Don Imus: Black America's Scapegoat

Hey folks! Okay, The G-man is officially warning you. This article is not going to be for the squeamish, and it's probably going to piss hundreds, if not thousands, of Black people off. I'll deal with it. I've sat back and watched all of these clowns, particularly the African-American ones, rip Imus on network and cable TV shows long enough. I'm going to state this as firmly as possible. Don Imus did not deserve to be fired! For those of you who may have been in the kitchen making a salami sandwich and missed out, I'll say it again. Don Imus did not deserve to be fired! At best, he should have been issued a suspension of six months to a year and given a stern warning by his bosses. I say this for two major reasons.

I) I believe you judge a person by their deeds, not necessarily their words. Imus and his wife Deidre have done amazing work through "The Imus Ranch", which is a refuge for terminally ill and cancer-stricken kids, some of whom are, and have been, African-American. All those slamming the radio icon should factor in the significant impact the ranch has on the lives of these remarkable kids. Many people were quick to label Imus a monster and a bigot, but this man has dedicated himself to helping all types of kids, and he cannot and should not be labeled as such because of an asinine and callous remark. Moreover, this has been his shtick for over 30 years, and people know what to expect when Don Imus is on the air. Does his charitable work excuse what he did? Hell no, and I would be the first to hold him accountable by tossing he and his producer, Bernard McGuirk, in a room and unleashing 36 years of martial arts experience on them for what they said. Still, you have to take into account his phenomenal and life-long commitment to these children before labeling him a social outcast.

II) How the hell do you fire Don Imus, when you have hip-hop stations across the country, with African-American hosts like "Miss Jones" of HOT 97 in New York, calling their co-hosts, listeners and callers, and I want AC to print this, "bitch-ass niggers"? That is an exact quote. I had the displeasure of listening to a recent show while riding in a friend's car, and the "N" word was thrown around by the morning show crew at least 15-20 times! Grade school, high-school and college kids comprise a large percentage of those listening to this station during the morning hours. This nonsense is done on a daily basis. Where is the FCC? Why haven't the advertisers bailed on Miss Jones and her morning show team? Is it because they don't give a flying fig because African-American audiences are being defamed and devalued? Where are Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson and all the other outraged African-Americans, leaders and common folk, in this case? Where are the protests? The things said on HOT 97, and similar stations across the country, are just as bad, if not worse, as what Imus said.

He was relentlessly attacked for being a Caucasian man referring to Black women as "nappy headed ho's, but African-American radio hosts who refer to their callers, listeners and co-hosts as niggers is okay? The so-called leaders in the African-American community went after Imus with a damn vengeance, but those like Miss Jones are given a free pass? Call me stupid, but somebody needs their fat a** kicked for practicing a double standard, and The G-man is lacing up a pair of steel-toed Doc Martens. I call it as I see it, and you have to be fair in this situation. If you're going to clean house, then you'd damn well better do it across the board. You can't pull the trigger on Don Imus and leave people like Miss Jones and her minions to wreck havoc. That is simply wrong. If HOT 97, or any other hip-hop station in the country, wants to battle on this issue, just bring it! The G-man is not afraid to "flex" on you. You may have a radio market, but I've got the media and the Internet. I'd definitely say the odds are in my favor.

Finally, to the dissatisfaction of many, I would've posed the following question to the Rutgers basketball team during their press conference. They indicated how angry, hurt and shocked they were by the comment. I totally get that. However, I would've asked, "What type of music do you ladies listen to?" No one bothered to ask. Why not? It's a valid and important question. Why? It's valid and important because they fall within the age category of those who worship and listen to hip-hop. If the majority of them admitted to purchasing music by Ludacris, 50 Cent, Foxy Brown, Little Kim or any other hardcore hip-hop artist, they could rightfully be labeled hypocrites. If they're supposed to be so incensed and hurt by the comments of Don Imus, why the hell would they be listening to artists that constantly refer to African-American women, and others, as bitches and "chicken ho's"? They can't have it both ways. Much to his credit, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons finally figured this out. That's why he held a closed-door meeting with many of the leading hip-hop producers and artists a couple of weeks ago. Simmons has made the decision to take the lead and help guide hip-hop in another direction.

I can find it in my heart to applaud the amazing accomplishments of the Rutgers basketball team this year, but I would ask them the hard question as well. If I had an opportunity to do so, and they confessed before a national audience to being huge fans of the aforementioned artists, I suspect Don Imus would have never been fired. A sector of the African-American population can celebrate the temporary demise of Don Imus all they want, but the fact of the matter is a good number of them need to stop acting like their house is completely immaculate and begin some real, serious housecleaning.