Don Imus has been twisting for days as an avalanche of criticism is leveled at him for a muffled comment made into a microphone that I am too obtuse to even understand. Video below. In an effort to blunt calls for his firing, CBS Radio and MSNBC have both suspended him for two weeks.
Don Imus
I’ve watched this controversy play out on the cable shows as Imus has traveled the circuit to humble himself before critics. Today he was on the Al Sharpton show. Sharpton, of course, is the famously angry opportunist who was successfully sued for slandering someone as a racist.
You can see the video of Imus apologizing over at Hot Air.
The discussion shows that I have seen boil down to this.
Talk show host: You made a racist comment.
Don Imus: I am sorry. Now shut up.
So I am here to confess ignorance. I have never heard the term “nappy-headed” before. And if anyone actually heard his muffled comment in real time, I doubt many understood it either. But perhaps I am projecting my own ignorance, so I’m off to do some research right now on what the hell is a “nappy-headed ho.” Yeah, “ho” I get already. That is ghetto talk in our favorite rap videos used to disparage women, both black and white. “Ho” isn’t racist. It is the “nappy-headed” slang that is missing from my racial education.
Meanwhile, here is the famous video of Imus disparaging the Rutgers basketball team.
Don Imus Video
Okay, I am back. It doesn’t seem to be a recognized slang term so there isn’t a hidden insidious meaning. Nappy seems to have only the usual definition: frizzy. So Imus is saying that the Rutger basketball players have frizzy hair, which is of course referring to the genetic predisposition of black people toward frizzy hair.
Clearly it is a degrading comment directed toward the Rutgers basketball women. He thought the girls on the Tennessee team looked better. They did. And in making the point, he said something superfluous about race, albeit generally true, which crosses the line for me. But so what if I am slightly offended? The comment isn’t THAT bad. And isn’t Imus allowed to offend? Is referring to race inherently racist in today’s hypersensitivities?
“Racist” is a word that is losing its meaning through overuse. And those professing (or pretending) great offense by Imus’ comment seem ignorant to the fact that Al Sharpton has said and done much worse on countless times. Calling Republican House members “House Negroes” is not the worst by far. Tawana Brawley takes the cake. Sharpton is still gainfully employed on the public airwaves. And that is OK too.
We are all becoming too sensitive in our culture.
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[tags]don imus, al sharpton, nappy-headed hos, video[/tags]
April 10th, 2007 at 4:20 am
Did I hear hte white guy just say his buddy always “fags out” on a certain situation? Why is there nothing on him?
I have no real respect for Al Sharpton. The man get employed off of peoples over sensitivity and unwillingness to engage in conflict over the issue. That can be very virtuous, However, when htere is no real issue at hand, he becomes nothing more than a media “Ho” in an armony suit trying to pretend he knows how everyone is feeling.
No he doesn’t. He just knows how he wants them to feel because the madder the public is over something like this, the more airtime he’ll get. I have nothing against activists, except when they become overreactivists.
April 10th, 2007 at 4:21 am
I am not an Imus fan but I think there has been a huge overreaction to what he said. He should apologize but there are more important things to worry about.
What a shock that Sharpton and Jackson would attempt to gain publicity from this incident. A shock, I tell you!
April 10th, 2007 at 8:28 am
If anyone cares to read it, One of our writers on Highbrid Nation actually worked wit Imus over the last few years at WFAN and had some really interesting things to say about the whole situation with Imus and he also has some inside info that the media hasn’t mentioned about the whole story.
April 12th, 2007 at 1:13 am
You are quite ignorant, even after your “research” on the word nappy. It does not mean frizzy. Nappy describes black hair. Anybody can get frizzy hair in humid weather. Nappy hair is tightly curled, not frizzy. And there is no genetic disposition for frizzy hair. Frizziness is all due to the hair cortex absorbing moisture from the air.
After having reviewed the video, I do not think he mumbled. His words were quite clear. He referred to the players as a rough, having tattoos and being nappy headed hoes.
Let’s look at the heart of the matter. These are women. They are playing basketball. This is something they fought for, to prove themselves of a sport formerly reserved for men. They wake early to practice, they have to keep up their grades to stay on the team. And then all that hard work is belittled.
A ho is slang for a whore. Yes, it applies to everyone. So Imus was implying that these women were selling their bodies for money. It’s insulting. If your daughter or sister were on that team, how would you feel. These are people. These are women, here. Black women. But the problem is that black people aren’t really seen as people in America.
I guess the opposing team looked “cute,” according to Imus, because they were mostly blonde, silky haired women, sans tattos and not nappy heads.
Americans praise their freedom of speech. They fight wars and send their innocent sons to die to hopefully grant that same freedom of speech, among opther things, to the people they wish to liberate. So I guess that valued freedom is taken fro granted when the need and right to say what you want, overrides the words…the speech. Words have meaning, they convey ideals and world views. Imus’ words revealed something sad about America. And sad that people think his words a mysterious comment and not seeing what his true world view is.
What a man feels in his heart springs forth to his lips.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:22 am
There is a reason that Canadians still put the silly queen on their currently. Nappy means what I said. A rug can be nappy. It is a generic word, idiot. And it IS genetic.
nappy - in small tight curls
frizzly, frizzy, kinky, crisp
April 18th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
That was not a nice comment. If he wanted to be construcive, he could send the woman some deep conditioner from Mixed Chicks. (http://www.mixedchicks.net)
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