Don Imus and nappy headded hos.....
 

Why are we Americans so damn sensitive to this crap?

Don Imus is about as much a racist as Don Alm is a liberal.

But when he makes an innocent comment, all in fun, his big sponsers like Staples and American Express pull out and cause him to get fired.

I don't get it.

What I do get is that I'll be cutting up my American Express card and my Staples card tonight and will never do business with them again.

Jim

Re: Don Imus and nappy headded hos.....
 

Hi, Jim,

Guess I missed what your post is about somewhere along the line. Care to let the rest of us in on it? Sounds interesting.

Sandi Bowman

Re: Don Imus and nappy headded hos.....
 

Imus was fired today for a comment he made last week, calling a mostly black womans college basketball team "nappy headed hos"

It was all done in fun.

The firing probably would have never happened if his sponsers hadn't pulled out.

The part that really bugs me is that he was called out and put through the fire by two of the biggest racists on the planet. The Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

Just google "Don Imus" and you'll get 1000 news reports.

Jim

I don't see the problem...
 

Hi Jim,

The way I see it is...

A lot of people were apparently offended by his remarks... And it made the news (so even people who weren't his listeners knew about it)...

I think there may have been protests - to him AND to his sponsors. Of course, people are free to protest all they want...

Sponsors are in it for the money. If they feel this will hurt the bottom line, then they're going to make a decision based on that. And similarly, the radio station is in it for the money too - without sponsors, there's no money.

Anyway, basically, I don't see the "problem". Everyone was free to do what they did. Don Imus was free to say what he said, people were free to protest, sponsors are free to pull out, and Don Imus's employer was free to fire him.

Of course, you're also free to cut up your American Express and Staples cards in response too.... If you're incensed enough, you can even start your own "rehire Don Imus" campaign... Or maybe offer to run some of your own ads on his show, if he gets a new one...

Also, Don Imus is still free to say what he wants - he can even start his own radio station if he has the means. Or another radio station can hire him, if they want (which may happen, who knows, if he has a loyal enough audience)...

By the way, I know nothing about Don Imus apart from this incident. We don't get his show "downunder"!

- Dien

Re: Don Imus and nappy headded hos.....
 

Might as well have the whole story & more...

CBS fires Don Imus from radio show
After racist remark, legendary broadcaster couldn't escape growing protest
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18072804/?GT1=9246

Don Imus called Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" and "Jigaboos"!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF9BjB7Bzr0

Lots of Opinions on this one...
http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/th...hreadID=251060

One "HOT" Topic... :)

Lots of People will be "Cashing" in on Don Imus... Keyword phrases and other related stuff... ;)

Phil

Re: I don't see the problem...
 

The way I see it is that people weren't offended until Jackson & Sharpton jumped in and told everyone they should be offended.

It was nothing more than 3 little words that were probably not the best choice of words, but certainly nothing that could offend the entire country.

It got blown totally out of proportion by people with their own agenda and by the media who think that it's somehow cool for people to get behind racial issues.

Walk a mile through any town in this country and you will hear a lot worse things said than "nappy headed ho"

It deserved a laugh, not a firing.

Imus is a good guy who does a lot of good and raises a lot of money for some great causes.

He deserves to keep on doing what he's doing.

If anyone in this whole situation should be looked at for their racial comments, it should be Jesse Jackson & Al Sharpton.

Jim

Re: Boycotts are a bad idea if...
 

Boycotts are a bad idea if they aren't widely accepted and implemented.

You need to do something different to be effective.

Chances are even Don Imus won't be boycotting them. You'll only end up paying higher prices elsewhere and hurting yourself.

Don't cut the cards. If you feel so strongly about the matter, put them in the freezer for a little while. You'll feel differently after a couple of months.

And in the mean time - you'll be able to see if your temporary boycott indeed did hurt the companies or not...

Btw - its not only America that is sensitive to such remarks. People all over the world has this tendency of going ballistic at "humour."

BTW...
 

I don't get incensed. I don't even get mad. It's rare that I'm even angry.

Actually, I'm smiling and laughing pretty much all the time - that gets me into a bit of trouble sometimes.

I do, however, have a low tolerance for stupid crap.

It may sound angry at times, but in reality, I'm usually laughing at the stupidity of it all.

Like now.

Jim:D

Re: Boycotts are a bad idea if...
 

Thanks Ankesh.

I wasn't actually trying to organize a boycott or be effective about anything here.

I probably just did like Don Imus and said something that sounded good at the moment but made no sense in reality.

You are right, it's probably a stupid idea and I'll probably think differently in the morning.

Jim

Re: Fighting Stupidity with Ridicule
 

What I like about such cases is they offer a glimpse into the mind of the masses.

1. By adding laughing tracks to comedy shows, the producers ended up making the shows more funny. The content was the same. But the laughing tracks in the background allowed people to know when it was "safe" to find the content funny - and increased their enjoyment in the process.

2. Stage artists all over the world always hire people to join the audiences to clap or gasp at the right moments -- for the same reason.

3. A few centuries ago (especially during Mozart's era) - people judged how successful the stage show will be - not on the shows merit - but on the fact how many times the King yawned. If you get a tired King to watch your show - you're doomed!

4. Today, people look up to people like Jackson and Sharpton to make their decisions for them. If such people are going through a lean phase and don't have much to do - you're very very unlucky. Its not what you say that matters. Its how much attention the "influentials" want.

5. Having 250 news channels has just made matters worse. When they don't have much to show - they end up giving importance to the tiniest of footnotes.

The best thing imo - is not to defend the message (what Don Imus said). But to try and dis-credit the messengers (Jackson and Sharpton are moist robots who have a poor sense of humour and crave attention).

But you need a very strong personality to discredit the messenger. It could get very ugly.