Bye-Bye Imus

Goodbye, Don Imus! CBS canceled Don Imus's show over the uproar of his "nappy-headed hos" comment.

I just read Sally Jenkins's article where she wanted Don Imus to have to attend a women's basketball game and wear a Rutgers "R" to support them, that he should meet the individually and know what wonderful people they are.

This is one of those bizarre cases where you almost feel for Don Imus, but not quite. It's almost like catching Al Capone on tax evasion. Maybe Imus didn't deserve to be on the air, but it seems the wrong reason to fire Imus. Like mud-slinging that occurs in politics, you say enough stuff, and finally something sticks, and this stuck.

I wonder if Sally Jenkins bothered to read the comments Imus made. It's a bit difficult to find the transcripts, but they are there. Or did she assume there was no way anyone could say "nappy-headed hos" without being completely derisive.

Indeed, if you read the transcripts, it seems (though you never know) that Imus did indeed watch the game. And, one of his co-hosts was the one responsible for calling them "hardcore hos" before Imus himself chimes away as "nappy-headed hos". But in the context of the discussion, they seemed to put UT vs. Rutgers as "Jiggaboo vs. Wannabes", that is, the Rutgers team was the "black" team, and UT was the "wannabee" white team. These terms were used by Spike Lee's School Daze which is set in an African American college, and the two refer to competing sororities.

The comments of Imus and his team (and really, mostly his team) suggest that Rutgers were some rough looking women, that you wouldn't want to meet on the street. The accusations go further as they are compared to men, and various professional men's teams. It's clear that calling them "hos" has nothing to do with being whores, per se. The suggestions are more misogynistic than racist, claiming these women are basically guys.

The humor, such as it is, was using tough language, and sounding hip, neither of which was entirely accurate.

One of the women of the Rutgers team said that she felt even worse because Imus doesn't even know the team. What on earth does that mean? She should feel worse if he did know the team and still made the comments! People make all sorts of comments that are derogatory especially because they don't know the person.

Everyone should really get off their high horse about feeling good about seeing Imus go. Was he really racist? What does that even mean? That he didn't like African Americans? It's fair to say Imus insulted lots of people, so he was a plain hater, but for the purposes of his show. Next time you criticize some celebrity for their looks, or say what a tramp so-and-so was for wearing some godawful clothing, think about Don Imus. Oh, but you aren't racist. You're just talking about some celebrity, and that's just one person.

Everyone's used this as an opportunity to draw more recognition to themselves. Sharpton, who Imus actually grudgingly liked, weighed in. So did Jesse. Vivian Stringer used her spotlight to speak admiringly of Rutgers's season and how his comments brought their moment of joy down. Tony Kornheiser rightly points out that if no one had brought this issue up, Stringer may never have heard these comments from someone she probably hardly knows, and certainly it had nothing to do with bringing down her achievements. If anything brings down the achievements, it's that men in general won't watch women's college basketball and care enough to believe in Rutgers success.

American Idol goes on every week letting the audience make their own decisions about who they like and who they don't. "Haley has gots to go!" opines Tony. We spend each week making specific comments about people we don't like, comments we'd hold in reserve if "we'd know them better". Wilbon calls Sanjaya a woman, and Tony points out that everyone's so worried about innocent women's basketball players, but Sanjaya, who's like 17, gets bashed by Wilbon each week for being a woman, and Tony to his credit, says Sanjaya is a guy.

Insulting a person is fine, provided the insults are not based on hot words that a group finds offensive? And it's not fine if you're a celebrity, but if you are the average Joe on the street, you can say whatever you feel like.

The hypocrisy is greatest with the folks who sponsored Imus, because Imus has been Imus for so long, and yet the sponsors benefited. CBS benefited. And they knew that having Imus was problematic, but as long as most people weren't railing against him, then they could keep him, especially since they didn't have Stern.

But, you know, this too will pass. Imus has been fired, and another week will go by, and we'll wait for the next issue like this to come about.

Have we really opened up any meaningful discussion? Not really. The parties are split pretty much along OJ lines. African Americans (and women) say get rid of the racist (even as they hardly knew him, and base it on what they heard). Whites are divided, many saying can the guy, even as they are more likely to defend him on free speech, and note that he's probably taken out of context. The analogy to Bobby Knight is quite close, as Knight is both a bully and someone who can be passionately on your side, provided you take his side.

There's something of a perfect storm of this issue and the Duke Lacrosse scandal coming up simultaneously.

Well, Don Imus, I didn't really listen to you before, and can't say I'm sorry you're gone, but you happen to be the guy caught in the maelstrom of a bunch of people serving their own interests, and you're the fall guy.