I
IMUS was never a must for me
Imus is going down – at least on MSNBC on television and CBS on radio and with major advertisers and with politicians and journalists and other celebrities who’ve lent credibility to his show so many years.
I’ve never listened to or watched Imus or any other shock jock. Just as I refused to watch a sitcom that famously billed itself as a show about nothing (Seinfeld), I’ve refused to participate in the shock jock cult. There’s too much to be shocked about in the real world to support repugnant, outrageous, insulting commentary as entertainment, often at the expense of the underdog.
Why Imus and his producer felt the need to denigrate 10 young women who had overcome great odds to reach the final game in the NCAA basketball championship is beyond understanding. These young women, ages 18 to 20, were not “nappy headed” (Most seem to have perms, for god’s sake!). And there is absolutely nothing to indicate that these very disciplined, very academically sound young women are “whores”. (Definitions: “a prostitute; a person considered sexually promiscuous; a person considered as having compromised principles for personal gain”)
Hmmm. That last definition sounds more like Imus than the Rutgers team.
II
Where are White women?
Imus did not just insult Blacks, but also women. Quickly this became an Imus versus “the Black community” conflict. The sexism in his no-infamous line has pretty much been ignored except by a handful of Black women. And so I ask again: Where are White women?
III
There is power in protest
If anything, this fallout from Imus’s on-air idiocy has demonstrated the power of speaking out and of making economic demands that can influence social policy. It was one thing for the Rev. Al Sharpton to use his various bully pulpits to speak out; this went to a whole new level when major advertisers listened and decided to withdraw their support for Imus’s show.
Vote with your hands. Change the dial. Don’t listen to the Imuses of the airwaves. But if the other Imuses out there say something as despicable as he did, don’t fear to use the power of the purse. Encourage advertisers to withdraw their support.
I’m encouraged by this mobilization of this particular coalition of the willing. Now it needs to carry on to assault those aspects of hip-hop culture that have usurped that culture and turned it into something that makes an Imus comfortable with referring to Black women as whores. There are big corporate bucks out there behind this aspect of hip-hop. Let’s go after them.
IV
Post-embarrassment “therapy”
Imus didn’t rush into therapy for alcoholism or temporary mental illness or whatever the way other celebrities have done after getting caught with their inner-hatred unleashed and facing the loss of income.
But that 2 ½ hours at the New Jersey Governor’s Mansion with the Rutgers team and its coaches must have been more intense than anything Isaiah Washington or Mel Gibson experienced during their rush-to-therapy after expressions of homophobia (Washington of television’s Grey’s Anatomy) and anti-Semitism (Gibson, the actor, director and producer) or racism (Michael Richards, the comic most famous as a character on Seinfeld).
V
Once again Sen. McCain called it wrong
As various Imus regulars – politicians, journalists, etcetera – announced their intent to boycott Imus’s show, McCain said he accepted Imus’s apologies and would gladly return to Imus In the Morning.
He can’t get it right. Just a few days ago, after visiting a market in Baghdad surrounded by about 100 heavily-armed soldiers and with military helicopters hovering overhead and sharpshooters positioned on rooftops, he came back espousing the Bush administration party line: The streets are much safer in Baghdad these days; the war is being won.
And then he had to admit, after public humiliation by not just US bloggers but also by Iraqi civilians who know otherwise, that he’d been wearing rose-colored glasses and had “misspoke.”
Is this man ready for his closeup as a viable presidential candidate?
4 comments:
re: White women
From what I heard on NPR, yesterday, it seems that at least some white women are up-in-arms over the issue. There was a reference on The Diane Rehm Show (sp?) to some passionate commentary from both Black and white women... somewhere. Sadly, I didn't catch what the event was.
By the way, Michael Meyers was on the show, yesterday. I had to disagree with his painting this as, among other things, a freedom of speech issue against Imus.
re: McCain
He's fallen, politically, and he can't get up. I agree that his response to the Imus issue was wrong-headed and weak. It's going to take a political miracle to put him where he wants to be - which is almost sad considering how much he seems willing to sacrifice to the political gods.
Political. I just wanted to say it one more time.
The Imus ordeal is wonderful for Americans. It has opened the door for debate and self-criticizm. When Imus speaks his mind, parts of America speaks its mind.
Now that Imus has been dealt with I think the black protest generals (Revs Sharpton and Jackson) should devise and implement a strategy to join the young ladies at Spelman and others on the forefront to attack the vile lyrics in rap music. I think its hypocritical to have vehemently push for Imus's firing while ignoring (and somtimes making excuses for) the rap artists's use of those same words (and some even worse). Now that we have harvested the low hanging fruit lets get down to the hard work of making it uncomfortable for the purveyors of the demeaning and degrading rap lyrics to continue to heap this madness on our communities.
Passd, you anticipated one of my next postings. The fight to clean up rap lyrics has been underway for more than a decade. But you wouldn't know that from coverage of the Imus mess that segues into "but rappers say it....". Now that Imus, someone that most Americans had never heard of until this current multi-media blast, has been -- perhaps only temporarily -- brought down, the momentum must go to the next level. Look for my upcoming posting on this.
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