Don't get me wrong, I think firing Imus was the correct thing to do. But there are things about this I don't understand:

1. Why was his producer not fired? He was the person who started referring to these women as "Ho's". And why has his name barely been mentioned in all this uproar?

2. Why does it matter if the Basketball team accepted his apology, or rather, why is that enough? I don't accept his apology and I suspect many many people like me do not accept his apology. I am not African-American (I am a woman) but since when is this kind of behavior offensive only to a small group of people? If I were at work and someone referred to a coworker using racist terms I would be offended, would say something about it, and would expect an apology. Racism is not personal in that sense. It is toxic to all of us in this society and what comes out of Imus's mouth is offensive to me. I do not accept his apology because there is zero evidence that he does not think in these terms (yes, I know he hosts black children on his ranch,too, but that is beside the point). I am 52 years old and I have never 'accidentally' said something like this...a person only says something like this if they already have an internal structure that supports it.

3. Why are people screaming censorship? He was not arrested, he was fired. His services no longer matched the job requirements. If he worked in an office, and he publicly made statements that were overtly racist, sexist or anti-semitic, he would most likely also be fired. He can get another job somewhere else. And he was not fired because he was a racist. He was fired because someone finally had the nerve to stand up and say, "This is unacceptable" (Of course, he was most likely REALLY fired because sponsorship was being pulled away, but...)

Racism is everyone's business, period. There are far too many racists walking around, in my opinion, but it is not illegal to be a racist and Don Imus can proclaim his small-minded opinions to the end of his days; that doesn't mean anyone will want to pay him for it.

What's interesting to me is the premise that making sexist and racist remarks is funny or entertaining. I think that's the crux. The Rutgers team decided to call foul on this particular instance of racist slur and people are bewildered about why and why now after all these years of Imus trash. Why not? Why not be fully offended? While the tradition of humor at the expense of others is of course a universal, timeless phenomenon of human discorse, our particular U.S. history is such that remarks about black women implying a dirty (and I think illicitly alluring)sexual characteristic are aggressively charged. The process of changing the racial climate in our country has been fraught with violence and struggle, and has proceeded at a very slow pace. The push back by the Rutgers women is a necessary step toward changing the tone of what is taken for granted by millions as being funny and acceptable. Those of Imus' ilk, who favor his humor, are not likely to change their minds because of this recent flak. I for one, am heartened by women who do not accept the slimy status quo.

The produce should be fired. He's the one that called the women on the Rutgers basketball team "jigaboos," at which point Mr. Imus, had he been of sound mind and body, should have said, "hey, Bernard McGuirk, shut the fuck up! But he didn't.

Wow can not believe the words I am hearing....it is like an arrogant witch hunt. Everyone acts like this is just a normal job routine and not a much larger problem. How can you castrate an indiviual under the pretense that his comments where unacceptable and not do anything about all the millions of verbal freedoms and art trash you let slip by and ignore? How can anyone judge a man in a society that is......... firmly planted in the toilet. Can you tell me why Howard Stern is still on the air polluting air ways all over America? Oh.... I know he is acceptable and he always holds a women's body in high regard and he makes you women look so intelligent and true feminists and nothing like a HO...give me a break. I have never heard such self righteous garbage in my life and this is coming from women that could not make the cover of Victoria Secrets. Oh that is tasteful art just like Playboy, Hustler and the Pornography that is on every computer in your office....... when you are not in the room. Did you know that when the twin towers went down the most often web site hits in the world where pornography....a statistic that some of you women might need to address...since you where the stars. If I hear I would tolerate that in my office one more time I am going to throw up! You all better look in the mirror before you judge anyone in the future. If you can not walk the walk then do not talk the talk..... about how offended you were. Dis you must be a deperate housewife.....and yes that show really makes your gender look so independent and just like a what....h_! We will all reap.... what we sow!

Obewan

If firing Imus only means that to have kept him would imply that what he said is acceptable, then firing him was the right thing to do; after all, this is supposedly done in the spirit of fairness and equality; right? With that being said, then what must also happen, even if only being indirectly fair to Imus himself…Is that all rappers & hip-hoppers who’ve been guilty of the same improprieties,(in lyrics and videos,) be now held accountable for their roles in the denigration of women; the word “denigration” and the act thereof, is what after all, seemed to be what spurned the whole controversy to begin with; or at least used as an excuse for it. This would seem to be the next step, for failure to do so would not only allow it to continue, thus confirming the existence of a suspected double standard, but also make it appear as though the aforementioned groups shared no culpability in what has made it so commonplace to begin with. If all these things are true, than the same truths apply to to Sharpton and Jackson; both of which, as others have illustrated here, have been guilty of the same infractions and for which neither has ever publicly apologized. I would also like to add at this time (in anticipation that rappers and hip-hop artist may only slightly now clean up their acts,) that the image they convey be also called to task; for while wearing ones pants to reveal the underwear(for one example,) may only denigrate themselves, our youth emulates them; emulating them in every aspect from sex to the acquisition of “bling-bling” that finds the future of tomorrow placing more emphasis on sneakers, gold teeth, flashy jewelry and spinners for the cars than picking up a book or becoming a dignified adult.

What I think needs to happen here is a unified effort; one that hits with the same veracity that the black community has hit Imus with. Using rappers and the so called hip-hop culture as an example. Firstly, if you listen to that trash, Stop! If you are buying it, Stop! If you watch Flava TV.(or anything like it) Stop! If your children have CDs’ of it, destroy them. If your children wear the baggy pants, cut holes in them.(this put a halt to it when my best friend did it with his boys.) Cash in the gold chains and rings embodying hip-hop. Cease to purchase anything that advertisers use rap or hip-hop to sell. I for one wrote Heineken (maker of beer) when they did it, and they not only responded, telling me that the commercial would be pulled…but actually did it. Good luck with others though; for I’ve tried to no avail. Even stop buying Koolaid if you like drinking red sugar. The advertisers threats were the last straw that broke Imus. Let’s see what happens when we pull out from the advertisers