Imus Suspended for 2 Weeks after Racist Remark

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:13pm

"NBC News suspended the radio host Don Imus tonight for two weeks after the outcry over his racially disparaging remarks about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team, calling his comments “racist and abhorrent.”"


....too easy?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/business/media/09cnd-imus.html?hp

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:15pm

Too easy?

Boy this one is a hot friggin topic right now, but whatever. Too much as far as I'm concerned. I agree with Opie and Anthony on the whole thing. What he said was clearly a joke, and in jest. Was it wrong...yeah probably. But we don't get mad at Spike Lee when he is racially charged against white people? Double standard? Or is it just cause he's black?

[Luscious]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:35pm

I’m not an Imus fan or listener, but the way I see it is, its one inappropriate comment in a sea (and career) full of inappropriate comments. I thought that's what he got paid to do. In my opinion, the whole thing is being blown out of proportion and he's being made an example of. There are more important issues to focus on and bigger fish for Mr. Sharpton to be frying.

Updated On: 4/9/07 at 09:35 PM

[TheHumanTorch]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:00pm

when he comes back on the air his ratings will go through the roof... this is exactly what a guy like Imus wants...

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:01pm

"But we don't get mad at Spike Lee when he is racially charged against white people?"

What is it you do not seem to grasp about somebody from a historically oppressed racial minority critiquing the majority (oppressive) culture?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:16pm

I used to listen to Imus when he first started broadcasting, but I eventually outgrew his sophomoric humor. It's time for him to retire.

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:16pm

I'm just impressed that he is so "contrite" and "cooperative" in the fallout. We've seen so many examples lately of talk show hosts using "hate speech" and then defending their actions in the public medium. It's almost refreshing to have someone step up and say that they were wrong.

[TheHumanTorch]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:23pm

wonderwaiter... i really believe that he is stepping and saying he's "wrong" with a wink and a smile...

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 11:30pm

"What is it you do not seem to grasp about somebody from a historically oppressed racial minority critiquing the majority (oppressive) culture? "

racial supremecy does not equal racial equality.

[singingwendy]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 11:49pm

I'm just annoyed that no one seems to care that they called the women "hos". His remark was not just racist, it was sexist too.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:07am

Who appointed Al Sharpton judge? How soon people forget his role in the Tawana Brawley lie.

Charge: In 1987, a 15-year-old black girl named Tawana Brawley went missing and was found four days later covered in dog feces and with racial slurs written on her body. She claimed that at least two and possibly six white men, one of them carrying a badge, had repeatedly raped her in the woods in upstate New York. Sharpton took up Brawley's cause and defended her refusal to cooperate with prosecutors, saying that asking her to meet with New York's attorney general (who had been asked by Gov. Mario Cuomo to supervise the investigation) would be like "asking someone who watched someone killed in the gas chamber to sit down with Mr. Hitler." According to the Associated Press, Sharpton and Brawley's lawyers asserted "on 33 separate occasions" that a local prosecutor named Steven Pagones "had kidnapped, abused and raped" Brawley. There was no evidence, and Pagones was soon cleared. Sharpton then accused a local police cult with ties to the Irish Republican Army of perpetrating the alleged assault. The case fizzled when a security guard for Brawley's lawyers testified that the lawyers and Sharpton knew Brawley was lying. A grand jury investigation concluded in late 1988 that Brawley "was not the victim of forcible sexual assault" and that the whole thing was a hoax. The report specifically exonerated Pagones, and in 1998 Pagones won a defamation lawsuit against Sharpton, Brawley, and Brawley's lawyers. Sharpton was ordered to pay Pagones $65,000. Johnnie Cochran and other Sharpton benefactors subsidized the payment.

Defense: Sharpton stands by Brawley's story. In May 2002, when the Associated Press asked whether he would apologize to Pagones, Sharpton replied: "Apologize for what? For believing a young lady?" Referring to his incipient presidential campaign, Sharpton continued, "When people around the country know that I stood up for a young lady ... I think it will help me." In March 2003, when the Washington Post asked whether Sharpton could have expressed sympathy for Pagones after the prosecutor was cleared, Sharpton replied that Brawley "identified Pagones. I was her spokesperson. I cannot turn around in what I said I believed." As to the jury verdict against him, Sharpton told the New York Daily News in July 2003 that "a jury said in the Central Park jogging case … that I was wrong, and it was just overturned 13 years later. Juries can be wrong. I've stood by what I believe. Juries are proven wrong every day."


The Worst of Al Sharpton

[Pinky]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:30am

Wendy: I was thinking the exact same thing!!!

[Pinky]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:30am

edit...sorry double post!!!

Updated On: 4/10/07 at 02:30 AM

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:34am

I forget. How long was Jessie Jackson suspended for his "Hymie-town" remark?

[jeniferrenepatricia]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:29am

You go, sueleengay!!! By the way, the obvious answer is no, Jesse Jackson was not suspended. That's the way it always is...I think Andy Rooney puts it all in a nutshell:

Andy Rooney said on "60 Minutes" a few weeks back:
I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except
numbers. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory
are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black
Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things
like the UnitedCaucasianCollege Fund, Cloud Magazine, White
Entertainment Television, or Miss White America; and see what
happens...Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.
Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer.
You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is
trying to ban you from driving to the ball game.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 9:13am

Except that people in the dominant culture (oh, let's say for instance in Andy Rooney's case: white and heterosexual and male) just don't get to decide and announce that people who don't have access to the resources he has have NOT felt the sting of discrimination based on their skin color, for instance. He just can't.

And the very notion that he can is truly an example of what is called the tyranny of the majority.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 9:52am

On TODAY this morning Meredith called Jesse Jackson out for his Hymie Town remarks back in the 80's. It was hilarious to try and watch him back peddle and try to dismiss it as not the same situation. When clearly what he said back then was based in hate and couldn't even be defended as a joke. He who is without sin...

[Calvin]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 10:34am

Oh, for pity's sake, reallylongscreenname. Andy Rooney never said that. That's a mass email thing that's been circulating around for years falsely attributed to him. He's gone on the record as saying that he never said anything of the sort.

He and George Carlin seem to be the most frequent victims of having words put in their mouths.
Updated On: 4/10/07 at 10:34 AM

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 10:42am

I believe that Rooney statement to be a myth, also. Just reading that I thought to myself Andy Rooney would never SAY that. Not that he wouldn't BELIEVE it. I don't know him personally, but he is pretty savvy when it comes to what is SAID.

[Calvin]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 10:49am

It's not even close to his speaking or writing style.

Here's the whole thing from Snopes debunking it:
Link

[sweetiedarlinmia]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 11:01am

It's easy for people to say "Oh it was just a joke" when the comments arent hurting them. As an African American woman, I HAVE A BIG PROBLEM WITH THOSE COMMENTS! IT's NOT OK! We have been stereotyped, victimized, harassed, and disrespected for too long. I AM SICK OF IT!

Two weeks is not enough. I'm sick and friggin tired of people making racist, sexist, homophobic, just flat out ignorant remarks, doing a quick "I'm Sorry, I dont know where it came from. I love (insert offended group) people. I help them/ have friends who are them. I plan to seek help to get to the root of this" BULL! I dont care that his gimmick is that he's a crotchty old man who insults everyone. That doesn't make me say "Oh he's just that way! It's ok!" I have a problem regardless of who makes the statements. It wasnt cool what Isaiah Washington said. It wasnt cool what Jesse Jackson said. It wasnt cool what Michael Richards said. It's not a tit for tat game people! WRONG IS WRONG! And before ANYONE comes out of their mouth with the "oh well rappers say this type of stuff" argument, THAT ISNT COOL EITHER!

I DON'T LIKE IT and IT NEEDS TO STOP!
Updated On: 4/10/07 at 11:01 AM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 11:02am

i'm sorry, what was that about tits?

[Jon]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 11:19am

It was sexit as well as racist. I think if he called a male athlete "nappy-headed", it would have been no big deal. It was the "Hoes" part that put it over the top.

I also think you can get away with making fun of celebrities, but not "real people". If he referred to Whitney Houston as a "crack ho", it would be no big deal. You can call Lindsay Lohan "Lindsay Ho-han". When you pick on a bunch of college girls, it's over the line.

[sidjones09]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 11:21am

Imus was dead wrong. I'm somewhat satisfied with the suspension. The man gets paid to create shock value. That's why people listen. I don't think he believes half the crap he says. But it's still not excusable. Isn't he the one who said some horrible stuff about Lauryn Hill a few years back? We only seem to hear about him crossing the line when he's talking about black people. Does he not offend anyone else? I'm not sure, I don't listen to his show. This might sound strange, but I feel that if he only singles out racial minorities than he needs to be fired. But if he is equally offensive to a bunch of different groups, than I don't think you can just call for his head when he says something wrong about black people. It just doesn't add up. I'm sorry.

Al Sharpton is an opportunist and needs to GO AWAY! I don't understand how he ever was given the right to try and stand up for all minorities. I wish he would stop. He is an embarrassment a good portion of the time. Not that he doesn't do any good. But i sincerely believe his motives are suspect and the world KNOWS it.

I find Al and Jesse with all of their good intentions to be extremely hippocritical in their logic of racial justice and equality. It's time for minorities to start standing up for themselves and not wait for these shoddy Martin Luther King wannabes to come in for another media frenzy to keep themselves in the public eye a little longer. Rutger's University, these young women, and their families need to cut out the media hungry middle man, Mr. Sharpton, and get right to the source.

Just my 2 cents.

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 11:29am

I think Imus deserves to be suspended. Calling a bunch of girls "hos" is not OK whether they're white or black or purple. However, I also think that Sharpton and Jackson are constantly vigilant, looking for a fight and to be offended, much as other politicians do.

But, overall, no person should be saying something disgusting and hurtful like that on the radio and in any other public arena.