Imus is held accountable for his racist comments as well he should be, and he loses his soapbox...but he is not alone...many others, as already mentioned in the postings, are just as offensive and racist, but they still have their soapboxes. Ann Coulter always finds places to spew her venom because she doesn't have a network with sponsors behind her to picket. So why Imus? I wonder if the Chappelle show was still on, if Dave did a skit about nappy-headed hos playing for the Rutgers basketball team, would there even have been an outcry? Or if In Living Color did a similar skit back in the day? Even SNL now...so why Imus? I detest censorship, but I also believe free speech comes with being held accountable for what you say...and hate speech is not protected by the first amendment, so I am puzzled. As a writer, can I no longer create racist characters? The racists and sexists are still out there. One could argue our country was founded by racists. The Colonists wiped out the Native Americans, and blacks were enslaved, lynched, and told they were only 3/5ths of a person. Racism and sexism will continue long after Imus is gone. What does firing Imus really accomplish? Howard Stern rages on. Limbaugh too...Will the firing of Imus open new doors for blacks in white corporate America? Racism, sexism, and homophobia will exist tomorrow and long after Imus is silent. What was really accomplished? We all should be held accountable for heinous comments full of hate and ignorance. Imus is gone...racism and sexism live on...when will racism and sexism be silent...when...
Imus should be held accountable for his heinous remarks...but will punishing Imus end racism in America? Will punishing Imus open doors for blacks? Will an employer faced with two equally qualified candidates, one black, one white, pick the black candidate because Imus was fired?...we live in a racist, sexist, homophobic America...getting rid of racist remarks is only one step on a long journey...just like banning the world "nigger" won't end racism either...for all those people who say America has come a long way, 1964 and 1965 are barely forty years ago...blacks have only had civil rights for a short period of time in the history of this country...I have been around longer than the Civil Rights Amendments...getting rid of Imus is a start...but hardly a cure for racism...and hatred...and ignorance...
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I've been agonizing for days over this Imus thing. I listened to him in the 70's when I was disc jockeying in college up in the NY area. As a DJ he was inspirational. But as he wandered off into talk radio, we all tuned him out. So I can't say that I ever tuned into his radio or TV show of late. But I know this much -- he was not the only one on the airwaves doing this kind of thing. The list goes on -- O'Reilly, Hannity, Beck, Savage, Smerconish, Coulter, and all the hip-hop-rap-crap on BET and MTV and VH1 and every other CD and MP3 on the shelf. My problem is -- although Don might have deserved a slap for this, he does not deserve to be the only one whose career is killed for the sins of an entire culture. When I was a kid, polite society was respectful and civil and people were "think skinned". Sticks and stones kind of thing. Today, people are way too sensitive fro almost any remark and society has become crass and crude. This is the result. Don deserves something, but not this, The punishment does no fit the crime. But we have learned something important about Al Sharpton. Generally I like Al, but now we know -- if he demands an apology, and you give it to him, you will still be asked for your head. The apology doesn't matter. "Thank you for your apology. Now you will still die." To paraphrase Imus, people like Sharpton cannot be satisfied. And, when have you ever heard Al apologise for anything? Or Rev. Jackson? Seems that they never do anything wrong. It's not about free speech, its about common decency to your fellow man. Imus is out of a job (for now) and all his charity work has been thwarted. So just who does Al thing is going to suffer? Kids with cancer? I don't think Al even thinks about them. He got what he wants. Oh, and the other thing we've learned is -- if you want to get someone off the air, attack the sponsors. Imus was doing OK until the sponsors backed away. Then they threw him right under the bus. Corporate America. Unrestrained business. Capitalism. Free market. Gee., And who made out he best? Those students. Every one will be remembered and they will all get plum jobs. Maybe even a movie deal. Halle berry will no doubt play the coach. I wonder if Beyonce can dribble or will they have to hire a stunt double? I digress.
Signed: Your Humble Narrator :-)
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