Enabling
Imus
by Richard Muhammad
"Imus can find comfort in the bosom of his brothers, who
just can't bring themselves to condemn him."
MSNBC and
CBS Radio have seen the light and suspended talk show host Don Imus for a whole
two weeks. Time to pack the protest signs and go home? Not exactly. While the
venom-spewing old cowpoke may be unseen for a bit, the new question is what to
do with the apologists for Imus insults aimed at Black women and media peeps
who contend he really isn't such a bad guy.
Like a
troubled wife living with a nasty drunk, and sharing a raggedy filthy couch,
some white journalist-types just can't seem to kick the Imus habit, or get a
healthy divorce. They have stepped forward to vouch for his character and need
to embrace this "teachable moment." Led by Michael Oliphant of the Boston Globe, they see redemption deep
in the soul of the man who called Rutgers basketball players a bunch of "nappy
headed hos."
Seems like
whenever a Black male person allegedly does wrong, the lesson to be taught is
accountability, responsibility and facing the consequences of one's actions.
Just ask teenager Shaquanda Cotton, who was recently released from a Texas
facility where she was sentenced to seven years for allegedly pushing a white
teacher's aide.
Or ask actor Isaiah Washington if white gays saw a
teachable moment when he made the mistake of using the f-word to say he didn't
call a fellow white cast mate a homosexual. There weren't a lot of discussions
about him teaching anyone anything, except to avoid angering what one African
American gay rights activist called "the gay mafia."
"They see redemption deep in the soul of the man who
called Rutgers basketball players a bunch of 'nappy headed hos.'"
Some media
folks feel Imus' "nappy headed hos" slur regarding play during the NCAA
tournament presents America with an opportunity.
But when
Michael Ray Richardson, coach of the Albany Patroons, of the Continental
Basketball Association, talked about hiring "big time Jewish lawyers" to handle
his contract negotiations last month, it wasn't a teachable moment. Richardson
was quickly suspended pending an investigation by the playoff-bound team. He
won't be back this season.
Richardson
reportedly said in a late March interview with the Albany, N.Y.-based Times-Union, "Listen, (Jews) are
hated all over the world, so they've got to be crafty ... They got a lot of power
in this world, you know what I mean? Which I think is great. I don't think
there's nothing wrong with it. If you look in most professional sports, they're
run by Jewish people. If you look at a lot of most successful corporations and
stuff, more businesses, they're run by Jewish. It's not a knock, but they are
some crafty people."
Richardson
is also accused of using the word "faggot" in an attempt to quiet a heckler
during a game the same day. Within a couple days, he was suspended for the rest
of the championship series and not allowed in the team facility. Richardson
apologized a couple days later. Unlike Imus, he made no attempt to downplay the
pain caused by his words, or cite previous good works that make him worthy of a
pass.
I wonder if
those comments have the same "lack of animus" Oliphant saw in Imus and put
forward in a defense mounted April 9 during a PBS NewsHour broadcast segment with writer Clarence Page, and in his
column the same day.
Newsweek editor Howard Fineman went on Imus'
show April 9, appearing before Oliphant.
"Just before I came on the show, I was coming upstairs and my cell phone
rang, and it was some listener who called me out of the blue. I'd never heard
of the guy before. I'd never heard his name. He called me and he said, ‘Are you
going to go on the show and finally confront this Imus guy? Are you going to
quit enabling him?' " said Fineman.
"And, you
know, I thought about that, and I said to the guy, ‘You know, I'll puzzle that
through on the radio.' And I would like to continue to enable you to do a lot
of the good things you do. Including, you know, talking about stuff happening
in the world, which you do a very good job of on this show. ...
"You know, it's different than it was even a few years
ago, politically. I mean, we may, you know - and the environment, politically,
has changed. And some of the stuff that you used to do, you probably can't do
anymore," said Fineman. He described Imus' remarks "a big mistake" and "a
teaching moment."
Newsweek columnist Mark Starr came out
against kicking Imus out on the street, saying the old coot was just an example
how far things have swung in the name of entertainment. In Starr's view, we're
all responsible.
Not from where Black folks sit.
"Imus reportedly referred to Gwen Ifill, a respected
African American journalist, as a ‘cleaning lady.'"
Imus is so
bad that even Page, the leveled-head, non-threatening Chicago Tribune columnist, argued that it's time for Imus to go.
Page recounted having Imus take a pledge on-air several years ago to refrain
from the racially-charged diatribes, including an instance in which Imus
reportedly referred to Gwen Ifill, a respected African American journalist, as
a "cleaning lady" allowed to cover the White House.
"To
the 10 young African queens who have been disrespected and violated in public,
keep your heads up high," said conservative darling Rev. DeForest "Buster"
Soaries in a prelude to his Easter Sunday sermon. Rutgers coach C. Vivian
Stringer was in attendance at the service in Somerset, N.J. According to a
report in the Star-Ledger, Soaries
called for Imus to be fired. "When I listened to it myself, I thought the
guy is too ignorant to be on the air. ... We would like Imus off the air,"
the article said.
How often
do the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Page and Rev. Soaries, a
former secretary of state under Republican Gov. Christie Whitman and Bush
administration political appointee, agree a firing, protest and potential
advertisers' boycott is in order?
The
widespread anger in Black America was also apparently lost on a Public Radio
reporter, who covered an April 9 demonstration in Chicago by the Rev. Jackson,
saying only about 50 protestors showed up. The report downplayed the way Blacks
have responded, implied the protest numbers signaled a lack of interest, and
had no reactions from Blacks about the controversy. The reporter also
apparently missed the hours of hot conversation on WVON-AM radio, starting at 6
a.m. April 9 with the Roland S. Martin and rolling on through three hours in
the afternoon with the nationally syndicated "Keeping It Real With Rev. Al
Sharpton Show," and columns by sports writer Stephen A. Smith, out of
Philadelphia, Deborah Mathis of BlackAmericaWeb.Com, Black bloggers and
writers. Analysis came from white media observers.
What's
going on here? Perhaps that easiest way to explain it is found in the title of
Mark Starr's on-line Newsweek column, "Imus Is Us." The "us" here consists of
White America - white men in the media, in particular - unable to admit insults
to Black folks actually mean something. It's as if we are soulless beings and
whites are always allowed to explain away, ridicule away, or ignore away the
constant assaults on our dignity and psyche.
This bond of white attitudinal perception and brotherhood
may also explain why the numbers of Blacks in newsrooms at daily newspapers and
within the news industry continue to dwindle.
"Whites are always allowed to explain away, ridicule
away, or ignore away the constant assaults on our dignity and psyche."
When the
ugliness of American racism is exposed, there is always an apologist, a
defender. So Michael Richards, who played Kramer on TV's "Seinfeld," can go on
David Lettermen with Jerry Seinfeld to vouch for his goodness, despite
Richard's n----r-laced, racial barrage against Blacks in a comedy club
audience. And Imus can find comfort in the bosom of his brothers, who just can't
bring themselves to condemn him.
"You know,
all of us who do your show, you know, we're part of the gang. And we rely on
you the way you rely on us. So, you know, you're taking all of us with you when
you go out there to meet with them (Rutgers basketball players), you know,"
said Fineman on the Imus show.
"Good
morning, Mr. Imus, and solidarity forever, by the way," Oliphant greeted Imus.
He voiced support for Imus, called the racial broadside an accident and talked
about his moral imperative to stand with the broadcaster as a member of the
Imus "posse."
"But to me,
that only means that those of us who, through an accident, were scheduled (on
the show), who know better, have a moral obligation to stand up and say to you,
‘Solidarity forever, pal,' " said Oliphant, in his closing words.
Imus walks
and talks with America's giants, and if he suffers from the disease of racism,
what about his companions? Well, we don't have to wonder. Just listen to what
they actually say.
Richard Muhammad is editor of Straight Words
E-Zine and is based in Chicago. Read more at http://straightwords.typepad.com. He can be
reached at [email protected].
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