RE: Imus isn’t the Real Bad Guy
If you haven’t heard about Imus yet you probably live under a rock in the desert. There’s been a considerable uproar about the whole incident. Some good thoughts, along with a tremendous amount of noise, has arisen from multiple perspectives on the issue. Jason Whitlock, an excellent columnist for the Kansas City Star (my hometown paper), published a column today on the incident that I find to be superb. I’ll quote a good deal of it here, but I encourage you to read the whole thing at the source.
Thank you, Don Imus. You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem.
You’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.
You’ve given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.
Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.
The bigots win again.
While we’re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I’m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.
I really want to copy the whole article here; I think Whitlock articulates his thoughts incredibly well. Really, please go read the whole thing. Here a few more lines from him (some emphasis added):
In the grand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat to black women in particular. If his words are so powerful and so destructive and must be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we do about the idiot rappers on BET, MTV and every black-owned radio station in the country who use words much more powerful and much more destructive?
I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuing education and that they’re selling out their race if they do?
When Imus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset. Until then, he is what he is — a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore when you’re not looking to be made a victim.
Obviously Imus is wrong, but is he at the root of the problem? Should he be made into a whipping boy for race and “hate” issues? What do you think?
Update: here’s a similar article by Shaun Powell.
I agree: great article. Whitlock nails it.
Definitely an important point. i like Whitlock almost everytime i read what he has to say, this time included. But i also think that this can too readily translate into suburban-white folks championing the “they can say it, why can’t i?” argument, which, frankly – in my boat – holds NO water. So it should be handled with care. Racism does still abound. Particularly structurally. Let’s not be too quick to try to pass the buck on this one (not suggesting that’s your angle here, just wanting to add my own disclaimer to your thoughts – even if you didn’t ask!
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On that note, i think that a good companion to this comes from Michael Wilbon (of PTI fame) (see here).
And the even bigger issue in all of this (to me) is – that if the “good guys” (i don’t want to get into a pissing contest about whether Imus is one of the good guys – though personally, i’ve always thought the guy – and most shock-jocks for that matter – is a buffoon) can ascribe to the notion that these sorts of things are acceptable or humorous, what does that do for the [insert the name of your "favorite" "real" bigot here]‘s of the world? Shuddering, if you ask me. And that’s what leaving room for this behavior potentially opens the door to. Ok, back to the dissertation…
jimi said: Definitely an important point. i like Whitlock almost everytime i read what he has to say, this time included. But i also think that this can too readily translate into suburban-white folks championing the “they can say it, why can’t i?” argument, which, frankly – in my boat – holds NO water. So it should be handled with care.
Excellent addition, jimi. I completely agree with your disclaimer. NO ONE should be able to do it and get away with it. I’ve never listened to Imus or even heard of him until this ruckus, but if he is like any of the shock-jocks I’ve heard he’s most likely a bombastic buffoon. I won’t mourn his departure.
We’re clearly on the same page here, in my opinion. Whitlock is right on, but a potential danger lurks near and could come out in some people’s responses to the situation.
First, Tim I’m glad to see you read Whitlock, I’ve always meant to ask you what you thought of him, since he is a hometown guy, but always forgot.
what’s interesting is how the figureheads (whether asked to be or not) for the african american community, Jackson and Sharpton have been all over Imus, meanwhile the 3 Duke lacrosse guys were just cleared of charges and Jackson and Sharpton hardly uttered a meaningful word afterwords, even though they led the charge against those guys. Also, I struggle with why Imus needed to apologize to Sharpton, what relevant contribution has he made recently outside of jumping on opportunities to get in the media fray over any racially charged issues?
Hey Jed, I grew up reading Whitlock and have usually enjoyed his writing.
A lot of people have been talking about Jackson and Sharpton and the Duke Lacrosse incident. The consensus seems to be that Sharpton and Jackson are scumbags who take any and every opportunity to exploit incidents that occur between people who happen to be white and people who happen to be black for their own personal gain. I don’t think that the American public, regardless of skin color, takes them seriously. What really disappoints me is that the American media does take them seriously.
There are a few people that I wish were blacklisted from all media coverage: Ann Coulter, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. If I thought a little longer I could probably come up with a longer list.
The problem with each of these individuals is that they have all, to one degree or another, co-opted a legitimate interest and have managed to set themselves near the head of it as self-appointed leaders. Yet, their leadership in most instances is unwanted and does far more damage than good. Each of these individuals is a disgrace to their “interest.” Each of these individuals results to shady tactics to gain publicity, of from their holy thrones they make idiotic statements and “righteous” declarations. Really, it’s just a bunch of fools playing the buffoon (like Father Karamazov). What they say shouldn’t be reported, it should be ridiculed and challenged and then ultimately dismissed.
Don’t expect any admission of wrong from Jackson or Sharpton.