The racial activist folks are going wild over the Don Imus comments. While trying my best to find other topics in the news this and Anna Nicole's baby seem to dominate. One thing I've ascertained over the past few days is this - outrage over "racism" is a one way street. It is clearly racism since Imus is an ugly white guy and his targets were mostly black (not all the team is black by the way). The Rev. Al was quick to pounce as you can imagine. He has been remarkably quiet when the "rappers", now known as hip hop artists, use the same language in reference to the black women.
But, we can't say the same of
Shaun Powell. He says,
Tell me: Where did an old white guy like Imus learn the word "ho"?Was that
always part of his vocabulary? Or did he borrow it from Jay-Z and Dave Chappelle
and Snoop Dogg?What really disappointed me about that exhausting Rutgers news
conference, which was slyly used as a recruiting pitch by Stringer, was the
absence of the truth and the lack of backbone and courage. Black women had the
perfect opportunity to lash out at their most dangerous oppressors -- black men
-- and yet they kept the focus on a white guy.
Of course Snoop and the boyz say rap lyrics aren't comparable because they refer to THEIR thoughts and ideas from THEIR hood and it's THEIR hos out there. Idiocy? Ol' BC will let each decide that on his own.
I have heard a couple of other thoughts lately while running through news and sports talk shows on the tube and radio. How about this?
Is Rev. Al going to make a rapid trek to North Carolina to apologize to the Duke lacrosse players whom he berated and convicted publicly now that it turns out there was no criminal activity (as most people said from the start)? Will he have them on his radio show to apologize? How about Jesse?
Jesse who called New York "himeytown?" Yep. That's him. No outrage there.
Or this. Is the Yankee announcer's home run call of "an A-bomb by A-Rod" insensitive to all the Japanese players in the majors now? Is it hurting their feelings? How about if he launches one against "Dice-K"? Is it in bad taste then? Is it in bad taste every time?
Here's where I hope we are - at the acme of lunacy. Let's hope the pendelum swings back to some level of common sense where free speech if concerned, for all of us, not just militants and minorities. Imus said nothing hateful. He's a shock jock and bad taste has been his m.o. a lot like Stern. This era of ultra-sensitivity is getting really old really quickly.
Remember when "sticks and stones can break my bones..."? Those days may be gone forever.
Just an observation.
