Imussed up
Sigh. Another talk icon self-immolates. I refer of course, to Don Imus, who referred to the Rutger's women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" and then refused to back down or apologize for days. I have not seen pictures of the team, but I am guessing from the outcry that the team is composed predominantly of African-American women. MSNBC suspended the talkshow host for two weeks, a penalty that Imus agrees with apparently, now that he's newly contrite.
I wonder at these talk show hosts; on the radio, day in and day out 20 some days a month, 12 months a year. Something has to slip out. How can anyone be glib and spontaneous and not screw up? Although the screwup in question is racial, there is no supporting evidence to suggest that Imus is racist. Just an old talk show host running off at the mouth a little too long and making a public comment that should have been expressed in private, or perhaps not at all.
Is it that we all make these little nonPC cracks and Imus got caught? What he said was hardly on the par with some great blunders of the last few decades where public figures made comments about minority groups that did expose underlying prejudices. In an era of hip-hop with the 'N' word being used as a condiment, is is possible that the very brittle social walls that seperate those who can say certain words and those who cannot, have started to crumble?
Posted on April 10, 2007
