Well – how the mighty hath fallen!

In case you've been under a rock the last two weeks, on April 4, 2007, Don Imus – radio personality, "shock jock" and perpetual asshole – uttered the following sexist and racially insensitive statements about the Rutgers University women's basketball team:

"That's some nappy-headed hos there. I'm gonna tell you that now, man, that's some – woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like – kinda like – I don't know."

Imus made the comments on his syndicated radio show, Imus in the Morning, which was (until recently) broadcast on the New York-based WFAN, or Sportsradio 66 (also called "The Fan") – a CBS Radio Property – and was also simulcast on the MSNBC cable news network. Needless to say, America – in all its definitions, extremes and sensitivities (or lack thereof) – reacted. On Wednesday, April 11, 2007, MSNBC officially dropped its simulcast of Imus in the Morning – CBS followed suit the next day, firing Imus and cancelling his show. I suspect MSNBC's decision to end their simulcast of the 'Imus program was more motivated by advertiser fallout than any actual regret on the part of the network for the hurt caused by Don Imus' very bigoted remarks.

Honestly, I'm rather ambivalent about the outcome of the Don Imus/Rutger's Women's basketball team controversy. As an African-American, Imus' remarks did, indeed, offend me and – though I'm not a woman – I regard the "'hos" part of his comments as extremely distasteful (an understatement); as a progressive and/or liberal, however, I am a staunch defender of freedom of speech and expression (or rather, the First Amendment of the United States Constitution). As such, I believe that when people are fired for saying things – be them popular or unpopular – there begins a slippery slope leading to a dismantling of basic rights. And let's face it – Don Imus is only symptomatic of a much larger problem: racism; sexism; homophobia – all have been shown in recent years to have a (sadly) lucrative market in contemporary American culture. Indeed, all one need do is turn on the Fox News channel daily to sample the (regularly) bigoted rantings of Sean Hannity. Another "shock jock" – Erich Matthew Muller (affectionately knwon as "Mancow") – is a regular presence on the Fox News channel's "Fox & Friends and has routinely (and insensitively) lampooned various racial and ethnic minorities (as well as women and gays) on his Mancow in the Morning radio show. Hatred and bigotry – be them real or (conveniently) contrived –  have an audience, and therein lies the problem.

Frankly, Don Imus is no stranger to hate speech. Indeed, it has largely colored his oddball career. I remember he [Imus] once referred to African-American PBS anchor, Gwen Ifill, as a "cleaning lady". Also, Imus has called publishers Simon & Schuster "thieving jews".  America would be better served at examining the culture that makes such vitriol popular. These days, this kind of rhetoric has become more pronounced and mainstream. Shock jocks – no doubt emboldened by the (previously) energized conservative and Right-wing tilting of much of the American public (post 9/11) – became almost "heroic" in the eyes of much of the U.S. populace. How else would one explain the unprecedented meteoric rise of a racist comedian like Larry the Cable Guy? More, how does one explain the widespread acceptance of Fox News as a legitimate news source?!

And let us not excuse liberals in this matter either...

As I've previously stated, I consider myself to be of a progressive and/or liberal mindset. However, I have been rather disgusted by the very ... lukewarm response exibited by people in the liberal community; it smacks of the kind of apathy that leftists – mainly white leftists who voted for Ralph Nader – showed following the 2000 National Elections' debacle that saw thousands of black voters disenfranchised in Florida. Indeed, Bill Maher – whom I generally respect (and who doesn't refer to himself as liberal or progressive, but is largely considerd as such) – defended Imus on the basis of a longstanding friendship shared between the two of them. A lot of these liberals don't realize that conservatives are (even now) connivingly using the Don Imus/Rutgers situation to discredit liberals in the eyes of minorities; a perfect example of this is the ridiculous conservative witch-hunt currently targeting Rosie O'Donnell [see tomdelay.com]. It would be ashame if conservatives – longtime opponents of equal rights for blacks, women and gays (as well as opposition to diversity initiatives) – were able to make inroads with these communities based on the Left's less-than pronounced disdain of Imus' remarks. Fellow liberals beware!

Many on both sides of the Imus in the Morning controversy have (more) addressed the racial implications of Don Imus' remarks. The argument has been raised that the term "hos" (a shortened slang euphemism for whores) is already prevalent in black culture – much like the "b word" and the "n word" – and hence, Imus is a victim of a "double standard." This reasoning is not without merit; I've said it before – I don't like the "n-word" as used by blacks OR non-blacks; I think referring to a woman as a "bitch" is unacceptable ("Ann Coulter" is a perfectly acceptable alternative if you want to insult someone); and calling a woman (or anyone) a "ho" isn't a strictly African-American phenomenon (though still unacceptable). I would be much more pleased if Reverend Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson started targeting some of the self-hatred, homophobia and sexism that is currently present in a lot of the contemporary hip hop music out there today. More, I wish artists like Nelly and 50 Cent would focus more on the quality of what they're releasing and its potential effects on culture than the bottom line – money.

In fairness, most of the people countering that the words "nappy-headed" and "hos" are used colloquially in black culture seem to be missing the fact that these are used by a MINORITY of African-Americans. More, this type of hip hop mainly sales to white males in an aged 18-34 demographic, hence the people purchasing it are just as responsible as the money-hungry execs that are mass-producing it!

When all is said and done, I don't feel that Don Imus should've been fired – he should've been kept around and made an example of – forced day-to-day to deal with the ramifications of his insensitive remarks.  Firing him [Imus] was taking the easy way out; I suspect he'll only rise again on Fox News or some other such media outlet.

Here's hoping that this whole fiasco will inspire a real dialogue on racism, sexism and the reasoning behind their appeal to a segment of the U.S. populace.

Singer/musician Björk's single – "Earth Intruders"– will be available for digital download this coming Monday, April 9. "'Intruders" is the first single from the forthcoming Björk full-length, Volta, which is due for release in May.