Just as to be expected anything that will give our so called Black leaders a few moments of national attention will be blown way out of proportion as they usually have such a talent of doing.
But let me start by saying do I appreciate Don Imus's comments? No not at all.
Will I listen to the Don Imus show? Never have, never will.
Were his comments racist? Yeah but who hasn't made a racist comment and this wasn't his first time airing his views on his show, so why now all the hype.
Sharpton and other's call for Imus to be fired from his CBS Radio show, Imus in the Morning, is nothing more than violating his First Amendment Right to free speech. I think people are misdirecting their anger at his comments and instead of asking for Imus to be fired we should turn our action to his supporters.
If you watch or listen to this show and are enraged by his comments you should tell CBS Radio that this is not the programming we want to see or hear, and as long as this is on the air we will not be listening or watching this.
We should go to the sponsors of his program and let them know that this behavior is not what we want to support, so in turn we will not buying your products as long as you are a sponsor of this show.
I say hurt people where it hurts the most in their wallets, not by trying to restrict their constitutional rights.
Update Wednesday, 2:12pm: Proctor & Gamble and Staples have both pulled their sponsorship of the show.
Wednesday, 3:15pm: Don Imus's Frequent Guests Face A Moral Dilemma
Thursday, 8:10am MSNBC dumps Imus' showAdvertisers' pullout over racial remarks prompts cancellation
11 comments:
My mom and I talked about this yesterday.
I think we as black people have more to be concerned about than some old white man’s comments.
It’s not as if what he said hasn’t been said countless times before and it’s not as if it hasn’t been said behind our backs (and sometimes, in our faces) daily.
We’re fighting all of these little battles and for what?
What is firing the man going to accomplish?
Honestly?
I'm frustrated that our so-called
"leaders" are allowed to parade around infront of the camera as if they're truly benefitting our people. If they were truly concerned about bettering our position in this racist ass society, they'd focus on the education (or lack of thereof) we are (and for many years, have been) receiving.
Poverty, education, teen pregnancy, self-hate, bigotry, all within our own community.
Yet, instead of rectifying them, we turn our attention to some (obviously) ignorant white man?
What do we care what he thinks of us?
How he sees us?
Why do we, as black Americans, keep seeking validation through the approval of the white man?
Seems to be on some slave "Yessuh'massa" bullshit.
Everyone wants to fight the easy battles.
No one wants to fight the war.
After reading your blog, I'm compelled to offer a few gentle reminders. First, The first amendment does not guarantee anyone the right to be on the air much less say whatever they'd like on the air. The first amendment protects the right of a person to say what they will without government interference, penalty or prosecution (and even then the Supreme Court over the years has added a few conditions on those protections, i.e., screaming fire in a theater, etc.). Let those of you rushing to protect old Imus's job remember that being on the radio is not a right, it's a privilege. Radio and television privileges are subject to conditions as are most privileges, maybe even more so because of who owns those airwaves. TV and radio airwaves belong to the public and those on the air are bound to a public trust. Imus has repeatedly abused that trust, generally without sincere contrition. Imus in theory has the right to say whatever he will, but that right is accompanied by the expectation that one is prepared to pay the consequences of his actions and exercising his right. Had he said "fuck" on the air, he and his station would have experienced a hefty FCC fine, further proving my point regarding the conditions of on-air radio privilege. Sponsors deciding that their product are not well represented by alliances with overt racists are not engaging in censorship, rather sound business practice. They've put their finger to the wind and know when it's not blowing someone's way. Should the wind blow in a different direction, say in a year or so, Imus will have his sponsors back. Imus and those who earn 20 million (16 mil in profit alone) annually off of his program needn't worry, the public outrage on any particular issue is terribly transitory and Imus knows it. So, do Sharpton and Jackson and the like. Which brings us to the point of why Imus needs to be fired, the irons are hot today for his ouster, they may not be tomorrow. Imus has long demonstrated his racists leanings and now is an opportunity for his channels of influence, TV and radio, to be taken from him, sparing us the nurturing of a few thousand more knuckleheads easily swayed by Imus's rantings and an erroneous belief in their intellectual soundness. To stay silent is to be complicit, I don't want my activists complicit I want them out fighting a fight my busy day doesn't always allow. Sharpton and the gang could be using their resources and time more wisely to fight more sustained fires, who says they aren't doing both? These easy victories fill annual reports for lucrative donors who help pay for those more enduring battles you all want. Things are rarely an either or proposition, Imus needing to get fired is a delightful exception to this rule. Imus fired is worth far more than his staying around spewing hate on my free airwaves for another several years, inspiring thousands of Imus clones in his wake. Be well--L. Michael Gipson
No long and drawn out comment from me - but, I'm with you on this. He shouldn't be fired...it's freedom of speech and freedom of press. He didn't violate any laws, therefore, he shouldn't be fired. Don't let me catch him in an alley after dark, but hey...you get the picture - lol.
Ms. Sharpton said it best...in the end, Green was the color that won out. The bottom line will get your ass hired or fired - make us money you stay; lose money you go. The old horse was probably eyed for axing long before his nappy comment... come on, the Richards comedy club rant was much more inflammatory.
If you were the cause of your company losing money, then you would be fired also. I am sure that the big wigs couldn't care any less what he said or why he said it. They only care that he lost them money. That is why his ass is being canned.
You make a fair comment, and we have been saying that for a while. That is why I will not shop at Best Buy until they cut ties with Glenn Beck.
"Sheila Johnson, owner of the WNBA's Washington Mystics and, with
her ex-husband Robert, co-founder of BET, called Imus' comments
reprehensible in an interview with The Associated Press."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070412/ap_on_en_mu/imus_protests;_ylt=Ak
oh0RRTcG37EwnbEDtllbCs0NUE
I agree with you. You should check out the Op-Ed by Rev. Markel Hutchins that appeared in the Atlanta Journal Constitution two days ago. He asserted a similar position and is currently working with Imus' people to get him to visit Atlanta to tour some of the best and worst of Black Atlanta. This is clearly a missed opportunity to educate and heal. Race relations in America has been set back 20 years because of this.
I planned to avoid talking/writing about the Imus issue entirely. It was supposed to be a silent protest, of sorts. Your post actually inspired me to discuss it.
With that said, I think he should've been fired. I realize that he'll probably get another job on XM or Sirius or HD Net or something, but I do take some solice in knowing that his mouth finally got him in some luke-warm water.
I agree fully.
Wait one freakin minute yall!!!
I think that we all are outraged by the comments that Imus made, yes they were offensive and all that shit. And no he has no right to defame those yound ladies nor take advantage of the public airwaves as he did.
The question I ask is how far does this have to go? When was the last time our community became outraged by defamation, and insults. On my way in to work today, I heard at least three songs that should have qualified for hate talk, but still it is played on the radio. As Black Gay men are we not use to people constantly attacking us verbally both on tv and the radio. Where was Al Sharpton when artists like Buju Banton had that "chi chi man" song. Where was the public outrage. How come we did not call for boycotts of radion stations and advetisers who support this hate speech. Like the Rutgers Womens basketball team, did nothing but be, and have been constantly attacked in music and in speech with no public outrage from Al Sharpton or the National Association of Black Broadcastors.
As for me, yes I am disgusted by what was done and said about the women, but as I look at it, its nothing that is not said and done to me daily. How come I don't hear people standing up and wanting to picket like this?
Too dam mad in Atlanta
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