Imus in the Morning is Pimp Chic
Filed under: Beliefs, Communication, emotions, inter-personal dynamics
Imus of Imus in the Morning, one of the original morning shock jocks, has been fired by CBS. He was released from his contractual obligations for an abhorrent offense: referring to the Rutgers women’s basketball team as “nappy headed hos”.
Unlike other times in the recent past, CBS did the right thing. We should not tolerate this kind of derogatory language. And the market adjusted—sponsors pulled their advertising, money was being lost, and so CBS made the appropriate political as well as financial and business choice. They fired this tone deaf man.
Just another reason to love the free market.
They did so after an initial 2-week suspension by MSNBC for the simulcast. CBS did so after the black community came up in arms and grilled him, quite appropriately, for his words.
Having said that, it was interesting to watch the professional racists come out against subtle racism. From Al Sharpton to Jesse Jackson to Al Sharpton [again].
I guess it’s okay to be a racist as long as you are black.
I do not call them “professional racists” because they see and claim nothing but racism and external forces as the target of blame and make a career out of it—no, I say that because they literally are the most racist people I have seen in public life. It is who they are. The irony is staggering. The hypocrisy is stunning. I had more than a few things to say on the matter, but David Horowitz sums it up best:
Don’t you just love the fact that Al Sharpton is leading the Imus lynch squad? There’s a certain appropriateness of course in that Sharpton is America’s most successful racist, having personally incited the lynchings of eight people, not counting the half dozen whose lives were ruined by Tawana Brawley’s lies. All over the country white comedians like Lisa Lampanelli, whose entire show is based on ethnic insults, must be cowering in fear of losing their jobs if they stumble over the wrong joke. There is clearly no bigger threat to free speech in this country than these racial vigilantes. The whole country is wondering to itself how it’s ok for black comedians to rag on nappy headed hos while Imus must be hung for it. Chris Rock I am sure, is not amused by this circus and I for one can’t wait to see how he deals with it in his next stand up. This is a spectacularly embarrassing moment for black Americans, one of many inflicted on them by Sharpton and Jackson and their mis-leadership of the so-called civil rights movement.
The question I have for everyone reading is: where did Imus learn this language? Who talks about “bitches, pimps, and hos” the most? Who made it popular? Who made it, frankly, fashionable? Heck, who has made an entire industry out of it? When will the community that created the air of ok-ness around the pimp subculture take responsibility for what they have created?
There are a few—no doubt. Voices of reason and responsibility. Thomas Sowell, Bill Cosby, Walter Williams, and even David Chapelle made a comment about ceasing the blame and getting to work in an act I saw in San Francisco.
Sadly, these voices, which stand for responsibility and therefore results–and an empowered individual, get shouted down as “traitors to their race.” Of course they are shouted down by the same professional or habitual racists who are keeping us—as a global community—from transcending race.
“If black people are gonna get anywhere in this world, n*****s have got to go.”
—Chris Rock, African American Comedian
From Cox & Forkum:
When will the double standard end?
Slavery ended a long time ago. It is time for the current ideological bonds to be broken. The chains that were broken are now replaced with the mental bonds of the belief in an external boogyman keeping them down.
There is only one thing necessary to make yourself a success in this culture—competence. To become competent, you need to take responsibility for your life and take action to better yourself—and then find someone to provide value to. If you can provide value or solve problems, then no one–in major metropolitan areas–really cares what color you are, where you came from–or in some instances, even if you have a degree.
Those that elevate their prejudices will not be in business for very long. Just another reason to love the free market–it forces people to adjust and transcend their prejudices.
It is time for a new orientation to race relations; an orientation that transcends it altogether. An IDEA that we are one—that is, that we consider them human relations. When will the heirs of Martin Luther King’s movement live up to his dream? When will they stop judging people of their skin? When will they look inside themselves and examine their own actions—and assist us in creating a culture where you are judged for your character—not for which race you were born into? When will they stop blaming everyone else for their self-generated problems?
The irony and the hypocrisy are staggering.n We know why the professional racists are lukewarm to Barack Obama–if he were to be elected, they would suddenly be out of work; their pretense of a cause having been declared a victory.
Whenever that may be, that is when they will start enjoying positive results and truly being of service to the community whose best interests they claim to represent. No, so long as their is money to be made by these professional racists, there is no hope for the public face of the black community. So long as people are unwilling to say that the emperor has no clothes, we will keep being subjected to a shakedown for unearned money and undeserved mea culpas. Worse–the peoples currently referred to as “African Americans” will never transcend their painful past. They will never create a compelling future for themselves. They will never truly feel fulfilled by any amount of reparations–for the very reason that they di dnot earn them. Their grandparents may have, and their great grand parents may have, but they have not, thankfully.
And if they did, they would likely squander their inheritance like most people of all colors do with money they have not earned.
The idea that true racism–lost opportunity or the suffering of abuse as a result of your skin color–is alive and thriving in major urban areas and other hubs of business is absurd. Unless of course you are talking about the African Americans. The only racists I have ever met are black. It is no wonder that is all they perceive. Perhaps if they did not identify so much with their racial aspects, they would not hallucinate that white people do as well.
It’s the boogeyman of the modern times.
Racism is a sickness eating away at this Country. But the most malignant sickness is in the black racists–and it is eating their souls.
“Diversity, deversity. Oh, we should celebrate our idfferences huh? No, we should celebrate our similarities. Let meet on a higher level.”– Prince Rogers Nelson
That’s right. Let’s meet at the level of common humanity and transcend our differences–before “diversity” for the sake of diversity destroys that very humanity.
Comments
One Comment on Imus in the Morning is Pimp Chic
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James Yunker on
Sun, 22nd Apr 2007 11:29 pm
Thank you for your comments Jason. Also thank you for the links to the articles so that I could get a better understanding of the situation surrounding the Imus comments. Being one who rarely now really believes in or relates with the news as it is offered in the United States, I have to admit that the Imus situation sounds much like what I typically experience with the media and politically minded “thinkers” — REACTION, REACTION, REACTION.
I believe what is happening in America whether it be Jewish, Black, White colorlines, fashion trends, or inflammatory languaging is simply a dumbing down of communication so that the lowest common denominator has something to get excited about. Gossip, People Magazine, tabloids, and so many more examples are all America’s attempt to “be informed” about the mess we are all in.
I am genuinely saddened by the media’s preoccupation with selling us all the “bad news” and yet it makes good marketing sense, as there are no lack of buyers.
It is my hope that the changes that are sweeping our planet and points of view that take the bigger picture begin to make more sense and are more desireable to the typical lay-person. I see the possibility of a media marketing plan emerging that harnesses the public’s need for information while also placing our attention and intention behind positive movements that encourage humanity to embrace and see the unity, growth, peace, and leadership that is at the forefront of our global transformation.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was effective in his ability to rally people because he focused people on “a dream” of what racial harmony could be. In the moment people connected to that vision, it landed on earth and people were excited and rallied behind it because it felt GOOD! This Imus B.S., no matter how you slice it is a distraction from truth. Racial harmony is available and present right here, right now.
I keep my attention on loving all people and even if the guy next to me does not, is judging him going to help the situation or take me out of the game? I choose to continue on asking for a day-to-day experience of harmony and love in my communications with every human being (regardless of race and gender). For the most part I get to experience peace-filled relationships with others … and when the Imus’s of the world ripple the waters attempting to overturn my boat … I smile, thank my higher self for the reminder to love everyone, and go on with my day, unfazed.
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