Enough Already, I'm Sick of Don Imus!

I'm sick of Imus. But not for the reasons you might think. I'm a Black woman, and if you believe the media hype surrounding this Imus debacle, you'd expect me to be up in arms as a result of his nappy ho comment. I'm not. I'm up in arms over this public demand for him to apologize and for the fact that he got fired.

Are we really expected to believe that the sponsors who pulled out of his show are really appalled and hurt by his racially insensitive comments? If they were, they would (along with Sharpton and Jackson) boycott every single corporation that sponsors the entire media industry. It's a billion dollar industry to disparage Blacks. The only reason Imus was dropped was because he is no longer economically viable. CBS and MSNBC had too much to lose keeping that wacko on the air. It was cost-effective to let him go. Black people speak with their purses and so the real issue at stake is money. Racism has nothing to do with it. Even though it makes us feel good to think that by firing Imus CBS was speaking for most Americans who abhor racism and cuts it down quickly when it rears its ugly head.

Imus' apology is obviously not sincere. If he held Black people in high esteem he would never had made such a remark. So what's the point?

Will the recent firing of Imus and his apologies change the fact that more than 100 years after Jim Crow, 50 plus years after Brown v. Board, and the Civil Rights Movement that segregation in schools and neighborhoods still exist? Economic equality keeps poor blacks poor and less successful, not necessarily racism although the two are mutually exclusive. It is not so much race as it is poor Black kids are likely to attend and receive a mediocre education, where complacent teachers allow students who still can't read or write to pass on to higher grades. I'm appalled when I hear college graduates use the incorrect forms of the verb to be. How can they communicate effectively if they can't even write a grammatically correct sentence? I digress, but my point here is that our "black leaders" are fighting the wrong battle. There will always be Don Imuses in the world. It's time to stop crying racism at every single remark that's made. We've endure much more than this and we have survived. National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, endures death threats on a regular basis, but she will not let that stop her from effectively doing her job.

To be quite honest, I'm offended that more members of the Black community are jumping all over this as though it is empowering: it is insulting. America needs to see Black people as empowered and courageous. Not as weak, insecure victims who use racism as a negotiating asset. Forcing an idiot like Imus to say he's sorry is not going to change the way he feels about "nappy ho's." Turn on Black Entertainment Television buy a hip hop album, or tune into any "Black" radio station. Imus' remarks pale in comparison. These so-called Black radio stations (which are owned by White media conglomerates) encourage the denigration of women and perpetuate the worst stereotypes of Black culture. Why aren't Sharpton and Jackson out in front of Hot 97, or 105.1 protesting the programming at these stations? Because they are simply opportunistic publicity hounds who like to stir up controversy and create racial tension to feel significant. Since everybody's apologizing, Sharpton and Jackson should apologize to the millions of Black people who are emotionally and physically affected by the way we are represented in the media. Why don't Jackson and Sharpton have conversations with the corporate moguls who are over saturating the airwaves and polluting the air with this crap they call music that not only denigrates, women and Blacks, but is also homophobic? Ironically enough, Soul Plane recently aired on BET, but it was in the theaters long enough to gain public attention. The movie is deplorable; offensive in every way, shape and form yet there was no public outrage, or boycotts or calling for the producers to ban the movie. There should have been. I find that deplorable. There is no justifiable excuse to accept movies like Soul Plane and then be outraged at Don Imus' comments.

This whole debacle has the opposite effect of what it is intended to prove: that we have overcome, or that Black people have arrived, and have triumphed over racism. We haven't. We live in a society whose social, economic and political culture is dominated by economic interest. Sharpton and Jackson, the brilliant politicians that they are- know very well that deep pockets pull the strings. Sharpton and Jackson are certainly doing well for themselves financially despite the racism and injustice they supposedly endure on a constant basis. It's a shame that the people called upon to speak on behalf of the "black" community are hypocrites with their own skeletons in the closet. I'll speak for myself thank you very much!

It's unconscionable to hold Imus accountable for his actions or behavior without holding ourselves responsible for supporting a culture that allows corporate interest to decide what is offensive and when to take action. Simply put, it's just not fair.