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Read other letters about this article
“The racism was bad, don't get me wrong, but the expression "nappy-headed" just says that Imus didn't like their hair (specifically because their hair looked like black women's hair -- but it still boils down to "you're ugly"). But for no reason whatsoever he called them "hoes". The word means "whores". He compared athletes to prostitutes because they didn't give him wood.”
A couple of weeks ago one of Salon’s Broadsheet contributors suggested that fat girls (pre-teens) are ‘hoes.’ There was never any sort of acknowledgement from the author of that post or from Broadsheet that I saw. It was totally swept under the rug.
I agree that the racism was the most shocking part of what Imus said. It’s right that it was the first thing everyone picked up on and it’s hearting that the consensus is Imus is a has-been jerk looking for cheap publicity. But it’s really gross to me that if Imus had left ‘nappy-headed’ out of his nasty little exchange no one would have cared or noticed.
Anyone think Imus would have dared insult a male basketball team with racial and sexual slurs?
