Nappy Headed Who???

Man, this whole Don Imus thing has just continued to spiral into the realms of insanity. OK, they fired him. Should they have? I don't know. Many, many years ago, I used to listen to Howard Stern on the way to work since he was on one of the few stations that I could get on my Walkman. Stern has said some pretty nasty things - OK, they weren't necessarily racist, but they did have enough racist innuendo to make Imus look like a supporter of the NAACP. Of course, Stern has Robin Quivers, a black woman who some may argue to be a strategic supporting cast to ward off those who cry racism or sexism. But stern's said some pretty explicit things on his show, and that was under CRTC censorship.

As far as Imus goes...OK, well, I'm not black but I'm going to check with some Black friends to see whether they found it offensive. I did not find it racially offensive, though it was definitely derogatory. But look at it from society's perspective - a woman who is covered in tattoos isn't exactly a model for femininity - some may argue that it makes her look more like a street thug. It's no different in the businessplace. In my seven years of working in this office tower, I have rode the elevator and have worked with thousands of people. Not one is covered in tattoos - that's just the way the businessplace expects. And I think that society probably frowns on women (and men) covered in tattoos, and in particular, big butchy looking girls. (ie. German olympic teams). I think that's the context Imus was giving his comments. Peoople have said that rap music uses the word "ho" and worse - that's true - and some have added that what a Black person says to another Black person has different connotations. That's true too. But look how women are portrayed in hip hop videos - I have seen and listened to my fair share over the years. Women are not respected in these videos, so probably what Imus said is just a symptom of the overflow of what he probably sees on TV. No doubt he does not respect Black women.

I find it more disconcerting that he called them "hos" rather than nappy-headed (not sure how that can be deemed racist, since my wife, who is not Black but has very curly hair, wakes up with a "nappy head" all the time). By calling these women hos, Imus has essentially labelled them as slutty, loose girls, which of course is ridiculous since he doesn't know any of these girls personally.

I don't get offended by much, and I'd be lying to you if I told you I was offended by this. I was not. But I am concerned that he called them a bunch of hos. There is no justification in that. But look at Howard Stern - he's called women hos before. Does he get away with it because he's Jewish and can claim that he's a minority too?

Perhaps the worst part of all this is the coverage given to those two ridiculous figures that you seem to see, who say they represent the Black community, but I've talked to enough Black folks to know that they don't - Al Sharpton and to a lesser degree, Jesse Jackson. I dislike Sharpton with a passion. This jackass thinks he can spew anti-Semitic and anti-White sentiments and get away with it, yet when there is a supposed slight to Blacks, he cries foul. I think Martin Luther King would be rolling in his grave if he found out that there were idiots like this who believe they are acting in Black folks' best interests. Sharpton is a loud-mouthed hypocrite. I don't see him apologizing to those Duke students who were accused of assaulting that Black exotic dancer, only to be recenly exonerated. He was so critical of those boys and pushed hard for their punishment, but now that the courts have determined that the boys were innocent, Sharpton is nowhere to be found. Just like Paris Hilton, Kevin Federline, Terrell Owens, etc., I often wonder for what purpose was Sharpton put on this earth.

Personally, I think that while I am glad to see an apology from Imus, I also think that the Rutgers women's basketball team is making a mountain out of a molehill. Why did they have to go on Oprah? Are they "suffering" that much? Or do they want to draw attention to themselves?