Don Imus Has Shown His True Colors
It is such a cop-out to group a whole race or community as the same because of what you see on television. I know that there are misogynist, racist, and cruel white men out there. But do I group the whole white race like that, no. It would be asinine to do so. So why does it seem that certain folks think that it is okay for them to group all black people as one? We are not. We are diverse just like anyone else. Mainstream media and hip-hop only perpetuates these beliefs. There was once a time that hip-hop used to be diverse and spoke about everything else other than bangin' and slangin' on the block. If you don't believe me check out the PBS special " Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes." While the radio and music industry has perpetuated this image of all black women as a Hottentot Venus, black women in the industry bare a responsibility as well. It's sad to see young women aspiring to be the next Karrine Steffans or Deelishus while thinking these aspirations are something to flaunt or be proud of. No person, man or woman should be proud of having a reputation as a sexual object.
Now unto this jigaboo nonsense. According to the definition on Answers.com a jigaboo is used as a disparaging term for a Black person. Other synonyms include a spade, coon, and nigra. Now for some odd reason, I have yet to hear a Black person outwardly describe another as a jigaboo. Of course Imus tried to clean it up and said that it was in reference to a Spike Lee movie. Anyone who has watched ANY of Spike Lee's movies know that they have a message and no one in their right mind calls another person a jigaboo. If he is so familiar with Lee's movies then I suppose he forgot to watch Bamboozled. Then again maybe he doesn't have to, all he has to do it turn to any music television show and it's right in front of his eyes. But jigaboo is NOT a harmless word. If that's the case then we might as well start calling folks chinks, kikes, mongrels and peckerwoods. I think not. Imus knew what he was doing and his sorry excuse for an apology does nothing for me. He has already shown me his true colors.
Published by Paula Blanton
I'm a freelance writer in the Midwest. I like to write about current news events, women and minority issues and education. View profile
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6 Comments
Post a Commentexcellent article!
I think the comments Imus made were absolutely uncalled for! I think its rediculous that he still has a job (even though its a different one), the man shouldn't be allowed on the radio anymore!
If the truth be known, I never liked Imus and only listened in by accident during scans. Until this controversy, a lot of people I know didn't know who he was, then he became the talk of the town.
What's really sad is that Rosie O'Donnell supports himself.
Check it out: http://youtube.com/watch?v=5PfasJ8H8Bc
It's sad that she doesn't want to be discriminated against
as a lesbian but justifies his comments. She's a hypocrite!
Paula, I've never liked rap/hip-hop. I think that's because the first song I heard went something like this: "Grab your gun and blow your bitch's head off and your mama's, too." That's not the exact words, but it was something to that nature. I've never listen to Don Imus, either. When I was growing up, if I called anyone "bitch" I'd be washing my mouth out with soap. When did it get to the point where it is okay to call a girlfriend a "bitch" or "ho" or any other derogatory name? I think if someone can't understand how hurtful being called some of these names is, they ought to think back to their childhood and remember some of the hurtful names a classmate called them. I'm glad you wrote about your views on this.
I am glad you decided to write this. I thought the new NH-words was used in a playful, affectionate manner. If it were not for this controversery I would not have realized it was offensive. I understand his guest used the "ho" word, and they referred to the wrong movie. The teams were from "School Daze", not "Do The Right Thing". I found the remarks typical sexist guy stuff. They talked about the young women's looks, comparing them unfavorably to the girls on the other team. If it were men's basketball the "slams" would have been about their athletic skill. Imus' type of humor is to offend everyone equally. He probably felt comfortable enough in not knowing he is not a racist to say what he did. He was not calling the girls those things, he said they looked like. Of course the combinination of words in the broadcast is what made it turn out to be a bad excuse for a joke. Intelligent people know that not all of any race, gender, ethinicity are one thing or another. He tried to make that