More Imus
Imus isn’t the real bad guy
Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture.
By JASON WHITLOCK - Columnist
Thank you, Don Imus. You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem.
You’vegiven Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend thatthe old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still themost important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.
You’vegiven Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationallytelevised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a newsconference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.
Thank you,Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can onceagain wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselvesinto believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary thaneradicating our self-hatred.
The bigots win again.
Whilewe’re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock,I’m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgersbasketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifyingnappy-headed pimps and hos.
I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivianare gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimatecampaign against the real black-folk killas.
It is us. At thistime, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buyinto a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted andovertaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressedin this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning,self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.
Rather thanconfront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait forsomeone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake ofrepeating the things we say about ourselves.
It’s embarrassing.Dave Chappelle was offered $50 million to make racially insensitivejokes about black and white people on TV. He was hailed as a genius.Black comedians routinely crack jokes about white and black people, andwe all laugh out loud.
I’m no Don Imus apologist. He and his tiny companion Mike Lupica blasted me after I fell out with ESPN. Imus is a hack.
But,in my view, he didn’t do anything outside the norm for shock jocks andcomedians. He also offered an apology. That should’ve been the end ofthis whole affair. Instead, it’s only the beginning. It’s anopportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step on victimplatforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$.
I watched the Rutgers news conference and was ashamed.
MartinLuther King Jr. spoke for eight minutes in 1963 at the March onWashington. At the time, black people could be lynched and deniedfundamental rights with little thought. With the comments of atalk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last weekserving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes aboutthe amazing season her team had.
Somehow, we’re supposed tobelieve that the comments of a man with virtually no connection to thesports world ruined Rutgers’ wonderful season. Had a broadcaster withcredibility and a platform in the sports world uttered the words Imusdid, I could understand a level of outrage.
But an hourlong pressconference over a man who has already apologized, already beensuspended and is already insignificant is just plain intellectuallydishonest. This is opportunism. This is a distraction.
In thegrand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat toblack women in particular. If his words are so powerful and sodestructive and must be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we doabout the idiot rappers on BET, MTV and every black-owned radio stationin the country who use words much more powerful and much moredestructive?
I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has heat any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has hecelebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested inany way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and aparent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuingeducation and that they’re selling out their race if they do?
WhenImus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset. Until then, he iswhat he is - a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore whenyou’re not looking to be made a victim.
No. We all know where thereal battleground is. We know that the gangsta rappers and theirfollowers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negativelydefine us than some old white man with a bad radio show. There’s nomoney and lots of danger in that battle, so Jesse and Al are going tosit it out.
To reach Jason Whitlock, call (816) 234-4869 or send e-mail to jwhitlock@kcstar.com. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com
Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture.
By JASON WHITLOCK - Columnist
Thank you, Don Imus. You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem.
You’vegiven Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend thatthe old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still themost important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.
You’vegiven Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationallytelevised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a newsconference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.
Thank you,Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can onceagain wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselvesinto believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary thaneradicating our self-hatred.
The bigots win again.
Whilewe’re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock,I’m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgersbasketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifyingnappy-headed pimps and hos.
I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivianare gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimatecampaign against the real black-folk killas.
It is us. At thistime, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buyinto a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted andovertaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressedin this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning,self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.
Rather thanconfront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait forsomeone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake ofrepeating the things we say about ourselves.
It’s embarrassing.Dave Chappelle was offered $50 million to make racially insensitivejokes about black and white people on TV. He was hailed as a genius.Black comedians routinely crack jokes about white and black people, andwe all laugh out loud.
I’m no Don Imus apologist. He and his tiny companion Mike Lupica blasted me after I fell out with ESPN. Imus is a hack.
But,in my view, he didn’t do anything outside the norm for shock jocks andcomedians. He also offered an apology. That should’ve been the end ofthis whole affair. Instead, it’s only the beginning. It’s anopportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step on victimplatforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$.
I watched the Rutgers news conference and was ashamed.
MartinLuther King Jr. spoke for eight minutes in 1963 at the March onWashington. At the time, black people could be lynched and deniedfundamental rights with little thought. With the comments of atalk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last weekserving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes aboutthe amazing season her team had.
Somehow, we’re supposed tobelieve that the comments of a man with virtually no connection to thesports world ruined Rutgers’ wonderful season. Had a broadcaster withcredibility and a platform in the sports world uttered the words Imusdid, I could understand a level of outrage.
But an hourlong pressconference over a man who has already apologized, already beensuspended and is already insignificant is just plain intellectuallydishonest. This is opportunism. This is a distraction.
In thegrand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat toblack women in particular. If his words are so powerful and sodestructive and must be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we doabout the idiot rappers on BET, MTV and every black-owned radio stationin the country who use words much more powerful and much moredestructive?
I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has heat any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has hecelebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested inany way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and aparent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuingeducation and that they’re selling out their race if they do?
WhenImus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset. Until then, he iswhat he is - a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore whenyou’re not looking to be made a victim.
No. We all know where thereal battleground is. We know that the gangsta rappers and theirfollowers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negativelydefine us than some old white man with a bad radio show. There’s nomoney and lots of danger in that battle, so Jesse and Al are going tosit it out.
To reach Jason Whitlock, call (816) 234-4869 or send e-mail to jwhitlock@kcstar.com. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com