Can we talk about Don Imus

[hippietim]

You deserve to be sensitive about it after what you went through, but your anecdotal experience is about your confrontation with a girl who was a liar and had no bounds. Lying is one thing. It would be like me castigating the white race because a man in Boston lied and accused a black guy of raping and murdering his wife.

Calling it "anecdotal experience" really mischaracterizes this as some casual problem. It is way beyond that.

[markD]

It would be like me castigating the white race because a man in Boston lied and accused a black guy of raping and murdering his wife.

oh i am not castigating the whole race for their comments/attitudes....more like the good ole US of A because it has allowed a double standard to develop that goes WAAAYYYYY beyond comedy, the media, etc....

i agree with a bit of what you are saying, but when i look at the BIG picture, i see a deeper issue that is constantly ignored.

[rjohnstone]

It is 100% equivalent. If it is in some comedy skit then I don't give a flying fuck. Or, if someone wants to go make racist remarks about all white people on a talk show that's fine too.

But if some punk asshole on the street wants to call me a cracker, we have a problem. He is talking directly to ME. Odds are very good that he is trying to intimidate or abuse me in some manner. I will not have that.

My point exactly.
Am I offended when it's directed at me... damn right I am.
Mark... I feel for ya. Unfortunately you will not win as long as people continue to perpetuate the double standard.

[danastas]

This is a freedom of speech issue because you have a few folks manipulating the situation to squelch the freedoms of another. I fully understand there is no Consitutional violation occuring here.

Yeah, but the "few folks" have just as much a right to tell him to STFU. We can't all be speaking at once, it's a two way street. You have to hang back too and wait for the blowback. The thing is, most radio hosts control the mike and abuse their audience, so they shouldn't be surprised when the comments get out and they get bit on the ass. That's how freedom of speech works. You want to confront the guy who calls you cracker on the street. isn't that the same thing, you're trying to limit his speech somehow?

Plus, the shit hit the fan when Howard Stern reported that Imus often made racist comments to Robin in the studio.

Then Mcguirk, Imus's sidekick, said this after Imus's comment: The Rutgers team was "like the jigaboos versus the wannabes."

Listen, if Imus is claiming freedom of speech, then he's a hypocrite for firing Sid Rosenberg after Sid made this comment: Rosenberg's joke appeared to be a reference to racially insensitive remarks he made in June 2001 about Williams and her sister, Venus, both of whom are African-American. According to a November 20, 2001, Newsday article, Rosenberg said on the air: "One time, a friend, he says to me, 'Listen, one of these days you're gonna see Venus and Serena Williams in Playboy.' I said, 'You've got a better shot at National Geographic.'" Rosenberg also referred to Venus Williams as an "animal." A June 18, 2001, New York Times article (subscription required) on Rosenberg's remarks noted that host Don Imus subsequently "fired him, but he reversed himself and rehired Mr. Rosenberg after the sports commentator apologized on the air."

[danastas]

Calling it "anecdotal experience" really mischaracterizes this as some casual problem. It is way beyond that.

Really? Well, I have to say, I live in the inner city, I teach, I'm around people of different races all the time, and I fully believe that this happened to Mark. It's just not my common experience. I can only go by what I've lived through, right?

[danastas]

oh i am not castigating the whole race for their comments/attitudes....more like the good ole US of A because it has allowed a double standard to develop that goes WAAAYYYYY beyond comedy, the media, etc....

i agree with a bit of what you are saying, but when i look at the BIG picture, i see a deeper issue that is constantly ignored.

This is all fallout from many years of pre-1970s discrimination, a lot of bad planning (urban housing), and now it's getting worse for a lot of other reasons. You're an educator. What do you think the effect will be of fewer blacks going on toward higher education than just 10 years ago? Big schools like PSU are down to 3% blacks. The inner-city schools of Buffalo were pretty good 10-15 years ago, and now they're in a shambles.

In other words, it's just going to get worse.

[hippietim]

Yeah, but the "few folks" have just as much a right to tell him to STFU.

Absolutely. The difference is that if a bunch of white guys started protesting a black radio host we'd be labeled bigots. And for the most part, a bunch white guys aren't going to demand that the black radio host be fired. I know I wouldn't.

You want to confront the guy who calls you cracker on the street. isn't that the same thing, you're trying to limit his speech somehow?

As I said, when that happens odds are very good the guy on the street is not trying to exercise freedom of speech - he's trying to be a menace to me. There is a big difference.

[fett]

The has gotten so off the wall it really isn't funny anymore. Imus has just jumped headfirst into a vat of Jello. It's all BS. He will be back. The Rutgers' team will be back. The sponsers will be back. And we will all be back to square one until some other person does it again. God. I love America.

[danastas]

I don't care about Imus either. I'm happy to see him fired. That doesn't mean that CBS and MSNBC don't suck for suspending him though.

Are you really OK with the fact that you have fewer effective freedoms than other folks?

Quite frankly, I feel more oppressed by all the feigned white male anger all the time. I just hear more of it. Maybe I'm insulated. But I don't think so. If there were less of it around, then yeah I'd feel more effectively free.

[hippietim]

Really? Well, I have to say, I live in the inner city, I teach, I'm around people of different races all the time, and I fully believe that this happened to Mark. It's just not my common experience. I can only go by what I've lived through, right?

Then you are extremely fortunate.

[hippietim]

Quite frankly, I feel more oppressed by all the feigned white male anger all the time. I just hear more of it. Maybe I'm insulated. But I don't think so. If there were less of it around, then yeah I'd feel more effectively free.

I'm just guessing here, but you probably hear more white male anger because you have more white male friends. I could be wrong (and I'm sure you'll let me know if I am )

[danastas]

Absolutely. The difference is that if a bunch of white guys started protesting a black radio host we'd be labeled bigots. And for the most part, a bunch white guys aren't going to demand that the black radio host be fired. I know I wouldn't.

Imus will recover, the same way Jesse Jackson did. But back then, jackson was called out on the mat for his comments. Your point still stands though because he amde a comment against Jews (another minority, in a sense) and not whites. But I can't think of an example of a black guy spewing. Maybe it's there. I know people like Farrakhan are off limits because of their racism.

[hippietim]

Oh and just because you don't experience the problems doesn't make it "feigned" for the rest of us.

[danastas]

The odd thing is that in the Michael Richards thread on this board, I was defending him (even though I thought he was monumentally stupid) because it seemed clear to me he was going over the top to make a point. In other words, the intent was different. I just think Imus is malicious.

[hippietim]

Imus will recover, the same way Jesse Jackson did. But back then, jackson was called out on the mat for his comments. Your point still stands though because he amde a comment against Jews (another minority, in a sense) and not whites. But I can't think of an example of a black guy spewing. Maybe it's there. I know people like Farrakhan are off limits because of their racism.

You need to listen to more programming that is more typically geared for black audiences. I hear digs at white people on primarily black jazz/blues radio plenty. It's all fun. Right?