2008 Woodie Awards
Was the reaction to Imus' comments justified?
Imus firing, public reaction justified
Robert Berra
Staff Writer
Issue date: 4/16/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 2 next >
Don Imus has the right to say whatever he wants to. However, CBS is not obligated to give him a forum, and they have fired him, as they should have, considering the image CBS wants to project and the gravity of Imus' statements.
Some may not think the term "nappy-headed hos" is a big deal, but, if you take a minute to translate the statement, what you observe is that Imus called the bi-racial Rutgers women's basketball team a bunch of black prostitutes.
That is slanderous even for talk radio. Who plays for this team? Well, there is "a class valedictorian, a future lawyer and a musical prodigy." No streetwalkers have been mentioned as being team members, nor is Rutgers considering opening recruitment to that segment of society. His defense of the statement as "some idiot comment meant to be amusing" speaks volumes of how easy it is for him to poke fun at African-American women who have achieved wonderful things.
Don has had a busy week. First, he made the statement on his April 4 show, asked what the big deal was on his April 5 show and apologized on his April 6 show. MSNBC and CBS announced that he would be suspended for two weeks on April 8.
The predictable Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who should probably not throw stones first, called for his dismissal. In fact, many calls for Imus' dismissal were made by hosts of different groups. On April 9, Imus appeared on Sharpton's radio show to apologize again. MSNBC then dropped the show, and on April 12, CBS announced the cancellation of the show.
I think a two-week suspension and the damage to Imus' guest and sponsor list would have been sufficient, but I won't lose sleep over the cancellation either. Imus' firing may appear to be an example of political correctness run rampant, but there is more to it than that. American Express Co., Sprint Nextel Corp., Staples Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. and General Motors Corp. are several of the major companies that pulled their sponsorship of Imus' show. This is a free-market reaction to crossing a line of decency.
Some may not think the term "nappy-headed hos" is a big deal, but, if you take a minute to translate the statement, what you observe is that Imus called the bi-racial Rutgers women's basketball team a bunch of black prostitutes.
That is slanderous even for talk radio. Who plays for this team? Well, there is "a class valedictorian, a future lawyer and a musical prodigy." No streetwalkers have been mentioned as being team members, nor is Rutgers considering opening recruitment to that segment of society. His defense of the statement as "some idiot comment meant to be amusing" speaks volumes of how easy it is for him to poke fun at African-American women who have achieved wonderful things.
Don has had a busy week. First, he made the statement on his April 4 show, asked what the big deal was on his April 5 show and apologized on his April 6 show. MSNBC and CBS announced that he would be suspended for two weeks on April 8.
The predictable Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who should probably not throw stones first, called for his dismissal. In fact, many calls for Imus' dismissal were made by hosts of different groups. On April 9, Imus appeared on Sharpton's radio show to apologize again. MSNBC then dropped the show, and on April 12, CBS announced the cancellation of the show.
I think a two-week suspension and the damage to Imus' guest and sponsor list would have been sufficient, but I won't lose sleep over the cancellation either. Imus' firing may appear to be an example of political correctness run rampant, but there is more to it than that. American Express Co., Sprint Nextel Corp., Staples Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. and General Motors Corp. are several of the major companies that pulled their sponsorship of Imus' show. This is a free-market reaction to crossing a line of decency.
Be the first to comment on this story