Great analogy of Imus and a troll. The potential discussion that could grow out of this, though, is what are we intolerant towards? Is it referring to young black women as nappy headed hos? Or are we just intolerant of old white men referring to young black women as nappy headed hos? Because it is those in the hip-hop community that made it okay to think of these women in that capacity.

– Banky on 11 April 2007 @ 8am

It’s clearly racist speech. I don’t mean to demean the totally valid feelings of the women involved. But if you look at the amount of attention this whole debacle has garnered for Imus, he’s clearly benefiting from the attention it’s brought. So, in a very real way, the people kicking up a fuss are helping to promote this ugly, ugly man.

– Derek on 11 April 2007 @ 1pm

Strangely, not five minutes after I came back to this post to watch the video, they started talking about Imus on NPR. That’s eerie.

– Jason on 12 April 2007 @ 7am

I can solve this issue. (…i think)

Plain and simple- Imus should have been pulled for 2 weeks, met with the female basketball team, and paid a fine which would benefit a group of well rounded affected high school students. Along with his apology, that would have been fine with me. Now, I’m not saying that what he did was “not a big deal”. It was a big deal because how many of you out there speak like that at work, with your customers?

i hate the statement, “its hypocritical because hip hop… blah blah.” We all know that two wrongs do not make a right. Imus’ statement was wrong and so are those hip hop stars. We should try to correct both ends.

oh, can somebody please! please! please! tell Al Sharpton, and Jesse to shut up. I’m getting really tired of them. Who made them president of all black people?! Who says that all black people feel exactly like Al, and Jes.

well now that you know my view, ill give you a little background for the sake of perspective. I’m a dark skin hispanic in nyc. most african americans can tell i’m hispanic, hispanics can tell that im one of them. As for the rest- “im probably black.” some may say i can’t speak on this issue, but some of my african american friends share my view, and i live in nyc (living in nyc counts for something)

– Nexx on 12 April 2007 @ 8am

Banky: actually, it was the centuries of rape and dehumanization of African slave women that lead to the common depiction of Black women as “nappy headed hos.” And for the record, it was never and is not “okay to think of these women in that capacity.”

– Nick on 12 April 2007 @ 8am

My analysis of this shitstorm only extended to popular culture. I’m aware of the plight of African-Americans and their struggle to be recognized as people deserving of human rights.

I struggled to make my point and Nexx may have made it for me. My point was that this(Imus and his slur) is a good example of what this culture is intolerant of. It wasn’t to say that Imus should be tolerated because we tolerate it elsewhere but that it is RIGHT to be intolerant of this kind of speech (at least conversationally) and this intolerance SHOULD extend to ANYONE regardless of color.

– Banky on 12 April 2007 @ 12pm

Also, Imus is a fuzzy-headed cracker.

– Derek on 12 April 2007 @ 1pm

What surprises me about a lot of the mainstream coverage of Imus’ remarks is the focus on the racist component, with little or no mention of the sexist component. I haven’t been following this whole thing very closely, but I’ve seen no news coverage about the sexist nature of what he said. A Google search on “Imus” and “sexist” returned 331,000 results, so clearly someone is talking about this aspect of it. But a Google search for “Imus” and “racist” returned 1,480,000 results. That’s a significant difference. Perhaps it’s also a glimpse into what our culture finds more offensive: discrimination based on skin color versus discrimination based on gender. Both forms of discrimination should be equally offensive.

– Jennifer/The Word Cellar on 12 April 2007 @ 7pm

good point jennifer. let’s see if Imus learned a lesson

“I plan to be on the radio. I plan to work again. I’m not going to sit around like an old woman.”- Imus, http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-na-imus13apr13,0,2898035.story?coll=cl-tv-features

Guess not.

– Nexx on 13 April 2007 @ 7am

This comment is a bit late, but this video was too interesting not to share. Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star was on with Tucker Carlson, where he basically says that the Imus controversy is a non-issue. He proceeds to eviscerate Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson for “dividing people and dividing this nation” and doing nothing but “lining their pockets.” Tucker is as annoying as usual, but Whitlock raises some very good points, especially if you know anything about Jackson and Sharpton’s histories.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5ZQXaXmCW4

– Todd on 15 April 2007 @ 10am

My comment is even later! There is a difference between the words of a journalist who wants to be funny versus a rap artist who exists to get your attention. The second is just a regular joe, however tasteless. The journalist has a greater responsibility for what he says because he’s seen as knowledgeable and an authority. And nappy headed ho’s wasn’t the worst of what he said. Howard Stern didn’t have Brian Williams and Rim Russert on the show with him several times a year.

– Devorah on 21 April 2007 @ 9pm