...The Imus Factor.
I'm not even going to go into what happened on Mr. Imus' show, because every possible news/newsblog/lateshow outlet has done that for me. But it seems like with all of the squawking going on, we're not really addressing the issue(s) completely. Here's my $.02. I know most of the black community doesn't agree with me, but oh well...
Everybody's making all this noise about how what Don Imus said was so racist. Ok, yeah I'll agree there, nappy.headed.hoes does equate to racist innuendo. But he would never have known what a nappy headed hoe is or how to use the terminology if he hadn't heard it from one of US. Yeah, I said it. We do need to take responsibility for some of this. Of course the man should have known better than to spew some stupidity like that on the air, but those words would never have entered his lexicon if some ignorant sounding black person hadn't uttered them in his presence.
I'm offended and appalled by the comments, as we all should be. However, the reaction I'm seeing is confusing me just a little bit. Before he made those comments, many college students and members of the black community had never heard of Mr. Imus. Now people are acting like a man they've never heard of, who is a walking mess of controversy anyway, has the power to destroy our race with his words. What I'm sitting here reeling over, however is the fact that we're all SERIOUSLY offended by what some scrawny, crazy looking white dude said but when we have our ign'ant azz, misogynistic wannabe hip-hop stars that look like us saying ten times worse in their music, we act like it's all status quo and stay quiet.
"Well Tasha, we have the right to denigrate our own. It's us..." or "But Tasha, that man is on MSNBC, the rappers aren't" OK, stop your bullshit immediately. More white kids buy OUR rappers' albums and know all those horrible lyrics than not. So with our music being just as mainstream, if not moreso than Don Imus' show, shouldn't we make a bigger stink about the lyrics and images we perpetuate??
Everyone wants him to be fired. But what good is that going to do? It would actually probably benefit him because he'd just get snatched up by some satellite radio company and continue his show making more money. Suspend him and make him have some in-depth conversations with us. We can't make him feel our emotions, but he needs to see better what we're about. Let him spend some time in the hood so he can see why comments like that hurt us so much. Do your show from Howard University, Grambling State...immerse yourself in our world before you open your mouth again. Firing him treats a symptom, not the problem.
Seriously, racism still exists, and rather than excommunicate the people that still live with these prejudices, we need to examine why they harbor those feelings. We can help solve the problem if we educate people and show them what we're really about.
I know I'm gonna get blasted to hell for my opinions, but get at me in the comments
I'm not even going to go into what happened on Mr. Imus' show, because every possible news/newsblog/lateshow outlet has done that for me. But it seems like with all of the squawking going on, we're not really addressing the issue(s) completely. Here's my $.02. I know most of the black community doesn't agree with me, but oh well...
Everybody's making all this noise about how what Don Imus said was so racist. Ok, yeah I'll agree there, nappy.headed.hoes does equate to racist innuendo. But he would never have known what a nappy headed hoe is or how to use the terminology if he hadn't heard it from one of US. Yeah, I said it. We do need to take responsibility for some of this. Of course the man should have known better than to spew some stupidity like that on the air, but those words would never have entered his lexicon if some ignorant sounding black person hadn't uttered them in his presence.
I'm offended and appalled by the comments, as we all should be. However, the reaction I'm seeing is confusing me just a little bit. Before he made those comments, many college students and members of the black community had never heard of Mr. Imus. Now people are acting like a man they've never heard of, who is a walking mess of controversy anyway, has the power to destroy our race with his words. What I'm sitting here reeling over, however is the fact that we're all SERIOUSLY offended by what some scrawny, crazy looking white dude said but when we have our ign'ant azz, misogynistic wannabe hip-hop stars that look like us saying ten times worse in their music, we act like it's all status quo and stay quiet.
"Well Tasha, we have the right to denigrate our own. It's us..." or "But Tasha, that man is on MSNBC, the rappers aren't" OK, stop your bullshit immediately. More white kids buy OUR rappers' albums and know all those horrible lyrics than not. So with our music being just as mainstream, if not moreso than Don Imus' show, shouldn't we make a bigger stink about the lyrics and images we perpetuate??
Everyone wants him to be fired. But what good is that going to do? It would actually probably benefit him because he'd just get snatched up by some satellite radio company and continue his show making more money. Suspend him and make him have some in-depth conversations with us. We can't make him feel our emotions, but he needs to see better what we're about. Let him spend some time in the hood so he can see why comments like that hurt us so much. Do your show from Howard University, Grambling State...immerse yourself in our world before you open your mouth again. Firing him treats a symptom, not the problem.
Seriously, racism still exists, and rather than excommunicate the people that still live with these prejudices, we need to examine why they harbor those feelings. We can help solve the problem if we educate people and show them what we're really about.
I know I'm gonna get blasted to hell for my opinions, but get at me in the comments
11 Comments:
Hi Tasha,
I'm not going to blast you, my friend, because you are absolutely right. As a matter of fact, you have touched on the subject of my blog for tomorrow.
We need to stop worrying about what some idiot DJ says on the radio, when we say MUCH MUCH MUCH worse things about our own people, day in and day out.
I got your back, niece.
With all the black kids I see who refer to each other as "y'all n***as" and "you mutha f***as," it's no wonder that White people feel okay with calling us out of our names!
When more Black people start to have self-respect, then others will respect us. Our community is a mess and it needs to change!
Nah, why get blasted? We get the blame as much as he does. I had an entry about this today. Turn on the radio and I bet you that you'll hear nothing but the same talk, in song. This madness won't stop until we start first. I'm with you.
i thought about talking about the imus thing on my blog, but decided to leave it be. i've been waivering between whether he should stay or go.
i say if he does go, all the fools that say the ignorant comments need to go to. that included all of us that participate in that type of thinking. and really it's getting to be more than a racist issue. it's becoming a woman's issue as well.
frankly, i like to know how the enemy thinks.
by the way, the nappy part didn't offend me at all. i've been natural (nappy) and embraced that word a long time ago.
I agree with you, up till the end. I (like everyone one the page, lol) did a post about this today and about how WE have set ourselves up for this. And I also know how I, Sister Toldja, who does NOT condone the "N" word or misogynistic music, etc would feel if I got called a "nappy headed hoe". And that feeling tells me he SHOULD be fired. I'm tired of disrespect for Blacks being forgiven, but for other groups its a show-stopper. And I agree with Aquababie; this is as much a gender issue as it is one of race.
^5, Tasha! Yes, say that! Didn't nobody say nuttin' about Ludacris talkin' bout he got hoes in different area codes! Hmph!
girl Tasha I ain't mad at ya.. cause your opinion is shared by me.. :) I didn't post on the subject but had several conversations with several folks..
It starts with US.. and until we do something why should anyone else???
First thing is to stop buying their music..yeah white american teenagers and hell even over in europe those albums will go platinum but they don't get my money!
I do not see how it compares to hip hop. It is a complete red herring in my mind. Rappers are wrong and Imus is wrong. He is just trying to deflect attention away from his racism. He said that he has been humiliated. Correction, he humiliated himself and the black women on the Rutgers team. Should he be fired? I think so. However, I think the more important thing is that people know who he is now. They know he is a racist.
Girl, I JUST mentioned this in my blog today and agree with you!
yep..pretty much right. I gotta reread the whole post but I feel ya.
Having watched Imus often enough to know better, he's out of the loop...but that in no way excuses his comments.
we'll see how this one plays out....Duke lacrosse charges are dropped and Rutgers' "ho camp" is blasted on MSNBC.
Disrepect of the Black woman is pop culture officialy as if already wasn't...
Done after
One.
...and what do we make of this?
"Tony Gonzalez, supervisor of the Radiothon phone bank, said volunteers were getting about 200 more pledges per hour than they did last year, and most callers were expressing support for Imus."
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