[thepostman]

speaking of roommates, i am racist against the french and uconn fans...if thats possible

I don't like french canadians...haha

[01LUGrad]

The thing that got Imus in trouble is directing his statement at the Rutgers team. If he had made the same statement without a particular group of people in mind, he would be the same as 50 cent or any other rapper out there. Unfortunately, he called out that group of players.

On a side note, the Rutgers coach is getting a lot of free recruiting time on the air right now. Her speech is all about the team and their recent accomplishments.

[alabama24]

IMHO the worst thing about his comments were that they were directed at 18-21 year old intellegent young ladies. If anyone called my sister a "HO" on national TV my fist would be breaking more than my TV set.

[RubberMallet]

[LUconn]

I do feel bad for the players. I'm sure they can take racist comments as good as anybody. But he called them ugly and this is getting way too much air time. Now the whole country has it brought to our attention that they are not attractive. Girls don't take that well.

[RubberMallet]

i assumed that since they were on a girls basketball team that was a given...

[TallyW]

**EDIT: wow.. it's long... Please forgive me I have not vented on this issue all week and it's been building up... Thank You FlameFans.com for the therapy. Now I need to get off of my lunch break and back to sermon prep.**

My take is this:
I grew up in Baltimore, most of my friends were black. The associate Pastor of my church is a black man. I dated cross-culturally and I continue to have friends in the black community as well as members of the church I pastor who are black. Our lead worship artist is black. When I got to LU I ran with a mixed group of friends and again I hung out with a lot of black friends. I even rapped (yes I'm white) with a Latino and some other black guys... guys I call friends. I grew up on welfare, I was a minority in most of the schools I attended... I could go on and on... point is... I'm coming at this from a prospective and an understanding of the culture that is as much entrenched as I could get apart from genetics.

First I completely agree that his comments were uncalled for and inappropriate for him to use on a radio station where he knows his audience is over 10 million listeners and mostly white. In my estimation he shouldn't have called out Rutgers at all... What he was doing (as he and nearly all societal commentators do) was giving his impressions (as a 67 year old white man who has been around for a long time) in sort of a compare/contrast mode. Remember... they were talking about two teams who are BOTH mostly African American.

He pointed out the differences between the two. His words were uncalled for and offensive and likely reside in a deep recess of his mind. This man is in his late-60's... MLK died in 1968 when Imus was 28... I'm certain there is some left-over bigotry in there instilled from his childhood but I don't see him as being anti-black... His professional career doesn't point in that direction and frankly I believe he's being thrown under the bus for a dumb and insensitive comment.

Look at the man...His politics lean very left and his guests range the spectrum... he openly supported Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) for his failed Senate bid this time around OVER A WHITE GUY... he's not racist... Is he nsensitive... old-school... non PC... loose with the tongue... yes... but racist? no.

What I see in this case is that Imus should have taken the opportunity to apologize as he has... but then get off of his heels and speak to the social commentary he inadequately referenced during that conversation. He tried a little on Sharpton's show... but it was evident that Sharpton smelled blood.

If you saw the interview on YouTube.. Sharpton had like 40 people from the press... and a Huge picture of himself - with his arms spread open - against the wall from where the live camera was shot on Imus... He cut Imus off repeatedly and tried to intimidate him left and right... I think Imus should have been more articulate with the fact that he's coming from a perspective of the real world where people make assumptions and judgments about you based on how you present yourself... he was wrong to use the terms he used but if anything his comments weren't directed towards an entire race... they were directed toward what he described as a tattooed and angry group of women who didn't present themselves as the Tennessee players did. Rightly or wrongly, Imus saw the Tennessee team as a more professional looking group of young women. They have personalities like Candice Parker who light up a room with their smile and charm on TV interviews... Tennessee has a ton in their favor with regard to 'image' as they have a widely successful and loved head coach... a powerhouse team in the women's spotlight and more national exposure than nearly any team in the women's game... Rutgers doesn't... therefore their image was judged based on this game by this old man.... it doesn't mean he is a racist who needs to be banned.

Whether he is right or wrong in that commentary has less to do with the issue at hand than does the question of whether what he said was primarily racial. The argument that is raging right now is whether Imus is a racist who needs to be fired forever or did he say something about a group of 15 women that was uncalled for and over the line. Was he racist or was he stupid? My vote is for stupid. I do believe he should be punished... and he is... but the longer this goes on the more ridiculous it becomes. Imus has had a long history of caring for the black community and he has many friends in that community who know his heart. He was stupid but who hasn't been?


After taking time to sincerely address the situation and reach out to the Rutgers team and families (since it was a comment made about them and not a race of people...) What I believe Imus should have done was go right back at his critics (mainly Sharpton and Jackson) about their own personal public failings... I personally am over this pious attitude they display whenever someone else screws up... Sharpton became famous because he accused men of raping a young black woman... The evidence showed this was completely fabricated and unfounded... Sharpton never apologized for dragging these men through the mud... Jackson has a child out of wedlock whose mother he was paying off secretly for years out of his Rainbow Push coalition coffers... NEITHER of these men have Pastored a single sole... yet they both use the title "Reverend" everywhere they go.... AND CHURCHES LET THEM IN THE PULPIT to spit their self promotion and marketing.

At the end of the day Don Imus was wrong, ignorant and stupid but he has been sincere in his repentance and shown embarrassment by his own insensitivity. At the end of the day society is giving a pass to the people trying to destroy him and I believe society is not thinking about what actually was said and the context in which it was said... people have jumped onto a racist bandwagon without looking at the driver or at Don Imus' past leading up to this.


Sharpton Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawana_Brawley
Jackson Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karin_Stanford

[LUconn]

[RubberMallet]

yeah uhhhh...cliffnotes please

[bigsmooth]

dang tally...well put. i have to agree with you. thanks for the thought provoking insight.

[olldflame]

Excellent insights Tally. I especially agree with the point that now that a full and (IMHO) sincere mea culpa has been made, Imus should come back at his hypocritical accusers and hold them accountable for their own words and actions (or lack thereof).

Those who have commented here that Imus is irrelevant and/or has no influence don't have a clue. He is second only to Oprah (and not by much) in getting a book on the best-seller list or a record on the charts. He is one of the most articulate and influential voices out there in support of our troops, and was almost single-handedly responsible for shaming congress into raising the military death benefit from a paltry $12,000 to it's current amount, which I believe is a half million. He raised 10 million to finish building a rehab center for wounded troops in Texas, and is spearheading the movement to correct the multitude of problems in the V.A. system.

I'm not a big fan of the extravagant way he conducts his ranch for kids with cancer, but I think he was up front and honest with his doners, and they knew what they were giving for. You have to respect the huge amount of his personal time and energy he devotes to that as well.

[RubberMallet]

you serious clark?



who reads books anymore and what music?...anita baker and george jones?

[LUconn]

... NEITHER of these men have Pastored a single sole... yet they both use the title "Reverend" everywhere they go....

just on a little tangent, at one time somebody mentioned something about Dr. and it's use as a title in regards to Jerry. I looked it up at the time to check on it, and refering to someone as "Dr. LUconn" is not appropriate when their doctorate is honorary and not earned. In regards to "reverend", it is itself an honorary title. So someone probably just started calling them that one day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverend

[RubberMallet]

did you just use wiki as a source?

[Libertine]

did you just use wiki as a source?

Why? Are our posts being graded? Maybe you should have put some of that in quote boxes, LUConn.

[RubberMallet]

going to wiki is like saying "the old guy down the street told me...."

[jmdickens]

Since we're all on the subject of freaks.....This is one of the greatest clips I have ever seen....if you have 10 minutes to spare

[RubberMallet]

did you just use wiki as a source?

Why? Are our posts being graded? Maybe you should have put some of that in quote boxes, LUConn.

and yes

F

[Libertine]

going to wiki is like saying "the old guy down the street told me...."

For most stuff, Wiki is a good bit more reliable than that. I wouldn't cram there if I were going to appear on 'Jeopardy' but it's much more accurate than the journal snobs would have you believe.

[olldflame]

you serious clark?



who reads books anymore and what music?...anita baker and george jones?

The last 2 artists who appeared on his show in person were Martina McBride and Alison Krauss. Both went to #1 on Amazon within 2 days. Krauss is still there. His influence on book sales is even greater. I notice you didn't comment about the help for the troops.

[RubberMallet]

oh a quick survey of the people here at work, 25 people here at work....a good mix of people....4....count them 5 of them including myself knew who imus even was...so much for the oprah comparison...

[LUconn]

come on. Nobody is getting their kicks by vandalizing the term "reverend". Contraversial things, on the other hand, are best not to learn about from wiki. Also, things about Radford are false. I tried to correct them but was accused of being a vandal and banned from editing radford ever again.

[olldflame]

oh a quick survey of the people here at work, 25 people here at work....a good mix of people....4....count them 5 of them including myself knew who imus even was...so much for the oprah comparison...

Read what I typed RM. I did not compare his name recognition to Oprah, I compared his effect on cd and book sales. He has an audience that buys these things. Don't take my word for it, go to Amazon and see for yourself.

[RubberMallet]

you serious clark?



who reads books anymore and what music?...anita baker and george jones?

The last 2 artists who appeared on his show in person were Martina McBride and Alison Krauss. Both went to #1 on Amazon within 2 days. Krauss is still there. His influence on book sales is even greater. I notice you didn't comment about the help for the troops.

pff country music....anyway, yeah the fact that martina was on the today show and conan had nothing to do with her cd sales.....and both artists cd's came out thee day they was on imus
(mcbride the day after)...if it had been out a week and then she went on imus and cd sales jumped then i'd be impressed....

oh and apparently imus is the only person who publicly ssupports the troops...

[RubberMallet]

come on. Nobody is getting their kicks by vandalizing the term "reverend". Contraversial things, on the other hand, are best not to learn about from wiki. Also, things about Radford are false. I tried to correct them but was accused of being a vandal and banned from editing radford ever again.

sorry but I guess a gang of pretend-astrophysicist shut-ins might not be the best dudes to write anything anyone would ever want to read