Don Imus Gets Fired - TV and Radio!!! Options

[burd]

I never saw his TV show. I never listened to his radio show.
But he referred to players of the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy headed hos".

Al Sharpton called for his termination from NBC & CBS broadcast companies. Advertisers pulled out ... and Imus is now unemployeed! I can't believe it.

I think the comment on the surface was rude, but I don't know if it was taken out of context or not. I've heard every fucking news commentator repeat those words, but I haven't heard one true soundbyte from Imus. Was he serious? Was he joking?

I think a guy old enough to roll over & die any minute should be allowed to keep his mildly rated talk show. I think if you don't want to hear it, you don't have to listen to it. I think there are much worse things being said in lyrics, shown in movies, written in books ... but they have to pick on the little old guy so the big corporate machines won't piss off more advertisers (and won't have to deal with the annoyance of defending themselves against Al Sharpton).

What do you think?

This post has been edited by burd: Apr 12 2007, 5:33 pm

[thekingofspades]

I listened/watched the clip with what Imus said. I think he really was making a joke, but it was racially charged. I do not think he is an aggressive, KKK kind of bigot, but he's said lots of racist and sexist things before. This kind of was the straw that broke the camel's back i think. I'm not sure exactly why the media is maying attention to this specific case, but perhaps in light of Michael Richards (sp?), Mel Gibson, and that guy on Grey's Anatomy, people are extra sensitive.

I fully support freedom of speech. Hell we're using it here. But i think people should be held responsible for what they say. People have the right to say what they want...but take responsibility for it. Should he have gotten fired? I definitely think so. I know lots of people who disagree, but i think someone who makes a living on the radio should know the power and impact of words.

The Rutger's Girls didn't do anything in all this. They just played the game. Everyone else reacted and then they got blamed somehow for initiating this. Imus put HIMSELF in jeopardy for being stupid. Those girls for the first time in ages made it to the finals...an amazing achievement, and its gets sullied by this. Not an insult about their game play or sportmanship, but by insulting their looks and calling them hos.

As for the idea that there is a "double standard" concerning what white and black people say...well i can understand why some people would think it but it just not as clear as that. It's hard for me to explain in the context of this small paste to really explain, but any member of a minority group (black, women, immigrant, hispanic, asian, homosexual, handicapped, etc.) knows how were are constantly mocked and ridiculed in so many aspects of media that just gets ignored by so many people.

I know some people do not really see Imus' words being offensive, but they are. Anyone who has been genuinely insulted knows how that sting feels, an i felt it when i heard it. Bernard McGuirk said some crazy things too. He mentioned jigaboos...which is a really offensive racist term as well. That shocked me even more really, but I suppose Imus is getting some of that blame since its his show.

Anyway...i had to voice my opinion. i'm sorry it ended up SOOO long but i suppose i just wanted to voice somethings i felt were kind of missing from the above posts. I really like that there is a place here to talk about this kind of stuff too. Take care folks!