Letters to the Editor
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to MikeKC
MikeKC writes to me: "And maybe you would still have a job in TV if you didn't aim to piss off half the audience."
I never aimed to piss off half the audience when I worked in TV, and even if I had, it wouldn't have been possible to do in my position. And whether or not our audience was pissed off has nothing to do with why I don't work in TV today. You're making some pretty big (and misguided) assumptions about me.
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Imus, Limbaugh. . .
As long as Don Imus finds it profitable to be offensive, I guess he will continue to be offensive. He is, as others have pointed out, an entertainer giving a certain market just what it wants. That goes for many others, such as Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and (*shudder*) Ann Coulter (though I do think she's in a category of her own).
But shouldn't we stop making this kind of entertainment so profitable?
I don't have any sweeping prescriptions or answers. But for one thing, I do think all those supposedly respectable people who are in positions of authority should stop making pilgrimages to Imus' studio. To appear on his show is to give him more credibility. (Are you listening, presidential candidates?)
My suspicion is that some of these politicians are worried that if they don't pay homage to Imus, he'll trash them the way he trashed those poor basketball players.
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Deering, Karen M, Domini, Juliebird: Tall poppy syndrome
Several commentators are making the point that the Rutgers basketball players were the opposite of hos/whores: accomplished, educated, goal-oriented, etc.
Exactly why they need to be cut down, in the eyes of Imus and his ilk!
It's tall-poppy syndrome. (And as these are basketball players, they are probably very tall poppies.) The taller the poppy grows, the more people try to cut it down.
Near as I can tell, this is a human universal, although doubtless abetted by racism and sexism in this instance.
So to answer the question, posed here by a few commentators, how much do black women need to accomplish to be respected, and not get called "nappy-headed hos"?
Answer: not more than Don Imus.
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Deering, Karen M, Domini, Juliebird: Tall poppy syndrome
Several commentators are making the point that the Rutgers basketball players were the opposite of hos/whores: accomplished, educated, goal-oriented, etc.
Exactly why they need to be cut down, in the eyes of Imus and his ilk!
It's tall-poppy syndrome. (And as these are basketball players, they are probably very tall poppies.) The taller the poppy grows, the more people try to cut it down.
Near as I can tell, this is a human universal, although doubtless abetted by racism and sexism in this instance.
So to answer the question, posed here by a few commentators, how much do black women need to accomplish to be respected, and not get called "nappy-headed hos"?
Answer: not more than Don Imus.
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intersting thought, "a californian"
and also because he *could* - he couldn't/wouldn't say such in person but behind a microphone, surrounded by his buddies and egged on by Bernard McGuirk (yes, i decided to repeat his name as often as possible) he did. by the way, i learn something from all of you, so keep at it. (weird, this *is* the "discussion on race" that all seem to call for "but never happens")
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WTF?
David,
I do not understand how you came to this conclusion:
"and if you were raped by a black man (and didn't want to say it) i'm not surprised, black people are too fucking physical, both on white and on black."
David Sugarman: Don't. You. Dare. EVER! To assume you know anything about me. Not my race, not my experience, and not my opinions. You don't know me. And you don't have the right to make assumtions on what I think based on your own fantasies.
Everyone else: I do not share David's opinions.
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sorry, juliebird, just made up something because what you said was...
NOTHING. but i will take your word for it. you appear (how's that?) like a creature out of Faulkner.
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thank you all! (for your silence)
i never asked my kids for apology - who wants to force something false? when they changed i knew (and sometimes, rarely, they *did* say they were sorry). by your silence i know. i learned a lot, i taught a lot, it was a good discussion. now i'm going to watch a movie. when i see(hear? read?) you again, all will be fresh - except the good feelings. hope the same i will accept from you. (what a construction! i'm watching(hearing) a victorian movie (an ideal husband) and like a chameleon i change my speech to my surroundings). nice to know you all.
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Keep to the point
One point of order: Some people have used this incident to attack PC culture, try to discuss the relative sins of Don Imus and Al Sharpton, criticize rap, etc.
But, no matter how deserving of criticism they may be, this isn't really about PC culture or Al Sharpton's sins or rap. It's about showing common decency to some young college athletes who are anything but "hos." I believe, and hope, that the reason this incident has created such a strong national reaction is that most people are decent and appalled at the way these young women were treated.
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Steve Harvey is the No 1 radio show for ratings; Nice =ratings
His audience FAR outstrips Imus for listeners. Imus is 14th according to most ratings.
The latest Arbitron ratings show Harvey's morning show as No. 1 among urban stations and No. 5 overall in the nation's largest and most competitive radio market. His audience more than doubled Opie & Anthony's, and far outnumbered Imus'.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17689299/
Harvey isn't mean, racist, or dirty. He has gospel music, etc. And he is actually FUNNY.
This says it all about who pushes rap, by the way.
The Cleveland native, while best known for his stand-up and television work, also is a radio veteran. He hosted a show in Chicago and did five years in Los Angeles at KKBT-FM, where he battled with management over his refusal to play rap with offensive lyrics and his insistence on playing a daily gospel song. Ibid MSNBC article
Yet who does the media always report on? The vicious ones, not the Harveys.