Michael Richards, Isaiah Washington, Tim Hardaway, and now Don Imus.
And of course the intelligent public discourse that follows.
(sigh)
By now most if not all of you have heard seen and probably discussed Mr Imus's comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team which he neatly juxtapose with Tennessee's squad. If you haven't here is a convenient link for you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF9BjB7Bzr0
Now for those who are referenced…shall we proceed with the festivities?
Save the Apoliges
Say what you mean, and mean what you say. It's a rule that everybody should follow and most people follow even when they don't admit it. All human utterances are spawned by thought, no matter what context they are meant to be formulated into or the emotional state of the person speaking. When someone calls Black women "Nappy Headed Hoes" and "Jiggaboos" somewhere ingrained in their mentality, is the thought Black women are nappy
headed hoes and jiggaboos.
When one makes such a statement, in their person they, inherently think and feel that that way about the subjects of their adjectives. Ideologies are constructed and stalwartly solidified during great swaths of time. So when one decides to apologize for the convictions in a span of less then of week, skepticism permeates the air
.
Apologies are always prone examination, and almost never seem as authentic or make the impact as the act the spurred their birth. With Imus,.his apology and his predictable subsequent actions are damn near laughable. When listening to the curmudgeon host talk about the Rutgers team, he seemed quite at ease enjoying another day at the office. Nothing a good laugh at work right. Especially when your craft entails that you make such comments on a fairly consistent basis. As noted by various outlets and those who regularly listen to Imus or happen to drop through every once in a while like my self, Don has been speaking in a manner know to be "offensive" longer than most of us have been alive.
Life long connotations are not melted away with immediate epiphanies. Long held beliefs are also less likely to be believed to be relinquished, so when after spouting them you say people "need to get over them" and only after it seems like the whole world is mad you, then an apology seems appropriate, in reality its just a hollow and fake action.
Imus thought what he said was funny, because people where mad at what he said doesn't make it less funny to him. Depending on what aspect it's viewed from, I'll be the first person to admit race base jokes are funny, but the expense account upon those being savaged has long been over drafted. What ever happened to standing on your own two a backing up your convictions?
Since people want to bring Hip Hop into this, (more on that later) how about sitten 24 inches off the ground, and speaking your mind freely, because, hey that's how u feel. No, we as a public aren't subjected to such treatment these days. Instead any White person whose done "bad" runs to Al Sharpton's radio show to ask for forgiveness, supposedly to placate the Black masses, and explain there out of body experience. Fuck that. Contrary to many I happen to respect, and like Al Sharpton. I don't' always agree with Al, nor do I think he's a "Black Leader". If you don't know, I subscribe to the Nasir Jones train of thought of "Fuck Black Leaders Whites don't got nobody leading them". Well they actually they do, there called Congressman, and the Presidents but for the sake of this conversation I'll just digress and call White leaders invisible.
Back to Sharpton, whose show I also occasionally listen to, Imus going on his show solves nothing. The conversations which insue are not productive and the only sincerity involved from the persecuted arises in the form of intense pandering. You said what you said. Fuck it. Now because of this interview, which from a business standpoint can be understand fully, the whole "Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are opportunist" diatribe gets rehashed. Shit like any talk show host across the nation wouldn't have love to have Imus on when Al did. Yup, the whole "Al doesn't represent all Black people", sentiment has arisen again . Well of course no human of one group represents that whole group. If Al really represented us though, he'd be dead by now.
The animus towards Sharpton and Jackson is understandable, if not fully justified, but also creates some of the most ludicrous talking points know to man.
"Why are they picking on Imus, why don't they go after the rappers who say stuff like that?"
The ideological l foundation of that question speaks volumes to those who choose to spew it at every possible opportunity. Such a query holds no regard for the Rutgers players, or Imus's ignorance, it just implicitly calls Sharpton and other so called black leaders hypocrites, and states that such decretory language towards Black Women is status quo. Do your homework, Sharpton was just marching against G-Unit last week, and countless "leaders of Black origins" protest and clamor against the proliferation of misogyny in Hip Hop every year. Mother Fuckers aint quit after C Dolores Tucker and Dionne Warwick did. It just so happens that like all struggles with corporate giants, its hard to put a dent, let alone a stop to a billion dollar industry. When is the last time you proceeded with glee to pursue actions? Thought so, and that would be exactly the tract undertaken by global media conglomerates if they fully reported the displeasure of many in the Black Community about the rap put out in the mainstream let alone from a Black perspective. The fact is no prominent White person, or at least one of enough stature or power came out and decried this incident. The the general masses of America "ie white people" plain didn't give a fuck. So is it not plausible to say Sharpton filled a void? A tree fell in the American Forrest. and many didn't hear it, or just ignored the echo initially.
"You Should Be focused on other problems, like Black on Black Crime or Education"
Once again do your homework; millions of Black People are concerned, involved and deeply troubled by violence and education. Say what you wanna say about those labled as rabble rousers, but what a lot white people are stating what they/we "should" be doing, has already been done. The sinister bent of a statement such as that one is, Black Women aren't worth fighting for. "Why are you so bent out of shape about this?" Why shouldn't Black people be incensed at disrespect at the highest for of its women? White paternalism stirs immediate discomfort and some anger because it's largely insincere. Generally America is quick to state what Black people should do, but honesty they could care less either way. Instead their artificial advice is used as a deflection tool.
More coming…….
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