RSS Feed
Newsletter
Should Imus Be Disciplined For His Latest Comments?
June 24th, 2008The radio show host says he’d be “insane” to make a fresh racist remark
Don Imus says that people are taking his latest controversial remarks out of context, but the Rev. Al Sharpton didn’t sound like he was buying it. “It has been reported to me that statements were made by Mr. Imus this morning, and [the] National Action Network has monitored his show since his return,” Sharpton said in a statement. “I find the inference of his remark disturbing because it plays into stereotypes. Any use of stereotypes is always counterproductive. We will determine in the next day or so whether or not his remark warrants direct action on our part as we did in April of last year.” Imus, who was suddenly a well-known name in Black households after his infamous “nappy-headed hos” comment last year, says he definitely wasn’t dissing Dallas Cowboys D-back Adam “Packman” Jones when he asked “what color is he” after hearing that the baller repeatedly had been in trouble. Here’s the exchange that followed:
“He’s African-American,” anchor Warner Wolf replied.
“Well, there you go,” Imus said. “Now we know.”
In fact, Imus says he was making a “sarcastic point” about racial injustice. “What people should be outraged about is that they arrest Blacks for no reason,” Imus told The Associated Press Tuesday. “I mean, there’s no reason to arrest this kid six times. Maybe he did something once, but everyone does something once.” Another racial controversy is the last thing that Imus can afford after his nine-month suspension for slamming the women on the Rutger’s Women’s Basketball Team in April 2007 with the nappy-headed hos remark. Many people, including Sharpton, initially called for Imus’ firing. The civil rights leader later said that Imus, who promised future sensitivity, had a right to be forgiven. Six months ago, Imus returned to the airwaves. On Tuesday, Imus said he’d be crazy to be guilty of what he’s being accused of. “How insane would I have to be? What would I be thinking?” Imus said. Jones told The Dallas Morning News in Tuesday editions that he’s upset by Imus’ comments and plans to pray for the radio host. What do you think of Imus’ explanation and how should Imus’ station handle the controversey?
- Fire the man. He should have learned that dissing the Black community comes with a price.
- Leave him alone. After all, he’s paid to shock his audiences, not to provide a religious experience for his listeners.
- I don’t know.
Comment below on which action, if any, should be taken.
Its really bad when crime is talked about and its considered racist when someone ask what color is he? Can we blame all the black crimes perpetrated by blacks on blacks as racism? So why should we feel if asked if it was a black that committed the crimes considered racist or sterotyped?
On the flipside Imus, has proved to everybody who didn’t believe he was a racist- that he really need to shut up. I still believe he meant well and its just facts we can’t play blame game.
Well you must admit if nothing else it is a nice save. I could see where he could have said “there you go” because the authorities are always picking on blacks, don’t get me wrong some of us do bring it on ourselves. Honestly Mr. Imus and I use the term loosely, will always say something racist because of who he is…A Racist we just got to ignore him, unless he gets completely out of hand. Just like the other person said I do not think he would be that stupid to knowingly make comments that will rile up Sharpton and whoever else is watching(big Brother). Because he wants to keep his job.
So in his eyes he thought he was helping us. Let go and let God leave him alone on this one.
imus should be removed from ever doing radio, it just goes to show that he didn’t learn from the first incident.
well here we go again, trying to find out what to do with this man Imus. Don T be suprise what comes out of this man mouth about blacks, its just there at the bottom of his soul. We have a bigger fish to fry these days, like getting behind a black running for president, be a proud people with thick skin, the light is beginning to shine much brighter.
When Louis Farrakhan makes horrifically racist statements no one seems to complain here at BET. But when Imus makes some vaguely racial comment its news.
He needs to get fired becuz he is gettin on
my nerves and ppl r sayn that he just speakin
his mind…well he need to learn how to think
before he speaks out loud and u cant blame it
on his parents becuz he is a grown man who
knows better and he is not no lil boy he is a
grown man who needs to sit his old butt down
and keep his opinon to himself…..how many
times does he have to make these racist
comments before somebody stops him????? and
for the person who said get over it i wont
get over it becuz this is serious. wat would
u do if somebody made a racist comment
towards you. how would u feel? u think it ok
until it happens to u
Hey listen people we as “African Americans” need to get over it. It is not the racial slurs that people may say that define us as a people it is our actions. So lets make a difference by making good decisions, instead of changing minds by protesting (I mean how many blacks listen to Imus) or complaining. And lets stop saying Imus is a racist, because black comedians say messed up stuff all the time, but I guess its ok because their black. Let’s get real.
I honestly do not understand where the line is when it comes to who can say what. If an African-American person was to say the exact same thing it’s cool because thats “their people” but when another race says something it’s “Oh no, your a racist”. If you do not like certain nicknames then do use them your self. If you do not like people talking about you because you get locked up too much “THEN DONT GET LOCKED UP” come on!
I am so tired of hearing about this man. I african american and I say let him speak his mind. We say stuff about white too. The difference is this man has a show and is talking about it. black men call black women worst worst worst, and when they get on they leave your a– for a white girl. Let it go freedom of speech, remember, 2Live Crew fought for in the Supreme Court. Why do black people say mess up stuff about white while there is a room 98% blacks and 2% whites. How would we feel if it was the other way around. My people take a good look at ourself.
I’m sure there are a lot of African American people that make racist remarks against other nationalities. Get over it. Why is their so much attention paid to it anyway. Let it go.
The problem is we as people black or white pay too much attention to what someone else says.We need to ignore the ignorance of some people.We listen to Imus or whoever & make a big deal of his opinion.The more you comment & get upset we are falling victim to the nonsense that is coming out his mouth.This is exactly what he wants publicity.Forget Imus he is not important.
I don’t believe Don Imus was racist in making this remark. Because of his statements about the basketball team earlier, this does not mean his comment is racist. As an African American woman, when I hear of incidents, one of the questions I ask is “What color is He or She? Am I racist for asking that and answering the same as Don did. If you are openminded, it’s not dificult to understand Don’s reasoning. We need to think constructively before we label conversations that we don’t agree with as racist. It simply can be called an opinion.
I agree with most of the comments, there is more going on in the black community than what Don Imus said. Steve Harvey and his crew says worse almost every morning on his show. As an black woman, I say let’s more on the black community itself rather what someone like Don Imus has to say about us. Move on and get over it, stop giving so much attention to ignorance like this.
Ya know how racist white people are..don imus is no different. White people have been racist since day one and not much has changed. He is just another ignorant racist white bastard.
he needs 2 be fired or get sum help coz da man iz jus racist and has a problem wit anyone dat iz not like him. As far as the people complainin we can do something about the people who has a mentaility jus like him or let things go back 2 how they were years ago and throw away what people like martin luther king jr worked so hard for. Now What’s Your Decision.-15 Y.O.
I meant to say let’s focus more on the black community and our youth and not give time to ignorance such as this. We have children who are dying in the streets everyday, young people contracting HIV/AIDs, Teen Pregnancy, etc., and this is what we focus on.
Why r we still talking about this dude! He should have been fired and we would not have had this problem!Get it done and tell his old dumb ass that we are not playing and get his ass of the air
This is ridiculous, is it because he is white, many blacks make reference to the white trash, honky and other crap, the whites dont scream, like a bunch of babies, look at you all, all your damm bling and crap and you really want respect, get real
I believe Imus was trying to say that Jones was being discriminated against.If people can’t
understand English, they need to go back to school. Wake up Mr. Sharpton,Imus is kissing butt on the air now. He doesn’t want any more trouble.
A white man made an unflattering reference to black crime! He must be a racist!
Why don’t blacks do something about their crime rate besides cry “racism!” everytime someone points it out?