Radio DJ Suspended for Racist Comments

[blockthebox]

I never heard of this guy before this whole "nappy-headed hos" thing. The only thing he sounds sorry about is getting in trouble, but isn't that always the case? And think about it: It's incredible that in this day and age and given this country's history of race relations and slavery that people can still make flippant racist remarks against blacks, so it's no wonder that a "chink" here and a "ching chong" there not only goes UNNOTICED but is applauded.

CBS Radio, MSNBC say they will suspend Imus for two weeks after inappropriate comment

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer
April 9, 2007

NEW YORK (AP) -- CBS Radio and MSNBC both said Monday they were suspending Don Imus' morning talk show for two weeks as a protest grew about his reference last week to members of the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos."

The suspension begins next Monday.

MSNBC, which telecasts the radio show, said Imus' expressions of regret and embarrassment, coupled with his stated dedication to changing the show's discourse, made it believe suspension was the appropriate response.

"Our future relationship with Imus is contingent on his ability to live up to his word," the network said.

Imus, who has made a career of cranky insults in the morning, was fighting for his job following the joke that by his own admission went "way too far." He continued to apologize Monday, both on his show and on a syndicated radio program hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who is among several black leaders demanding his ouster.

Imus could be in real danger if the outcry causes advertisers to shy away from him, said Tom Taylor, editor of the trade publication Inside Radio. The National Organization for Women is also seeking Imus' ouster.

"Everyone is on tenterhooks waiting to see whether it grows and whether the protest gets picked up more broadly," Taylor said.

Imus isn't the most popular radio talk-show host -- the trade publication Talkers ranks him the 14th most influential -- but his audience is heavy on the political and media elite that advertisers pay a premium to reach. Authors, journalists and politicians are frequent guests -- and targets for insults.

He has urged critics to recognize that his show is a comedy that spreads insults broadly. Imus or his cast have called Colin Powell a "sniffling weasel," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson a "fat sissy" and referred to Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado, an American Indian, as "the guy from `F Troop."' He and his colleagues also called the New York Knicks a group of "chest-thumping pimps."

On Sharpton's program Monday, Imus said that "our agenda is to be funny and sometimes we go too far. And this time we went way too far."

Imus made his remark the day after the Rutgers team, which includes eight black women, lost the NCAA women's championship game to Tennessee. He was speaking with producer Bernard McGuirk and said "that's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos ..."

"Some hardcore hos," McGuirk said.

"That's some nappy-headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that," Imus said.

The Rutgers comment has struck a chord, in part, because it was aimed at a group of young women at the pinnacle of athletic success. It also came in a different public atmosphere following the Michael Richards and Mel Gibson incidents, said Eric Deggans, columnist for the St. Petersburg Times and chairman of the media monitoring committee of the National Association of Black Journalists. The NABJ's governing board, which doesn't include Deggans, wants Imus canned.

"This may be the first time where he's done something like this in the YouTube era," Deggans said. Viewers can quickly see clips of Imus' remarks, not allowing him to redefine their context, he said.

On his show Monday, Imus called himself "a good person" who made a bad mistake.

"Here's what I've learned: that you can't make fun of everybody, because some people don't deserve it," he said. "And because the climate on this program has been what it's been for 30 years doesn't mean that it has to be that way for the next five years or whatever because that has to change, and I understand that."

New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine spoke to Rutgers players Monday and said later that he strongly condemned Imus' words.

"There is absolutely no excuse for his conduct, and he is right to apologize," Corzine said. "Only the Rutgers women's basketball team, however, can decide to accept his apology. If Mr. Imus really wants to go and learn from this, he should watch how these young ladies carry themselves. He might just learn from their example."

Rutgers players said they planned to make a public statement on Tuesday.
Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, whose presidential candidacy has been backed by Imus on the air, said he would still appear on Imus' program.

"He has apologized," McCain said. "He said that he is deeply sorry. I'm a great believer in redemption. Whether he needs to do more in order to satisfy the concerns of people like the members of that team, that's something that's between him and them. But I have made many mistakes in my life ... and I have apologized, and most people have accepted that apology."

Imus' radio show originates from WFAN in New York City and is syndicated nationally by Westwood One, both of which are managed by CBS. The show reached an estimated 361,000 viewers on MSNBC in the first three months of the year, up 39 percent from last year. That's the best competitive position it has ever achieved against CNN (372,000 viewers).

Imus' fate could ultimately rest with two of the nation's most prominent media executives: CBS Corp. chief Leslie Moonves and Jeff Zucker, head of NBC Universal.

"He will survive it if he stops apologizing so much," said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers. Imus clearly seems under corporate pressure to make amends, but he's nearly reached the point where he is alienating the fans who appreciate his grumpy outrageousness.

Even if he were to be fired, he's likely to land elsewhere in radio, Harrison said.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and about 50 people marched Monday outside Chicago's NBC tower to protest Imus' comments. He said MSNBC should abandon Imus and MSNBC should hire more black pundits.

Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP board of directors, said it is "past time his employers took him off the air."

"As long as an audience is attracted to his bigotry and politicians and pundits tolerate his racism and chauvinism to promote themselves, Don Imus will continue to be a serial apologist for prejudice," Bond said.

Imus was mostly contrite in his appearance with Sharpton, although the activist did not change his opinion that Imus should lose his job. At one point Imus seemed incredulous at Sharpton's suggestion that he might walk away from the incident unscathed.

"Unscathed?" Imus said. "How do you think I'm unscathed by this? Don't you think I'm humiliated?"

AP writers Deepti Hajela and Jacques Billeaud contributed to this account.
http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-imus-protests&prov=ap&type=lgns

[Dialectic]

Haha, that last quote is precious. The man who does the insulting is "humiliated." It's the same response every time, isn't it?

Anyway if Asians can make people lose their jobs, blacks certainly can. I suppose it comes down to what the basketball team does.

[kimtae]

Imus is a jackass. I've heard that fool off and on for over 20 years now and he's nothing but a third rate Howard Stern (and that's low) wannabe.

[lycheng]

"That's some nappy-headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that," Imus said.Both racist and sexist.... he should be taken off the air!

lycheng

[nekohead]

Saying something like that is the ONLY way to get your name on the FRONT page of the papers and in the TOP headlines on the NEWS.
He planned that. Not the Girls looking all worn out after a rough game. Heck, who would'nt be all MESSED up and all worn out after any ball game? Unless your playing golf? But, to say something UGLY about someone Black was VERY much planned. We ALL know he is a NOBODY. Now he is a somewhat NAMED nobody.

[nskripchun]

All too typical shock-jock BS.

[kimtae]

Saying something like that is the ONLY way to get your name on the FRONT page of the papers and in the TOP headlines on the NEWS.
He planned that. Not the Girls looking all worn out after a rough game. Heck, who would'nt be all MESSED up and all worn out after any ball game? Unless your playing golf? But, to say something UGLY about someone Black was VERY much planned. We ALL know he is a NOBODY. Now he is a somewhat NAMED nobody.

Unfortunately it's far more insidious than that. Imus is a national personality with a very large listenership. He doesn't need the publicity so this wasn't a stunt on his part, it was just a reflection of his true nature and deeply racist feelings.

[minbo]

To me, the main lesson is that if you can get people to rally around your cause (Sharpton, NAACP, etc), even if you ask them to, then you can whip people in line. If you don't, then no one pays attention to the slurs.

[Hater Depot]

All too typical shock-jock BS.

Exactly. Stuff like this gets sad every day on shock radio, the people we should really be punishing are the media companies who keep giving them jobs and then pretend to be surprised when they say stuff like this.

[AZN MAN]

I've been away from the 44's for awhile, but this topic generated some interest for me.

As a person who has worked in the arts, I'm an advocate for freedom of speech/expression. Personally, I feel that the arts were created in order to empower us but in today's world there is ubiquitous content that breaks us down. Of course, there are legions of people who would disagree with me, which is their right.

That being said, Imus was invoking his freedom of speech when he broke the human spirit in a deliberate and harmful way. He's done this many times throughout his career, but why the focus on this particular incident, and why now?

In addition, various genres of rock music have featured prominent messages that are hurtful to segments of people; examples would be Guns n Roses, and various Hip Hop artists. It seems that a double standard exists; Talk Radio and Journalism are targets for these types of 'infractions' yet popular music is not?

I personally feel that insensitive and hurtful commentary by Imus and Tim Hardaway should be discussed and any ramifications would hopefully 'empower' them and make them better people as a result. That would make these incidents, as grotesque as they are, a springboard for positive change. On the flipside, why are there no discussions on hurtful commentary by recording artists?

[atlasien]

It's because everyone has lower standards for music. Music connects to things deep within the primitive, reptilian part of our brains. Mostly they have to do with sex, survival and aggression. "I have enormous sexual appeal" or "I crush my enemies" or "I am a member of a powerful group". A great example of this is the Star-Spangled Banner... a horrible song with lasting appeal and a very basic sex/aggression message: "Our flag is AWESOME because it STAYED UP ALL NIGHT LONG so TAKE THAT you FOREIGN BITCHEZ!"

When people listen to music they often subordinate more complicated racist and misogynist messages to this primitive sex/aggression complex, which is so powerful it has a tendency to drown out every other message. This is not to say that music can't be used as propaganda, just that it's a very powerful but slippery weapon, ha ha. For example, combining overtly racist chants with a catchy melody or rhythm ensures that the sex/aggression complex stays focused and channeled towards the proper targets. The lasting success of the "Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees" chant testifies to that.

On the other hand, when someone says something extremely hateful in a pure speech medium, it comes across crystal clear. There is no other primary purpose to the speech. "It's just meant to be amusing/funny" is a pathetic smokescreen. It's meant to amuse people... by being racist.

[atlasien]

I just found the best post EVER explaining what Don Imus was trying to do!

http://www.thepoorman.net/2007/04/11/booyakasha-imus-respeck/

[kimtae]

Imus is now fired. We'll see hoe long it takes for him to get picked up by someone else but at least his crusty old ass has been given the boot for now.
Respeck!!!

[kwak76]

Ok...call me the odd man out...I actually didn't like it that he got fired.

The REAL reason why Imus got fired is because the advertises got scared and put the pressure on CBS and NBC and because the advertises were jumping ship and CBS and NBC let Imus go.
(The lesson you learn here is if you want to battle racism is not by education but by the bottom line.)

Imus has been in talk radio for almost 3 decades. I actually listened to Imus time to time. Is he a racist? I think he is no more of a racist than many of us are.

The only difference is that he got caught with his foot in the mouth and had to pay for it.

What bothers me is the double standard of it? I mean the word 'hoe, bitch or sluts', are randomly use in some rap songs. You have black guys using the words nigger and calling each other nigger or even calling women hoes.

I mean let say a black guy said this instead and would there be the same outrage vs. a white guy saying it?

I know that some words have more power than others. People would say that nigger have more malice meaning than cracker or hoe would have more malice meaning than calling a guy a male slut.

But I think if anything what the Imus incident does it creates a higher wall between race.

To white people they don't get it. All white people know is that if you use the word nigger you get in trouble but will be confused because why are some black people using the word nigger so freely.

If Imus is getting fired for using a racial , sexist word it should be fair that many of those rap artist that use the word 'hoe' or bitch should get the axe.

The thing that bothers me is the double standard.

[jaehwan]

If Imus is getting fired for using a racial , sexist word it should be fair that many of those rap artist that use the word 'hoe' or bitch should get the axe.

The thing that bothers me is the double standard.

Good point.

I agree with Imus's firing. There are a limited number of airwaves, and you don't want hate speech going across them. It's the same thing with the Rosie O'Donnell thing--in her role as a moderator on the View, she has power over what gets broadcast, and with the limited number of TV channels, we have a right to demand that she not use the airwaves to promote racism.

At the same time, I agree that there is a double standard. But it's the same thing with all minorities, including Asian Americans. People get all bent out of shape when white people use the media to spread stereotypes of Asian Americans (Bloodhound Gang, Fu Manchu, Last Samurai, etc.), but Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, and David Henry Hwang can spread the stereotypes with abandon, and many in the Asian American community won't just refuse to condemn them, they'll actually support them. Bobby Lee can refer to the Vietnamese as "the jungle people," and no one (outside of the 44's of course!) says anything. It's outrageous how so much racism we face comes from those in our own community.

But you can't let white people off the hook just because of the double standard. Rather than being easier on white people who say sexist or racist stuff, we should be speaking out equally hard against minorities who do the same.

[atlasien]

Good point.
but Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, and David Henry Hwang can spread the stereotypes with abandon, and many in the Asian American community won't just refuse to condemn them, they'll actually support them.

Amy Tan obviously flogs stereotypes, but I have yet to see what those other two have done that is equivalently awful and shallow. I've read several Maxine Hong Kingston books, including China Men and Tripmaster Monkey, and read the script of one Hwang play (M. Butterfly). I'm scratching my head as to what in those works is so worthy of condemnation.

And this thing about the double standard... Ha! Right now the internet is bursting at the seams with people complaining about the double standard and Imus. A simple parallel: try saying "my mom can be such a bitch". Then think about a casual acquaintance from work saying "your mom can be such a bitch". Is there a difference? OMG double standard! When some people use certain words in certain contexts, it's very often different than when other people use those same words. I'm not saying minorities are free to use racial slurs. It's just a lot more complicated than saying "double standard!"

Here's a post I like on the subject!

http://www.kaichang.net/2007/04/on_gangster_cul.html

[silkie]

For those who says there is a double standard, I am sorry to say this but you lack the ability to understand the subtlety of race relations. We live in a society that is structured around white supremacy, so it is different when a white man uses derogatory comments towards other race they dominate. To illustrate my point, follow this link and tell me if you hear any malice and condescension is in the tone:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200703070009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF9BjB7Bzr0

It is obvious that these jackasses are taking the someone's proud moment and pretty much tries to negate it by mocking them, whether it is the Rutger's basketball team or Maya Angelou, an accomplished black poet.

Now I am not saying that it is ok for minorities to spew intra-racial hate, but just because a few does it doesn't mean it give the right for someone else to repeat it.

So should Imus be fired? Without a fucking doubt. In fact, the first question that pops in my mind is why it took 30 fucking years for that to finally happen?

[Dialectic]

Kwak, as Silkie said, there is no simple "double-standard." As you know, not everyone is equal because of power relations, and who says something is as important, if not more, than what is said.

Given where you stood on the WM/AF argument, I'm surprised you'd be arguing the double-standard here.

[kwak76]

I figure people would be surprise by my statement. I think over time (mostly from work) I changed some of my views.

In an ideal world everything should be equal or close to it. No power structure or classism or even double standards.

When it comes to racism to white people they don't get it. They never will . I finally accepted that. Unless they are willingly to change their worldview they won't get it. They don't understand white privelge or how much influence they weild.

So to white people racism is kind of like black and white. They don't get the difference in power dynamics.

White people don't understand why it is OK for a black person to use the word nigger but not OK for a white person.
They don't understand the history or the reason why black people use the word "nigger". To some black people they use that word to show ownership of the word.

In the hip-hop culture the word nigger is used too randomly. I think if your going to battle racism you have to battle it in all fronts. Not just with white people but within black people too.

Granted I understand the power dynamics behind words. I think I showed an example of that before in my earlier post but realistic I think white people won't get it.

When it comes to inter-racial relationship.
In an ideal world we should have an equal number of AW/WM and AM/WW .

My outcry about ccb's or inter-racial relationship has always been the double standard of it. In other words it seems easier for a white guy to land an asian girl but not so for an asian guy to land a white women.

In ideal world there should be no easier or harder for anyone.

same with racial remarks. I know this view may seem like the anti-kwak but I work with ALLOT I mean ALLOT of white people. Prior to working with white people I always saw it from my side.

Allot of them see racism as black and white. If a white person use the word nigger. In thier mind set that is racism. To allot white people they can't see the deeper meaning behind racism which is why I think I can't get close to anyone of them.

Imus maybe a racist but I prefer a white racist that carries it in his sleeve than a racist that is hidden. By firing Imus what happen is that to white people ( at least the ones complaining at work) they complain about how come rappers that use the word "Ho" or Nigger are getting away with it.

I hate to say this. They have a point. Granted words have different meaning as Silkes pointed out but I realize that it's better to get rid of it all together.

If we are going to go after Imus for racial remarks in an ideal world we should go after every one.

I think this will never happen but ..BUT I think everyone will be on the same page if we decided to go after everyone.


Same with inter-racial relationship. In the past. I hated it . I couldn't stand it. I realize my too negative outlook on it wouldn't do anything to it.

I realize that it is here to stay and I had to learn to live with it. In some small measure I acutally learn to accept it. FOr me to actually get some peace of mind I realize that it is OK for asian women to date white guys because not all of it is base upon racial fetishism. I had to take this position because not everyone is motivated by race. (hint ..hint dialectic ...you can't judge me by my past writings only.)

I think with asian men if we have the same level of access and easy that white guys have with women. You will hear less belly aching.
FOr me to get some sort of peace of mind with this I took a new position. If a girl rejects me I decided that it can't be race first. I had to take this position to give myself a break from racism. Instead if a girl rejected me I be like she 's not the one or maybe it's not the moment.

[kwak76]

I think firing Imus is just the easy way out. I don't think it is really addressing the issue. I think what happened is that instead of creating a dialogue about language of racism between the race ..they just fired Imus.

this is no different from me going up to a ccb and calling her a race traitor and calling her white boy friend a asiaphile and having all my asian friend calling her a sell out. it doesn't really address the issue.

There is a reason why a ccb became a ccb and there is a reason why Imus use those words.

[jaehwan]

Amy Tan obviously flogs stereotypes, but I have yet to see what those other two have done that is equivalently awful and shallow. I've read several Maxine Hong Kingston books, including China Men and Tripmaster Monkey, and read the script of one Hwang play (M. Butterfly). I'm scratching my head as to what in those works is so worthy of condemnation.

Hong Kingston and Hwang are much worse than Amy Tan. I don't want to take this thread on a tangent, but if you're interested in learning about the hypocrisy of Ms. Kingston, you can read seoulbrother's comments here:

http://www.reappropriate.com/?p=411 (It's long, but you can just search for "seoulbrother"

As for Hwang, again I don't want to hijack the thread--I thought M. Butterfly was ridiculously insulting to both hetero and gay Asian men, but I'm looking at his whole opus (including "Golden Gate" and "The Lost Empire") along with his interviews.


Now for the double standard discussion: Silkie, I think people react more strongly against whites because of the issues that you mentioned, but I have to agree with Kwak in that it doesn't exculpate minorities when they pull the same offense (and I think you also said something to this effect as well).

Case in point: When I was young, I remember playing volleyball with some black people. There were some black people on my team, and there were a lot of black people on the other team. We were down a few points, and one of the black girls on my team said really loudly that we "shouldn't be losing to a bunch of niggers." The game came to a halt because the captain of the other team then refused to play until the black girl apologized. No double standard. The captain didn't just say, "Oh well, she's black, therefore she can go ahead and call us a 'bunch of niggers.'" Instead, he stuck to his principles and demanded an apology. She eventually did apologize.

This is the right response. I think it's unfortunate that there is a lack of such response on the national level. Why does Sharpton speak out against Imus, while giving free reign to the rap artists who create words like "ho?" Of course it's worse when a white person says it--no one is disputing that. But when Sharpton goes on a tear against Imus but doesn't say anything about the black people who perpetrate the same nonsense, there is definitely a double standard.

One thing significant about Martin and Malcolm was that they both held black people to high standards. Martin wouldn't let black people march with him unless he was convinced that they had the character to remain nonviolent, while Malcolm regularly criticized hypocrisy within the black community. Maybe we don't need to react equally to racist whites and racist minorities. But we should get equally angry. If we verbally object to white racism while not doing anything about minority racism, then I think there's a problem.

With that being said, I'll say again that I agree with Imus's firing.

[Dialectic]

Kwak, it's quite different, actually. And I'm not "judging" you by your past words/actions alone. Yes, you've made progress the last few years, and I'm glad of it. You have a lot to make yet; the stances and conclusions you've come to now are still not what I'd call healthy or well-balanced.

[Tyger Durden]

It's because everyone has lower standards for music. Music connects to things deep within the primitive, reptilian part of our brains. Mostly they have to do with sex, survival and aggression. "I have enormous sexual appeal" or "I crush my enemies" or "I am a member of a powerful group". A great example of this is the Star-Spangled Banner... a horrible song with lasting appeal and a very basic sex/aggression message: "Our flag is AWESOME because it STAYED UP ALL NIGHT LONG so TAKE THAT you FOREIGN BITCHEZ!"

When people listen to music they often subordinate more complicated racist and misogynist messages to this primitive sex/aggression complex, which is so powerful it has a tendency to drown out every other message. This is not to say that music can't be used as propaganda, just that it's a very powerful but slippery weapon, ha ha. For example, combining overtly racist chants with a catchy melody or rhythm ensures that the sex/aggression complex stays focused and channeled towards the proper targets. The lasting success of the "Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees" chant testifies to that...

Sorry, but I can't apply Classical Music, Muzak or even Modern Trance to your "sex, survival and aggression" theory above. Maybe Gangsta Rap, yes, but certainly not all forms of music.

And no, I don't see any sexual connotations in the Star-Spangled Banner. Might as well ban the playing of National Anthems at World Cup matches because maybe it's inciting Soccer Hooliganism, right?

...On the other hand, when someone says something extremely hateful in a pure speech medium, it comes across crystal clear. There is no other primary purpose to the speech. "It's just meant to be amusing/funny" is a pathetic smokescreen. It's meant to amuse people... by being racist.

I'll agree with that. Speech can be more powerful than music in delivering a message, whether benign or malignant.

[kwak76]

dialectic,

I don't think I every met anyone with a true healthy mind set. We are all fucked up one way or the other. If it is not about race it's about something. One think is clear is that as time goes by and with new experiences my view point or other people view point changes. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worst.

[atlasien]

Sorry, but I can't apply Classical Music, Muzak or even Modern Trance to your "sex, survival and aggression" theory above. Maybe Gangsta Rap, yes, but certainly not all forms of music.

And no, I don't see any sexual connotations in the Star-Spangled Banner. Might as well ban the playing of National Anthems at World Cup matches because maybe it's inciting Soccer Hooliganism, right?


I don't think all music connects to that part of the brain... just a lot of it. I also think national anthems and gangsta rap actually do have a huge amount in common, but I'm not advocating for banning either of them.