colored" and "Negro" because those WERE the polite terms when she was young and her memory's unpredictable.

"Nappy-headed ho"--to refer to student athletes, for fuck's sake--is the kind of thought you only have in your head if you're pretty fucked up to begin with, and if you're paid obscenely well to talk on the radio, you damn well better ought to know better, right? (And for anyone doubting this is a sexism issue as much as a racist one: March Madness in college basketball is big news, right? How about if some commentator called a male team "nappy-headed bucks" or "nappy-headed mandingos" or some similar sexually-AND-racially loaded insult? Would you be defending them then?)

And that freedom of speech line doesn't wash, because nobody's saying he ought to go to jail. They're just saying fire the bastard from the job he's just proved himself to be lousy at. If a barista at Starbuck's referred to some customers as "nappy headed ho's" how long do you think he'd last? Why should some rich celebrity get away with more?