Fire Don Imus
From: Practical Theory
By chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) on Sports / Coaching
Long time "shock jock" Don Imus went too far this time when he was talking about the women's college basketball final between Tennessee and Rutgers. From ESPN.com:I
mus was speaking with producer Bernard McGurk when the NCAA title game between Rutgers and Tennessee came up.
"That's some rough girls from Rutgers," Imus said. "Man, they got tattoos ... "
"Some hardcore hos," said McGurk.
"That's some nappy headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that," Imus said.
Imus has long made a career off of pushing the envelope, but this crosses a line into such vile racist, sexist language against a group of young women who's only "crime" was being athletes at the top of their game. This hateful language should not be allowed to be explained away with "Whoops, just a joke folks..." There are some things that are just hateful and wrong, no matter how many hastily written PR apologies are made.
This is offensive on so many levels. One, the obvious racism is horrific. But even beyond the racism, there's a sexism that, after ten years of coaching high school girls basketball, that pains me. I am sick of seeing this. It's vile, it's hateful, it's disgusting, and it really has no place on our airwaves.
So Monday morning, at the opening of business hours, I'm calling WFAN and registering my displeasure that Imus is allowed to say such things on the air, and I will be adding my voice to the chorus of those calling for Imus to be taken off the air.
Should you be so inclined:
WFAN-AM
34-12 36th Street
Astoria, NY 11106
718 706 7690
2 comments:
While the comments were disgusting and hateful, the term racist does far more harm than good to the cause of preventing racism.
Racist comments are those that deny opportunity, oppress and perpetuate the societal disadvantage that non-white races are subjected to. If progress is ever going to be made with racism, people need to be more responsible with distinguishing it from just bigotry and ignorance.
I found the comments to be far more offensive to women than to blacks. Also, Don Imus hasn't pushed an envelope in close to 25 years - he just really is an a-hole.
Thanks you for the comment, even though you did not leave your name. I like your distinction between bigotry, ignorance and racism. It makes me think that I should and will be more careful in using these terms in the future. Thanks again!
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