The Skinny on the Don Imus Situation

There are very few situations in this world in which I could be considered an ABSOLUTE EXPERT of the highest order. If you want to know how to run some serious myspace or facebook game, holla atcha boy–you’ll have a late night jump-off before you know it. If you’re comparing the legacies of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, you could call me any time and I can quickly settle the discussion . I can guess the bra size of a woman at 100 meters. Seriously, I’m the best. And as comfortable as I’d be with these theoretical issues, I can honestly say I feel pretty comfortable throwing in a semi-credible two cents to the Don Imus discussion. Experience in racial discussions? check. Getting fired for talking too much shit? Check, check. And hos?? CHECK. I love em–regardless of color, creed, or hair style.
Ok before anyone gets offended–here are the 10 facts that you must understand about this issue:

1. Don Imus is a racist scumbag and always has been.
2. Don Imus is not very important.
3. White people can often be insensitve to what minorities consider offensive, because a lot of the time–they just cannot relate or have no reason to relate.
4. Most people (black and white) were not THAT offended by what Imus said.
5. Imus’ tone was disgusting and he should have been reprimanded for what he said.
6. Not only was “nappy headed hos” not funny, but I cram to understand ( (c) MC Lyte) how someone as hideous as Don Imus can ever manage to open his mouth about someone else’s apearance.
7. Al Sharpton is worse than Don Imus–not only in intent, but in influence and effect as well.
8. Black people didn’t pick Al Sharpton as their leader. In fact I don’t know if I’ve EVER met anyone (black or otherwise) who takes Sharpton seriously as anything but a media hog and egomaniac.
9. The Rutgers team and coach were not really offended, and actually made the most of this opportunity. I feel about as bad for this group as I do the accused Duke kids. Everyone is going to get to stretch their “traumatic” experience out for a lifetime.
10. This must have been a slow news week.

It’s so random that Imus finally got his card pulled for this of all things. He’s like one of those serial killers who gets caught for stealing something at the mini mart. At first my fellow broadcasters will panic and say, “wait is this challenging what we do and freedom of speech as we know it?” I had that thought at first, but then I remembered I wasn’t a racist. That’s the thing. If you’re not a racist you can say whatever you want. Any of the handful of loyal listeners I had at WJFK would tell you that I talked about race in a very honest and sometimes harsh way, but I never even neared the line of being offensive. You know why? Because I’m not a racist. So while I could say something shocking that might raise a few eyebrows, it would never be based in hate.

Racists cannot hide hate. They hold it close to their heart–like my love of pro wrestling. See? I’ve already referenced it twice. So Don Imus finally getting caught for being a racist is not surprising or even really disappointing. The response to his ignorance has been very disappointing, however. I can’t say I’m disappointed with Al Sharpton. How could you be? He turned in a vintage performance. This episode was to Sharpton what Jordan’s dagger against Utah was to MJ. Classic.

Sharpton has done this over and over and over again. He loves to pit blacks vs whites any time he can. Or Blacks against Jews. Whatever Al can do to create some hate and notoriety for himself, he’ll do. It really offends me that he is consistently referred to as black leadership. That would imply that he leads and people follow. That is not the case, though. Al follows money and headlines at the expense of the black cause and even sometimes at the expense of human life. Jesse Jackson is not nearly as bad, as I do believe he has some morals and an interest in change. That said, he hasn’t done very much either. There’s a reason the great leaders of the sixties were taken out. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Medgar Evars, etc—they actually threatened the status quo. White bigots have no interest in hurting Sharpton or Jesse, because they help keep black people in the exact same place. This Don Imus thing is no different.
Black people deal with real racism every single day. That does not include a shock jock making a lame joke. It does include being unfairly scrutinized by white people, the police, employers—you name it. And now, thanks to Don Imus, Al Sharpton, and the Rutgers team (yes the oh so innocent Rutgers team), it appears as if the average black person is just some overly sensitive whiner who is causing a huge fuss over an off-color joke. Um not quite.
Black people are not the whiners here. The real whiners are those complaining about how difficult it is to know what to say.

Here in Washington, the formerly relevant Don&Mike spent a week of their talk show trying to create a dialogue with their black sister station, WPGC, about this subject. The jocks at PGC declined. Here is a really simple solution. Don’t spew racist hate and you will be fine. The rules have been set. Make jokes, be funny, but just don’t use the N word or spew hatred with no purpose. I know this is hard for a lot of people. White Americans have every single possible benefit and privelage in life imaginable, but it seems like we won’t be happy unless we can say the N word. We discussed this on the air all the time on my show. And time after time, white people would call up and beg for the right to say the N word. I hear that word about as much as humanly possible and have tons of situations in which it could and maybe even should be used (quoting a song, making a joke, whatever). I have also been given the pass to say it by more people than I can count. Yet I’ve never ever said the word. And it hasn’t been that hard to resist.

More than anything, the last week to 10 days have shown us that at any point, the media and idiots like Al Sharpton are capable of halting and destroying progress. Now Virgina Tech is upon us and we will never hear of the Imus controversy again. The media has real news to butcher now. So after a quick setback to race relations, they can move along to the next real tragedy.