What I am hearing is that the use of the term "nappy headed" is the real issue rather than the use of the term "hoes". Unfortunately, most girls from age 12-20 will tell you that being called a "hoe" is normal everyday conversation and no big deal because being "ghetto" is cool these days. However, talking about "nappy headed" is all about "curly black hair" and therein lies the problem. There is nothing in the current culture that will give you a pass from this type of a racial slur. However, when you put the two together, you get confusion because there are a lot of folks who think that the hip-hop culture is largely to blame for our depraved culture, anyways, and that Imus is just "along for the ride" and should get a pass. And Don is also clever in that he assumed he would get a pass because people in powerful positions would never really understand what he said and what he really meant.

Although I may agree with you on many points regarding the firing of Don Imus, your arguments defending hip-hop music against the charges that it is largely responsible for the problems with racism and sexism that we struggle with today were dead wrong. No, hip-hop didn't "invent" sexism or racism, but it sure in the hell has given rise to a new abuse of those sensitive problems. And while it may be reprehensible what Imus has said in the past about Maya Angelou and many others, the black gentleman screenwriter was right on to point out to you that this was not about Maya Angelou this time.

You lost the debate tonight. And while it shouldn't really matter, I will say that I am a white, liberal Democrat. And yet I agreed with Scarborough more often than you.

Kudos to Joan Walsh for her thoughtful opinions, including tonight's posting on the firing of Don Imus and for her appearance on Scarborough Country. Joan, I had started to turn off the t.v. and read a book (I'd had enough of the Imus thing on Countdown, which I love) until I saw you on Scarborough. You make all the difference. You are MSNBC's best commentator. Thank you for your bright, clearly thought out, smart thoughts on what is going on. I'm sorry you got cut off tonight, but knew where you were going and agree with you completely.

Joan, you're the best and the brightest and your appearance tonight was a nice complement to your Salon piece.

Thanks!

I agree with your defense of freedom of speech, in that only the government can censure while the public may speak out, including via boycott to protest anyone, regardless of popularity, and the ability to broadcast over a public medium is not necessary to exercise freedom of speech but a privilege. However, as a young man of color with two sisters I must criticize your view that blatantly bigoted rap targeting (black) women and girls is completely different than Imus' rant. Do you even listen to rap or see videos? How can you so casually dismiss anti-female slurs being used as synonyms (bitch, ho, trick, etc.) or the openly violent extremism glamorized in rap, including the raping, torturing, enslavement, and killings of women and girls as the staple of the most influential force in global pop culture?!

Rap succeeds because it exploits our deep-seated assumption that women and girls are not human. How else could we routinely trivialize bigotry as "disrespect," as if intolerance and hate were mere rudeness? Or allow the casual use of anti-female slurs with the false pretext of (female) misbehavior, reinforcing the belief that men can serve as infallible judge, jury, and executioner of women and girls on the basis of (inherent) immorality? Only when society distorts sexism and misogyny as bad manners can bigotry easily blur into no-holds-barred "truth."

Anyone who believes Imus' comments merit a harsh rebuke must fiercely attack rappers who enjoy global admiration, especially by young men, because they ruthlessly dehumanize and demonize (black) women and girls, which normalizes male violent oppression. The level of violent hatred unleashed towards those who happen to commit the sin of being born a girl in rap is on par with the ultra-violent hate of neo-Nazi music (Compare: "Fuck a whore with a knife" with "Doesn't it feel good to kill a kike?"). Dre, Snoop, Eminem and others express the sadistic bigot's point of view, justifying and strengthening the violent hate of their massive audiences.

Hate speech itself does not cause bigotry to fluorish, but the legitimization of such overt incitement of hate as "entertainment" by society at large ensures it deepens and spreads unchecked with women and girls suffering the consequences.

Imus thinks he is so much better than everyone else that he thinks it is ok to demean people as a matter of course. What this shows is that he can dish it out. Now he must learn to take it too. About time.

Imus means nothing to me; but the whole media circus became a kind of comedy today when I realized it was like Day 5 or 6, and IT'S STILL THE MAJOR STORY for America's worthless corporate media -- which apparently has no celebrity court case or missing white woman to go 24/7 on. Imus MUST be praying for war to break out with Iran, something, anything, that will blast him off the headlines like 9/11 did for Gary Condit; but instead, five or six days gp by and . . . nothing. So every day it just gets worse for him. If a major blonde female celebrity doesn't OD soon, I'm afraid before the week is out I'll turn on my TV and see that Imus has been put to death before a live studio audience.

Yeah, I know; he's a despicable old white male scumbag whom time passed by in 1982; but so are at least half the other "entertainers" on TV. Limbaugh and his local imitators say worse things on radio every day. The real story here is that America's mass media simply sucks, to an extent that is probably unimaginable for Salon's overseas audience.