Don Imus and the women's basketball team

Am I the only one who was more surprised by the fact that he's on the air? Who the hell still listens to him?

Nappy Headed Ho's. Great band name. Basketball nickname? Not so much.

I am getting sick of these things getting blown out of proportion.

I hate Imus, but come on.
Al Sharpton thinks he should be fired for saying "you people" in reference to Africans. Huh?

Who woulda thought youd see Al Sharpton cashing in on some publicity over a racial issue. Crazy.

Who would have thought you'd see a bunch of white nerds think a racial issue is no big deal.

Imus has been a cranky old fuck for years now, it's no wonder it finally caught up to him. Putting him on television makes about as much sense as showing live sausage-making on the Food Network.

I do think it's sad that Al Sharpton is the go-to guy for defending or defining minority positions in this country though.

What's wrong with Al Sharpton?

I don't know enough about her to judge that. I assume you have an in-depth knowledge of her background and psychological history, though. I mean, you wouldn't make an assumption like that based on almost no information, right?

Amazed? Wrong is wrong. This is news and fully deserves the attention the comments have been generating. Behavior certainly isn't changed by sweeping such comments under the rug.

Wikipedia has three of his greatest hits. You can dig deeper for other reasons to dislike the opportunistic race baiter.

I don't think it's an overreaction. This is hardly the first time he or someone on his show has said something racist. People are sick of it and it's time for him to go.

I feel bad for the team. This should have been a triumphant moment for them and now it's mired in this guy's stupid bullshit. It's a shame.

Precisely. Furthermore, as soon as he becomes involved, people tend to take whatever the issue is less seriously because of his history of never meeting a cause he didn't like. I wouldn't be surprised if those above calling this "blown out of proportion" didn't have that opinion until he got involved.

Of course they did. Some of the above are people who consistently post on this board about how annoying they find black people when they complain about racism.

Coming from someone who said this about Michael Richards:

Al Sharpton has done a lot of dumb shit, but he's actually done good things, too. He helps a good deal of people and he got a lot of cred for his presidential run where he often seemed the only guy on stage with a cogent thought and a willingness to speak openly.

If you pass this off because Al Sharpton uses his clout to get it attention, that's you're problem.

Richard's wasn't broadcasting over a major radio network and a cable television channel.

NBC has suspended him for two weeks and Imus has made numerous statements apologizing. When he gets back to work let's see if he is really sorry for those hateful and hurtful comments.

If anyone has ever caught his program on MSNBC (it's on around 5am) it remiinds me of an old rich white men's club.

The Rutger players press conference today was terrific and I do hope Imus does meet with them, but if they don't want to that's understandable.

Edited to add: I just saw that the women are going to be with Imus in a private meeting.

This just proves that Imus will go anywhere for the joke, including not being funny.

We should probably just get rid of that ridiculous 1st ammendment.

You think if Al Sharpton called someone a cracker, people would react this way? Amazing who starts the lynch mob these days.

I was going to comment on this until you added the second part while I was waiting for the reply window to open. Now, it's simply not worth the effort. Wow.

He had some great moments on Sharpton's show. He pointed out there were black kids at his cancer ranch. He called Sharpton and a black caller "you people". The guy can't dig his own grave fast enough.

I hear a lot of talk about the silver lining of these outbursts is that America will finally open up a dialogue on racism. Who's in on this dialogue? Is it just the angry talking heads versus the white media, or is it supposed to be something more meaningful? My department at work is pretty diverse, but no one seems interested in talking about it here. It seems like America opens up a new dialogue on this every four months or so, but I have no idea whom this dialogue is between.

Let's see... Imus has called Colin Powell a "sniffling weasel", described New Mexico governor Bill Richardson as a "fat sissy", referred to Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (a Native American) as "the guy from 'F Troop'", called the New York Knicks a group of "chest-thumping pimps", and then some. While cries of racism over the recent comments are certainly in order, this guy is just a plain old bigot. Every business that I know of has diversity policies. Certainly Imus' tenure of spewing insults and hatred over the airwaves violates this in some way. I can't walk into work and start spouting racial epithets. I'd be fired immediately. I don't see how this is any different.

I don't see how sniffling weasel is racist, or incorrect.

The way he looks he better dig faster. Creepy.

Now the Rutgers team is national news. I'm sure they're pleased with it.

His apology...really not helping things. I'm all for freedom of speech but come on! This isn't censorship of government dissent. It's an old asshole making a racially awful quip. He got called on the floor for it.

But people are calling for him to be fired and beheaded for it. I just don't see how there can be freedom of speech UNLESS you're famous/quasifamous and say something offensive. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons Imus shouldn't be on the air anymore, but not on this alone.

Are you seriously too stupid to not know what freedom of speech is? Hint: It only deals with the government.

Edit: Devin beat me to it.

Imus is, and always has been, a douchebag, and he absolutely deserves every ounce of the shit he's taking for this latest round of race-baiting garbage. They can fire him or not, I don't give a shit, but it's fun to see him squirm.

People have been misusing freedom of speech for a long time - it's not going to stop now.

I'm one of those people that Devin referred to earlier (who don't always understand why black people claim racisim). This thread has nothing to do with those previous threads - even though some people have trouble with differnt arguements.

Here is my issue:

Imus is an old school shock jock. In fact, he is one of the people who was first labeled as such. Sure, he's older and has gotten more serious and has gotten more serious guests on the show - but at the end of the day his goal is to entertain and be funny. I don't find him funny - but a lot of people do. He knew exactly what he said - he knew it might get a little feedback. He obviously mis-judged how big. He's been saying button pushing statement for years - but for some reason, when it involves race - everyone is hyper senitive.

Now, he has gone on some apology tour - which in turn just makes this thing worse.

He made a bad joke (if you don't agree, listen to his tone - he is laughing, trying to find words to one up the previous joke he made) and it fell flat. He has made a career out of pushing people's button. I was watching CNN last night and a few years ago he called some guy a "boner-nosed Jew boy". What he said last week is the same. He is not a newsperson, never has been. Maybe you view him that way, but he is not different than Stern, Opie & Anthony, etc. - just older. It's so hard to say when comedy crosses the line.

This is very different than Kramer. He (Richards) was reacting to a crowd member, and lost his temper. He reacted out of anger. He was upset and could not deal with his emotions. Imus choose his words, just like he always has.Sure, he choose them poorly, but it was just a bad joke - that people didn't get.

To me, this is no different than Devin's F13th reviews. I have a mentally- retarded cousin who was sexually abused as child. A terrible thing, something I think it horrible. Devin's uses retarded Jason's (including a picture) as his rating scale and recently made a joke about someone being "diddled". People think it's awesome! I never use the word "retarded" because I think it's offensive and I think pedophilia jokes are tasteless. Should I try and get Devin removed because I think it's inappropriate?

Mind you, it doesn't matter what you think - I am the one that was offended (that's Devin's recurring theme - it doesn't matter what white nerds think - it's what the black person thinks).

Yet, I get what Devin was trying to do. He was trying to make a joke. Not funny to me (maybe to you) - but I see it. He is writing for a website that offers a slant and opinions on movie news. Imus is on a radio show where he tried to offer his opinion and make jokes. If you took Devin's words and just put them out there - I bet a lot of people would get upset. Imus talked for four hours that morning, and now 2.5 seconds of words are worth firing over? Not even close.

People need to step back and look at intent. When Ted Danson showed up in blackface at a Friars roast he was taken to task for it (not fired from anything), even though he was dating a black woman (his and Whoopi's words). Yet when Imus says he has black kids at his camp - people say he is just saying that to get people off his back. Where is the difference? Danson showed bad taste in his "joke" attempt, but we all moved on and Danson made lousy movies again. The same should happen here. You want to suspend him -fine, but firing is just silly.

Here is a joint statement from them (from 1993):

Imus is in the same boat. How can anyone sit there and say he was trying to be racist. He's been doing radio for more than thirty years. He has had presidential candidates on his show - you don't think he knows what he was doing? You really think he let out his secret agenda after all this time?

Edit: Here is a quote from Howard Stern that he said on his radio show:
So Aunt Jemina is a typcial black woman? That just a start - I'm sure I can find more. I don't think it's offensive at all - but I hope you get the point.

The following is a transcript from the HS show in 2000. I don't think it's offensive, but because HS has a black woman on his show, somehow his words are more safe?

I don't think HS should be fired, but I know some of you are huge HS fans, and the below is no different - he just didn't say it against a specific group (like the Rutgers team).

Wehman, you are just wrong on this one. Its well known as reported by anyone who has worked around Imus for the past 30 years that he is even more racist off the air as he is on the air. What he said was awful because there was intent behind it and his excuse about the Cancer camp is the same as "hey, I've have tons of black friends."

I'm pretty sure he actually used the "Hey, I have black friends" excuse after the shit storm erupted.

I'll see if I can find the quotes.

I think what that old lady said about the basketball team is wrong. She should be more considerate of those around her.

Who would've thought you'd see a guy who's an asshole attempt to take some high and mighty civil rights stance to appear to be such an impressively "good person" over some trivial, meaningless shit said by an even bigger asshole.

Say what you want, but Imus tried to say it in jest - and it failed. There is ZERO proof of intent. Not one person can produce that. "It's been reported" is total bullshit. Do you know him? How are his words different than Danson's black face? Both were jokes that people didn't get and are now over-reacting to.

If you seriously think that a guy who has been talking into a microphone for THIRTY years, KKK member or not, is gonna "let one slip", then you are dead wrong and have no idea how it works. He makes his living trying to push buttons, same as Stern did in my post above. He just pushed the wrong button - but it's not worse than anything that he said before. It was a poor attempt at humor and that's it. How does he have any more intent than Howard Stern? Ohh wait, want to read Stern trash another culture?

Is there intent there? I don't know him, so I don't know. But, because he does a comedy show, same as Imus, I have to assume he is joking. It is a shame that most of you overlook other issues, to focus on this one.

You guys can come bash me all you want - but how any of you can condemn him for that - yet tell Devin how awesome a retarded joke is, is pure hypocrisy. Devin meant it as a joke - that's it. Imus meant it as a joke - that's it. I don't know either, but I see what they are trying to do. A lot of people here sit on some higher moral ground throne, like they have never made a joke about someone - whether it's fat, retarded, women, gay etc. It's bound to offend someone.

Now you are different, because you don't have public forum. Should people who are offended by Devin's remarks call for him to be taken off? Seriously, it's the same thing. His use of the word retarded and using a picture is cruel. But one is race and one is not. Stop putting one over the other - it's total bullshit and fake.

Hey, I haven't come out against your hobby of raping, so why are you mad?

He sort of did. He used the "half of the kids who come to my cancer camp are minorities and over ten percent are black" card. The same as Whoopi (who is black in case you forgot) did. How is hers more honest than his? This is the same thing as Danson. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it backfired.

Edit: Which I think is not what someone like Richards did. His was an outburst, he was flustered and trapped. You can see it in his face. Watch the Imus video - he's bantering back and forth - trying to find a joke that is a little racy. It just didn't work.

Nice straw man comeback. I'm not mad, I think it's funny.

Exactly. So why jump on this - like he's leading the KKK? It may not be your type of humor, but that was it's purpose. Say it''s not funny, hell, say it's racist - but these boycotts, calls for him be fired are ludicrous. It's a "hot" issue, so everyone wieghs in. This has been going on for years, borderline offensive humor, let's not all act like it just started.

Come ON. It would be illegal for him to turn away black kids from his non-profit cancer camp. Jesus.

Here's the difference. Feel free to tell a retard joke. If it's funny, hey, who cares.

But if you make a retard joke about a specific . . . ummm . . . retard, and make light of a particular person because of a physical disability - that's different. One is a generalized comment that can easily dismissed; once you direct a comment like that to a specific person (or group of people, in Imus' case), the dynamic of it changes drastically. It's not longer a 'joke'; it's 'hate'.

That being said, I really don't think Imus is racist. But sometimes you have to hold people accountable for the stupid shit they say. Because other morons get away with it (Right Wing talk radio, Mencia, Stern) doesn't give Imus a free pass here. For one, his show is on MSNBC which is (supposedly) a major news outlet. If he's just a shock jock scoring points that don't mean anything, why exactly is he on MSNBC? Because he's more than just that, regardless of what you think of his talent, and he should be taken to task for singling out a specific group of people and ragging on them based on their race and perceived socioeconomic status.