Nappy Headed Hos

[Mr_Phil]

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’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.

 

You’ve given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.

 

Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.

 

The bigots win again.

 

While we’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 Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.

 

I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.

 

It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.

 

Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves.

 

It’s embarrassing. Dave Chappelle was offered $50 million to make racially insensitive jokes about black and white people on TV. He was hailed as a genius. Black comedians routinely crack jokes about white and black people, and we 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 and comedians. He also offered an apology. That should’ve been the end of this whole affair. Instead, it’s only the beginning. It’s an opportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$.

 

I watched the Rutgers news conference and was ashamed.

 

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for eight minutes in 1963 at the March on Washington. At the time, black people could be lynched and denied fundamental rights with little thought. With the comments of a talk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last week serving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes about the amazing season her team had.

 

Somehow, we’re supposed to believe that the comments of a man with virtually no connection to the sports world ruined Rutgers’ wonderful season. Had a broadcaster with credibility and a platform in the sports world uttered the words Imus did, I could understand a level of outrage.

 

But an hourlong press conference over a man who has already apologized, already been suspended and is already insignificant is just plain intellectually dishonest. This is opportunism. This is a distraction.

 

In the grand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat to black women in particular. If his words are so powerful and so destructive and must be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we do about the idiot rappers on BET, MTV and every black-owned radio station in the country who use words much more powerful and much more destructive?

 

I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuing education and that they’re selling out their race if they do?

 

When Imus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset. Until then, he is what he is — a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore when you’re not looking to be made a victim.

 

No. We all know where the real battleground is. We know that the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show. There’s no money and lots of danger in that battle, so Jesse and Al are going to sit it out.

 

 

[ericb]

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’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.

 

You’ve given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.

 

Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.

 

The bigots win again.

 

While we’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 Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.

 

I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.

 

It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.

 

Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves.

 

It’s embarrassing. Dave Chappelle was offered $50 million to make racially insensitive jokes about black and white people on TV. He was hailed as a genius. Black comedians routinely crack jokes about white and black people, and we 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 and comedians. He also offered an apology. That should’ve been the end of this whole affair. Instead, it’s only the beginning. It’s an opportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$.

 

I watched the Rutgers news conference and was ashamed.

 

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for eight minutes in 1963 at the March on Washington. At the time, black people could be lynched and denied fundamental rights with little thought. With the comments of a talk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last week serving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes about the amazing season her team had.

 

Somehow, we’re supposed to believe that the comments of a man with virtually no connection to the sports world ruined Rutgers’ wonderful season. Had a broadcaster with credibility and a platform in the sports world uttered the words Imus did, I could understand a level of outrage.

 

But an hourlong press conference over a man who has already apologized, already been suspended and is already insignificant is just plain intellectually dishonest. This is opportunism. This is a distraction.

 

In the grand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat to black women in particular. If his words are so powerful and so destructive and must be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we do about the idiot rappers on BET, MTV and every black-owned radio station in the country who use words much more powerful and much more destructive?

 

I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuing education and that they’re selling out their race if they do?

 

When Imus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset. Until then, he is what he is — a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore when you’re not looking to be made a victim.

 

No. We all know where the real battleground is. We know that the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show. There’s no money and lots of danger in that battle, so Jesse and Al are going to sit it out.

 

 

I watched the Press conference he's referring to, and couldn't agree more....it was pretty sad

[ZimZam]

What drives gangsta rap? dolla, dolla bill ya'll.

Who buys the majority of gangsta rap music? Caucasian brothas.

Who encourages this "genre". Record executives and nerd ass white boys.

 

KRS1 and several other ol'school rappers came out with an anti violence video and music years ago about black on black violence. It didn't fly with the execs, and when they resisted, they were essentially pushed out the door.

 

Mother fuckers don't care about anything but money.Capitalism at its finest. How ya' like me now.

[jaee]

Dood (Mr_Phil). That's the coolest thing you've ever posted.

 

The point here is that there's no credibility. No sincerity. Some see Imus' crack as an opportunity to get more press, more exposure for their issues. Some see it as a chance to pull down someone whose caustic ramblings have irritated them in the past. Some see it as a chance to defend someone as insensitive or uncaring as themselves.

 

FWIW, nappy *IS* racially pejorative. I'm from there, small town Virginia country boy. My school was at least 50% black. I've been in the hood in Richmond, drank beer with the homies in the projects. Dictionary definitions are just an attempt to lawyer your way around the truth. I can give you a definition for cracker, but if a homie calls you cracker you can bet you aren't flatbread.

 

The comment was over the top. It's really up to people to vote with their wallets, in this case the ratings. If he sucks, don't watch (listen) to the train wreck. I listened to Stern when he was on FM. Sometimes he was funny. Sometimes he was abusive and I'd turn that crap off for a while and find something else to do.

 

On the subject of fatties it's still really just a question of sincerity and sensitivity. If someone is insulted by a racial or gender slur, it's a problem for them. Insulting someone's size or features is no different. You can take the 3rd grade attitude that they either need to grow a thick skin or leave, or you can recognize the damage you're causing and admit responsibility.

 

Until we can cultivate a culture of sincere tolerance, we'll have these problems. You can have your beliefs. You can tell me about them. I can disagree and you are cool with it. As long as I don't actually interfere with your life things should be OK.

 

We're far from it now, as we've been assaulted for 30+ years with Madison Avenue showing us how we can have it all for ourselves and now we believe it. The culture of entitlement is pervasive. You are entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to share it. But damaging others to further yourself is not the way to improve our future.

 

 

 

[ZimZam]

Will these story ever die? WTF??? When will the thought police begin to round up the politically incorrect, shoot them in the back of the head, and dump them into pits?

 

Discuss.

 

 

I think they just did:

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070412/ap_en_tv/imus_protests

[jaee]

There ya go. 2 in the back of Imus' head. CBS spreading the love.

[Clavote]

And for those of you who can't recognize behavior deserving of outrage when it comes along, I'd say adjust your sensitivity dial. He maybe the bigot-of-the-week and you've just been too media saturated to care, but if you don't find his comments completely unwarranted and beyond patently offensive then you are not only as ignorant than him, you aren't even capable of processing it anymore - hard to tell which is a sadder condition.

 

His comments towards this team of young women who have worked their guts out to get where they are would be just another racist pejorative I'd expect from at least four of you if you ever spoke honestly rather from your usual couched bullshit. Coming from someone in his position it is no longer a simple matter of personal responsibility and freedom of speech - as an ex-journalist (and Father of a teenage girl) I have no problem saying it borders on criminal on his part as unacceptable hate speech. That the Chairman of GE, NBC, and Bill Gates haven't called for or ordered his immediate firing is about the only part of this incident that is more embarassing than Imus himself.

 

 

I have to agree with you. Imus is an asshole and has always appealed to assholes.

 

That some of you have never heard of this anus before this is heartening.

 

Imus fuxked with the wrong bunch of college kids. I hope he gets his balls handed to him on a pink slip.

 

I have more respect for AMEX, TD Ameritrade and all the other sponsors for withdrawing their ad dollars than for the dickheads that think being politically incorrect is no big deal on an issue that perpetuates racism.

 

 

[StevenSeagal]

 

After growing up, I have only been with sensitive men. The bad boy thing is easy to outgrow. When I hear my women friends say they need the hormone driven madman, we get into some pretty deep discussions. Without an exception, my friends have mentioned that they were just not ready to settle down or had a need for the drama that they get from that type of guy b/c they hadn't really developed their own life as fully as they'd wished. I am sure there are many other reasons for this, but my guess is that men don't get any insight into them (as women tend to not understand or not share that information).

 

True- men don't get any insight into women and the women in turn are not teaching the men anything new. The woman's intuition I think tends to leave them several steps ahead in relationships from an early age. Women know this, but in their imperative to keep the relationship going they aren't able or willing to allow the men to catch up. So the men spend most of their lives trying to keep up to the women as far as relationships are concerned but this is a bit of a disaster because they're rarely in step. So unless both people are pretty sharp there's a lot of conflict and misunderstanding.

 

 

 

And therefore, it is easier to use this commonly accepted belief to not progress beyond the hormone-washed brain into a thoughtful man who practises examining his beliefs and actions--no matter how painful that process might be.

 

Indeed it takes men a lot longer- because other men reinforce each other's stagnant views and behavior, and even women who've figured things out aren't capable of sharing this. And women talk with and bond with other women about these issues throughout life, a resource men just don't have, or aren't capable of having.

[Clavote]

not all black people are from Africa

 

yeah some are from Japan and Greenland

If you want to go far enough back then you have to say that we are all of African heritage, no? I am not an expert about this--frankly it never really interested me much. But am I totally off the mark here?

 

 

That is absolutely true and the proof is being added to every day with genetics testing.

 

In a few more dozen generations, this discussion will not matter anyway. Your daughters and sons will mix with others and that pace will accelelrate in short order. Look at how many times the census has had to scratch their heads about categorizing mixed race people.

 

But most importantly, the racist will die and the ones that remain will become an ever smaller minority in America.

 

Look at the family of Jeb Bush..mixed with Mexicans. Do you think that family will ever be racist. Those Bush kids are not passing for white. They got it. One more family eliminating racism.

 

 

[JosephH]

Finally some spine...

 

"There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society," CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves said in announcing the decision. "That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision."

[StevenSeagal]

Look at the family of Jeb Bush..mixed with Mexicans. Do you think that family will ever be racist. Those Bush kids are not passing for white. They got it. One more family eliminating racism.

 

 

How does being Mexican 'eliminate racism'? Racism as far as I'm concerned doesn't care who is being discriminated against by whom, and it isn't endemic to whites. Some people will disagree on the basis of racism being connected to "institutional power". Supposing that is true, then, let's imagine that 200 years from now that institutional power in the US is controlled by those of hispanic descent (not a far fetched possibility, really). Is this a guarantee of racial harmony and equality?

[StevenSeagal]

Finally some spine...

 

"There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society,"

 

It's an accurate, appropriate statement as applies to Imus.

 

But the real "spine" is going to come when black leaders stand up and say the same thing to those in the black community who continue to produce and glorify vulgar, mysogynist, prison culture as the most visible representation of black American life, one that is often the sole contact and exposure rural whites get to blacks. And, as pointed out above, when whites in positions of influence refuse to continue packaging and marketing this garbage as the same sole exposure for other whites to emulate and further their ignorance.

[mtn_mouse]

While running in my hampster wheel at the gym this morning, I was watching any multitude of tv's on display and had to LAUGH at the Fox news program wringing their hands over the loss of their buddy Anus, whoops, I mean Inus..

[underworld]

that can't be! cuz rosie also was on imus' side

[tvashtarkatena]

I just submitted my DNA to National Geographic's Genographic Project, which is tracking human migration out of Africa through maternal and paternal genetic markers.

 

So all of you non-R1b haplogroup mothafuckahs can kiss my formerly-Cro-Magnon-after-hangin-around-in-central-Asia-for-a-while-to-chase-game-white-indo-european ass.

[sk]

muffy, you obviously need to move to Idaho.

 

i think you may have missed my point. I would date anyone who i find interesting and approaches me in a way i find appealing. no matter color no matter ability or dis ability. I have dated men from other cultures races and colors than i am.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

not all black people are from Africa

 

yeah some are from Japan and Greenland

If you want to go far enough back then you have to say that we are all of African heritage, no? I am not an expert about this--frankly it never really interested me much. But am I totally off the mark here?

 

 

That is absolutely true and the proof is being added to every day with genetics testing.

 

In a few more dozen generations, this discussion will not matter anyway. Your daughters and sons will mix with others and that pace will accelelrate in short order. Look at how many times the census has had to scratch their heads about categorizing mixed race people.

 

But most importantly, the racist will die and the ones that remain will become an ever smaller minority in America.

 

Look at the family of Jeb Bush..mixed with Mexicans. Do you think that family will ever be racist. Those Bush kids are not passing for white. They got it. One more family eliminating racism.

 

 

Yeah, right. Keep dreaming.

 

People always will find ways to define "us" versus "other", and you'll also find people talking about their relative genetic "purity". Even children of mixed race in the same family look different with certain genetic traits being more or less pronounced compared to siblings. And then you'll have the self-selectors looking to preserve certain traits.

 

I'm reminded here of that Star Trek episode (original series) about the two aliens one black on the left side and white on the other; the other vice versa. Want a real-world example? Look to Chinese/Korean/Japanese and how they view eachother in racist terms - and they share more phenotypes than say whites versus blacks.

 

[KaskadskyjKozak]

While running in my hampster wheel at the gym this morning, I was watching any multitude of tv's on display and had to LAUGH at the Fox news program wringing their hands over the loss of their buddy Anus, whoops, I mean Inus..

 

Conservatives also defended Bill Maher when he was fired for his comments about the American military being "cowardly" in comparison to the 9/11 hijackers - and he's no friend of conservatism.

[mtn_mouse]

I have dated men from other cultures races and colors than i am.

 

Would you date a rodent from Idaho?

[mtn_mouse]

While running in my hampster wheel at the gym this morning, I was watching any multitude of tv's on display and had to LAUGH at the Fox news program wringing their hands over the loss of their buddy Anus, whoops, I mean Inus..

 

Conservatives also defended Bill Maher when he was fired for his comments about the American military being "cowardly" in comparison to the 9/11 hijackers - and he's no friend of conservatism.

 

Are you trying to say that shows the conservatives in a good light? This isn't about free speech like Faux would like you to believe, it is about their desire to spew any kind of hate and anger through the airwaves. Anyway, Bill Maher is a dickhead too.

[G-spotter]

In Enumclaw, the love crosses not only race but also species.

[underworld]

what color was the horse?

[mtn_mouse]

In Enumclaw, the love crosses not only race but also species.

 

Exactly. And no one complained when Kermit the frog dated Miss piggy.

[G-spotter]

Why doesn't Bodhidharma have a beard?

[KaskadskyjKozak]

 

Are you trying to say that shows the conservatives in a good light? This isn't about free speech like Faux would like you to believe, it is about their desire to spew any kind of hate and anger through the airwaves. Anyway, Bill Maher is a dickhead too.

 

Bill Maher is a dickhead, and I disagree with a lot of what he says. But he had a right to be provocative, and I don't want to live in a country where the thought-police go around and slam their jack-boots on the throats of the politically incorrect.

 

The speech you use may some day be deemed "inappropriate" and you might not like the consequences in that type of society.

Edited April 12, 2007 by KaskadskyjKozak