A little more on Imus
Lately, everyone's been asking, "Al Sharpton is going after Don Imus for his on-air language, but has he ever gone after those foul-mouthed rappers who use the same language or worse?''
My guess is that the people who ask that really don't want an answer, or think they know the answer.
But the answer is yes.
On CNN's "American Morning,'' March 9, 2005 - two years ago - he spoke about a movement to end the depictions of violence in hip-hop music that was being carried out into the public.
" ... If stockholders of advertisers say wait a minute, we didn't realize this is what we're allowing to happen, it would not help their career, which is exactly my point.
If you take the profit out of it, it would not help their careers. If a guy gets into an argument and goes for his gun and thinks, wait a minute, I could lose my airplay, it might make that gun stay in the holster. And that is what I'm saying.
We need to stop helping them make their careers by acting in a violent way. We need to say, say what you want, do what you want. I think some of the music is great. I'm a fan of some of the music. Some I think is misogynist. But that's not the point. The point is we've got to give them an incentive to say no matter what my rap is, I don't have the right nor is it going to be lucrative to me to engage in that activity personally.''
Later in the month, Sharpton called for the FCC to step in:
" 'The outrage of the pattern of violence that has occurred at radio stations requires some action,' Sharpton told the Associated Press. 'What has been absent is some kind of government move to stop these actions happening on federally regulated radio stations.'
The civil rights activist took his fight to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last week and pressured officials to impose a ban denying airplay for 90 days to artists involved in violent confrontations. Also, Sharpton is asking that radio stations 'that encourage a pattern of this, including allowing employees to do on-the-air inciting of violence' be fined and reviewed by the FCC.''
That report on the incident came from Howard University's newspaper, the only one that came up in a Google search on that topic.
The CNN report might have been easy to miss. "American Morning'' aired at the same time as Imus in the Morning on MSNBC.
And, at James Brown's memorial service at the Apollo Theater in December, Sharpton told the audience that one of the great things about his friend is that he didn't have to use foul, insulting language to make his point, like a lot of the musicians today. You'll have to take my word for it, because in the 10 stories I read about the service, from major newspapers to network websites to entertainment portals, none mentioned this. CNN that day, however, aired the clip every half-hour. I remember that very clearly and wondered then why nobody was talking about it.
I'm still wondering, especially today.
Comments
What does this topic have to do with sports? Since you go here, we can too. Al Sharpton & Jesse Jackson are now in charge of what we should listen to & will tell us what is right or wrong? That's a crock! Both men have bigger skeletons in their closets than Imus. How are Jesse's mistress & illegitimate child doing these days? What a great religious leader. What Imus said was wrong, but not Earth shattering compared to what many blacks, including Jesse & Al, said about the 3 innocent white students at Duke! Where is the outrage there? Why no apologies? Why isn't anyone being held accountable on that one? They almost went to prison, they didn't just get a verbal insult from an old fool. Many black groups threatened them, insulted them , etc. Where is the indignation for that? If you don't like what Imus had to say, DON'T watch!!!! I don't want the Jesse's & the Al's telling me what I can or can't watch. As long as rap music is allowed to be made for children to listen to with FAR worse language & insults in it, then what Imus said is a mere drop in that large bucket. How many times are white people going to be called crackers or rednecks & there be no similar firestorms? It's BS. That is just as offensive. One more thing, blacks can stop playing the slavery card too. That one is 150 years gone & NO one on this planet now had anything to do with it! All this BS but the irony is, the black community is only creating more racists, not improving relations.... the double standard now used over & over again is too obvious. Let's see if you have the nerve to post this, I doubt you do.
Posted by: Don | April 13, 2007 3:59 PM
I sent this e-mail to you without any response. I hope you will at least post it to see what others think.
Mr. Steele,
I know this topic has been beat to death but please indulge me. I am not black but I do have three teenage daughters and I have a huge problem understanding why Imus's now infamous comment got him fired but his producer Bernard McGuirk's comment of "Hardcore Hos” has not even been addressed by the media or anyone else. I’m sure you have read the transcript already but I have attached it at the bottom. Are we to assume that the Rutgers coach, Revs Sharpton, Jackson, and the media feel that it is acceptable to call the players hardcore hos but not nappy headed? Just what are we upset about here, the term “nappy”, a derogatory term for sure but technically correct in describing a hair type common among blacks. I know I am walking a fine line with that last statement and some would view it as racist. I can only give you my assurances it is not intended as one and I am only trying to make the most basic point. Now I ask you how many of the players on that team can accurately be described as whores? My guess would be none. I have never been a fan of shock jock jerks like Imus but I have a hard time siding with those attacking him publicly and not saying anything about McGuirk’s comment. If two individuals were to call any of my daughters “bleach blond hos” or “hardcore hos” I think I would have a lot more to be angry about than the bleach blond comment. It’s sad that opportunistic individuals and media have once again missed the bigger picture for publicity sake. Everyone has taken up the cause of them being degraded as blacks but it doesn't seem matter or at least no one seems to care that they were degraded as women.
Thanks for reading my rant and please don’t miss the bigger picture. I would appreciate your views on this.
Bo Hickey
The Rutgers team, which includes eight black women, had lost the day before in the NCAA women's championship game. Imus was speaking with producer Bernard McGuirk about the game when the exchange began on "Imus in the Morning," which is broadcast to millions of people on more than 70 stations and MSNBC.
"That's some rough girls from Rutgers," Imus said. "Man, they got tattoos ..."
"Some hardcore hos," McGuirk said.
"That's some nappy-headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that," Imus said.
Posted by: Bo Hickey | April 22, 2007 1:49 PM
why is it only white america can be held accountable for the likes of don imus,hell what about mr.i hate white man(sharpton) but as always its the white mans fault.but lets remmember the only people that count today is black americans,the hell with white people right mr.steele
Posted by: william neil weigman | April 28, 2007 3:21 AM