Letters to the Editor
Mr. Pillhouse
Published Letters: 86 Editor's Choice: 3
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Baffled
[Read the article: Bloggers, Don Imus and free speech]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't know. I am surprised how many people, black AND white, deem his firing necessary or reasonable on the basis of this. I just don't think this phrase really is that offensive. If I were challenged to write a screenplay about a vicious racist, I don't even know that such a phrase would occur to me since it seems more of a nasty slight than a truely racist slur. White people can't say 'nappy?' While I may be a dumb cracker, I do live (and play!) in a predominantly black community, and have more non-white friends that white friends -- (in fact, I need to make some white friends, so if your white and lonely, call me! we'll form a bowling team.) I'm at a loss to understand this one -- it seems to me akin to 'ugly bitches'.
If you were to suggest he should have been fired for repeatedly calling middle easterners 'ragheads' -- which he did -- I might agree with you. From interviews that I have seen with numerous lawyers, talking heads and peeps-on-the-street, mostly black, it seems older citizens find it offensive, younger ones just seem to cringe, maybe even crack a smile, and say that its not a nice thing to say.
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Wise gal
[Read the article: May they please the court]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I question Ms Price's own respect for the sexual proclivities of other humans. Who cares how much spanking goes on in Adriana Dominguez's head -- why is your tenor so dismissive, and as one posted noted, there is no connection between spanking and domestic abuse except in your own bigoted head?
Perhaps unwise, but I think she should be able to get past this. The tenor here at Salon in general has become very tsk-tsky, whether it be railing against Imus or speaking down to the wacky antics of young law students: Salon and its marms maybe ought to climb down for the soapbox.
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Racism
[Read the article: He's sorry now]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Can any single one of you say that were you to launch into some sort of racist rant or perhaps imagining writing the role in your crappy little screenplay, of some loathsome racist, that the phrase 'nappy headed hos' would com spewing forth from your mouth?
I doubt it. why? Because its of questionable offensiveness, at least as far as being specifically racist. Nor for that matter do I think anyone suspects he was referring to all black women as being nappy or hos. No doubt the term is race-specific, but so are a number of other phrases. Calling someone an 'Uncle Tom' would be, and it would also certainly be offensive, although I scarcely think it would rise to the level of dismissal.
I suspect some of the characters out here who are calling for his firing will, in a few months or years, come to realise they are merely joining a witchhunt that has little real upside, and will do nothing to benefit anyone, black, white or the Other.
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Imus - American Superhero
[Read the article: Who gets the blame for Imus and gangsta rap?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"feeds into a mindset that can be a catalyst for unwarranted, rampant censorship"
Exactly. Imus should not have been fired, any more than Maher should have been fired. The denseness and groupthink that permeates this matter is revolting. Salon.com has not offered one single paragraph in support of NOT firing Imus. For a "liberal" magazine of note to not even address the speech issue with serious regard for the 'scandal of the day' is a highly egregious betrayal of ideology.
Many would say that this is not censorship -- the government does not do it. Speak control has never started with the government but with politicized anti-speech rallies, before being codified in the government. Lets note that Sharpton himself admits attempting to pursue this further in the future in expanded talks with the FCC. While Sharpton may not be Stalin exactly, that he could make such a suggestion without comment is astounding.
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racially charged??
[Read the article: Who gets the blame for Imus and gangsta rap?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]'ho' is racially charged?? NO it IS NOT! People have been using the word ho for decades now, usually as an ironic insult to for women, white or black. Insulting? Yes, thats the point. I am no more in favor of banning that word than I am 'cunt.'
It does have its roots in black America, but so does Jive Turkey, a term I use freely when I feel like it.
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And...
[Read the article: Who gets the blame for Imus and gangsta rap?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Sucka DJ" anyone? Please tell me thats not racist hate speech.
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whatwhat
[Read the article: Who gets the blame for Imus and gangsta rap?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"In the early nineties, white corporate media(record companies, TV, movies, magazines) discovered that gangsta rap(shooting, pimping, dealing, spending) was the easiest way to sell hip-hop to white males. And it sold, especially as older white men adopted gangsta to show they were "still down"."
Guy/Lady,
... the fuck do you get this horseshit? Still down with who? The fellahs they were listining to Flock of Seagulls with? Do you just take pleasure in coming up with asinine theories to validate your own worldview? Is a "wheel in the sky" going to return and secret away those not named White Record Comapany Exec? Damn crackers and loving hip hop. Obviously a neo-Colonialist conspiracy.
While it might surprise you to know, some black men and boys DID in fact invest in some rap records.
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Derbs
[Read the article: Compassionate conservatism]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Derbyshire....
Someone ought to rush that dumb limey cracker.
I think I would have ran screaming like an infant.
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Two items
[Read the article: Sexing up computer science]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A) why must the field be 'sexed up'... can we not think of women doing things without their sexual glands being alluded to or outright referred to? There's a thought for you.
B) There aren't minorities in CS? news to me... I was even occasionally the sole caucasian in my CS classes. Of course if you mean non-'Model Minorities' . . .
Two sub-items can be pointed out: Obviously, average income for latino and black families on average=fewer computers at home. However, there are a number of African professors and students out there.
and
CS is no longer the wealth font it once was. I'm not so sure I'd advise the field as a purely professional choice for a sharp mind interested in engineering fields.
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On the positive
[Read the article: My sister has become a monster cop!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]She sounds pretty funny to me.