The Imus fuss
Three questions:
- No matter whether they like it or not, why are people shocked about what the shock jock said?
- With regard to the following interview, has Senator Obama (and others) ever tuned in to Fox News? Ann Coulter isn’t one iota more pleasant than Mr. Imus, but I don’t hear about any boycott over there.
- Again with regard to the following interview — and not to pick on Senator Obama, whom I generally like and respect — given that he and his wife are very well-off, shouldn’t these scholarships he’s scoping out for his daughters be reserved for other kids who actually need them?
From MSNBC.com:
Before the announcement was made, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) had appeared on the MSNBC program “Hardball,” where host David Gregory asked the senator and presidential candidate if he thought Imus should be fired.
“I don’t think MSNBC should be carrying the kinds of hateful remarks that Imus uttered the other day,” Obama said.
He went on to note that he and his wife have “two daughters who are African-American, gorgeous, tall, and I hope, at some point, are interested enough in sports that they get athletic scholarships. … I don’t want them to be getting a bunch of information that, somehow, they’re less than anybody else. And I don’t think MSNBC should want to promote that kind of language.”
Obama went on to say that he would not be a guest on Imus’ show in the future.
April 11th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Imus is a jerk, that’s why I don’t watch or listen to his show. His firing, if it happens, will be, as so much is, an economic choice on the part of his employers.
None of that has anything do to with the the fact the experience of being black in America is different than the experience of being white in America – which is, really, sort of the whole point.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
The Imus matter has a certain surreal quality to it. I saw Whoopi Goldberg and Spike Lee being asked about it the other day. Whoopi didn’t mention the skit she wrote that Ted Danson performed in blackface, which sparked a similar controversy. And Spike must have forgotten his comment about how white women who date black men are all “ugly, mugly dogs”, which also upset many people.
Anyway, Imus is out of a job now. I never listened to him so it doesn’t mean much to me personally. Still, it all seemed somehow strange. Surreal.
April 12th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
And I have to add that the notion that scholarships awarded on the basis of academic or athletic accomplishment and skill can only go to the poor escapes me. I totally support helping the poor go to college (by helping them pay for it), but I also think it’s a good idea to help out smart and skilled people explore their potential irrespective of their economic level.
just sayin’
April 12th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
If there is a limited pool of scholarships, every one that goes to one person does not go to another. Admission should always be founded upon merit; scholarships should go to those who need it. When they go to those who don’t need it, someone else is left out. That’s the economics of it.
April 13th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
I vaguely knew who Imus was (is) but I had never heard him, to my knowledge. I think he has a right to say whatever he chooses, but that doesn’t mean NBC has to give him airtime or pay him to do so. NBC has some wonderful things on the air, I imagine, and probably some really lousy things, and I strongly doubt that they’ve fired him because of what he said, rather than the response to it. It is PR spin.
Imus is free to continue to call other people, as individuals or members of a group, any name he cares to. I don’t think there are – yet – any laws to prevent him. Freedom of speech is important, and if he wishes to call people names, that is his right, his freedom. And is someone wishes to invite him to be a guest on tv or radio, he can say those things on the air. But I think it is entirely reasonable for people to complain, if they find these things offensive, and for NBC (or any other network or station) to kick his ass to the curb if that’s what they decide is in their own best interests.
That said, perhaps Imus was making some kind of point, and I’ve missed it by not knowing the context. I don’t know. Since I have never paid him any attention, I won’t miss him. If he has saved some of his high pay, then he ain’t hurting, so let him write a book. Next.
April 13th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
I posted my previous comment in regard to Don Imus on my own blog at myspace, which I believe you can link to from here.
April 14th, 2007 at 7:32 am
Caught out of the corner of my ear as MSNBC explained itself on Thursday Morning’s explanatory ‘non-broadcast’ hosted by David Gregory (often chided as looking much like Howdy Doody by Mr. Imus, and NOT behind his back either!)
I have no attribution:
“One must remember that among all of the ‘offenders’ of the public airwaves, that Mr. Imus basically operated in the toy department.” I laughed and laughed. Goddammit!
April 15th, 2007 at 9:42 am
To Mark C.
I don’t know if we have specific laws that pertain here but people do get accused of hate crimes and I believe some of those incidents have turned into legal cases. Of course, it’s a very tricky area because you have to consider the entire situation in which something was said. For instance, you mentioned not knowing the context of Mr. I’s remarks. I heard an audio clip of them and it sounded to me like he was being critical of the team’s appearance, mentioning that members had tattoos. Why he called them ‘nappy-haired’ I’m not sure, as the team members I’ve seen on TV all had hair that was straightened.
One good point, that was made by Whoopi Goldberg when she was questioned, was that she has done radio work and was told in great detail what was and was not allowed. I think Imus was foolish because, even if he hadn’t been told any rules, it was obvious that he was going to get negative reactions.
May 19th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
[…] Take the Imus situation. Only moments ago he was a racist villain. Then Bill Maher and others painted him as more of a free speaker chased out of town in a witch hunt. Now Imus’ $120 million lawsuit against CBS is proceeding apace from the position that, well, they wanted a shock jock and that’s what they got. (Which is in line with what I said before.) […]