Racism and Free Speech, Happy Couple or Absolute Dichotomy?

The Don Imus scandal of 2007 has everyone talking. Even Oprah Winfrey was about *Nappy Headed Hos* today. All this drama got me (and clearly many others) wondering, Why Don Imus? I mean, I'm not a huge fan, I find Don Imus to be a boring redneck, but for MSNBC or CBS to suggest that his being fired was ACTUALLY about his racist remarks is absurd.

I know, I know, the following argument would lead some to believe that I'm suggesting the lesser of two evils is any less evil, but I have to say this. Have the program directors and execs looked around at some of the shit spewing from the mouths of other *Pundits*? Let's have a look back at some of the tolerant, profound, earth-shattering compassion for minorities by some of our open-minded friends at assorted media outlets. Keep in mind, I am only quoting those who are currently allowed on the air.

The LOVELY Ann Coulter on the current Genocide in Darfur - "These people can't even wrap up genocide. We've been hearing about this slaughter in Darfur forever - and they still haven't finished. The aggressors are moving like termites across that country. It's like genocide by committee. Who's running this holocaust in Darfur, FEMA? This is truly a war in which we have absolutely no interest."

Bill O'Reilly on Mexican Immigrants in the US - "We'd save lives because Mexican wetbacks, whatever you want to call them, the coyotes--they're going to do what they're doing now, all right, so people aren't going to die in the desert."

Rush Limbaugh on Blacks in the US - "Why should Blacks be heard? They're 12% of the population. Who the hell cares."

President Bill Clinton - "African-Americans watch the same news at night that ordinary Americans do."

"What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this (chuckle) - this is working very well for them." -Former First Lady Barbara Bush, on the hurricane evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston, Sept. 5, 2005 I only added this one as a testament to the well, *underprivileged* gene pool we call the Bush Family...

"You simply get chills every time you see these poor individuals...many of these people, almost all of them that we see are so poor and they are so black, and this is going to raise lots of questions for people who are watching this story unfold." -CNN's Wolf Blitzer, on New Orleans' hurricane evacuees, Sept. 1, 2005

So there you have it, I could have gone much further and perhaps included some more offensive brainfarts by our nations best and brightest, but instead I feel we should focus on the obvious, which is that various current issues in the grand scheme of things should BY FAR outweigh Don Imus's dumb ass comments. Before everyone gets all distraught and panty-wadded thinking I'm defending what he said, let me clear this up, it was a JACKASSY thing to say. It was meant to be a joke, however Mr. Imus needs to seriously redefine the word *joke*, because if something is NOT FUNNY, it doesn't qualify as a joke.

What I am defending is his right to say it. Bill Maher (another famous verbal diarrhea artist) was on The View this morning, and I think he made an excellent point. These upstanding, beautiful, talented, athletic ladies may have been hurt and offended, but like they knew who Don Imus was before the media went all Salem Witchhunt on the guy. To be honest, the only reason I knew who he was is because I'm a nerd, and I tend to actually care what political leaders talk about. He made a STUPID joke, and looks to me like he's pretty well aware of it. *Nappy Headed Hos* may not be the funniest punchline in the context of old white guys trying to be *trendy*, but it is a common punchline, a common verse in rap/hip-hop genre music, and a common racist slur. Most people just don't get caught saying it on television.

White, educated, liberal hippies such as myself like to pretend that racism is all but dead in society...maybe that's true for OUR society, but I hate to be the one to break it to you, racism is alive and well in the US. Everyone has that friend/relative that you can't take out in public because they throw *Nigger*, *Spook*, *Gigaboo* (one of my personal faves) around like it's a perfectly acceptable and not at all offensive. These people EXIST, still to this day. Sure, they tend to be a bit more concentrated in the Rural areas of our great nation, but they are out there, my friends.

For a brief period in 2005, I lived in a small Missouri town where it seemed like EVERYONE talked like this. I heard this kind of stuff everywhere, which is why I decided to bring my literate self back to my hometown, where although people are much less likely to say this kind of filth in public, it doesn't mean they don't say it.

Paris Hilton recently caught hell for saying the *N* word on camera, *Jew* jokes are rampant in all genres of media, and Arab, Persian, Islam jokes are EVERYWHERE these days. The question I pose to you is, What determines what is *too far*? The *N* word is ok, depending on who says it and in what context, *Jew* jokes are, well, apparently they are always funny, and racist slurs against those of Middle Eastern ethnicity are fully embraced by white America.

We are all guilty. Everytime I ignore someone who makes an ignorant statement, I am telling them it's ok to do so. Generally I don't call people out for racial jokes, because the way I see it, people who think this way are not people I feel are going to magically become racially tolerant because I tell them to. Everytime I laugh at a racially-charged joke on television or the internet, I am contributing to the problem. But it will never change. I could spend all day everyday writing emails to everyone who makes a racial slur, boycotting shows that make light of oppressed peoples, and organizing marches to protest everyone that pisses me off, but racism will never cease. You just have to do what you can, I guess if it makes America *feel better*, then Don Imus getting the boot isn't such a bad thing.

We need to use our heads, though. This is America. We start banning ANY word, regardless of how offensive, what's next? What is the going to be the next word we can't use? Frank Zappa, (a personal hero of mine), once donated a small fortune to a Legal Group defending the Free Speech Rights of pornographers. His explanation was simple and brilliant. To defend free speech we must be prepared to defend the outer fringes of acceptable. Brilliant, I say.

Sources:http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ann_Coulter#Darfur_conflict,http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bill_O'Reilly_(commentator)#On_illegal_immigrants,http://home.att.net/~jrhsc/rush.html,http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quotes_about/racism,http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/currentevents/a/katrinaquotes.htm,http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/currentevents/a/katrinaquotes.htm