Imus Suspended From CBS Radio, MSNBC: Imus Talks To Sharpton On Civil-Rights Leader’s Turf
Imus Takes His Lumps on Sharpton’s Show
Rutgers Student Body Not Having Imus’ Apology: Basketball Players Upset, May Meet With Radio Host
NEW YORK (AP) - Don Imus had a hot seat on the other side of the microphone Monday, appearing on the Rev. Al Sharpton’s radio show and enduring more criticism for his offensive comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. Imus issued another apology for referring to members of the team as “nappy-headed hos.” Sharpton called the comments “abominable” and “racist” and repeated his demand that Imus be fired….”Our agenda is to be funny and sometimes we go too far. And this time we went way too far,” Imus said on “The Al Sharpton Show.” The meeting prompted a series of testy exchanges, and Imus grew visibly frustrated at times. During one exchange, Imus said he can’t win with “you people.” Sharpton was clearly irritated by that remark.
Let me begin by stating for the record that I could care less about Don Imus, who’s about as funny as a sucking chest wound. I don’t care about his politics, his humor, or his radio show…which I’ve never listened to, and- if there’s any justice in this world- I never will. Imus can go pound sand for all I care. His “nappy-headed hos” comment about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team was stupid, inappropriate, insensitive, racist…and not at all funny. African-Americans were well within their rights to be upset and hurt by Imus’ idiotic remark.
Since making that ill-advised comment, Imus has since apologized publicly on several occasions. Yesterday, Imus faced the music on the Rev. Al Sharpton’s radio show. Imagine wearing a pork chop suit and walking into the lion cage at our local zoo, and you might have some idea of what Imus walked into…not that he didn’t have it coming.
Of course, I’m not at all about sympathizing with Don Imus. The man’s an idiot who wouldn’t know funny if it kicked him in the balls. And while I understand the reaction and the anger within the African-American community, there is one very really problem I have. After listening to Sharpton and several other African-American leaders, I can’t help but wonder when these folks lost the capacity to forgive?
African-Americans have every right to be angry with Imus. They have the right to remain angry, if they so choose. They can even (and are) demanding that Imus resign or be fired. After all, this is a free country. I can demand that a Hummer H3 be delivered to me…but that doesn’t mean it’s going to (or should) happen.
What is it about the African-American community that renders them so unwilling to countenance the idea of forgiveness?
(And here’s another reality: if being a racist was cause for losing your job, half the African-American community would be out of work.)
Look, Imus has issued public mea culpas on several occasions. I would have to assume he’s sincere; otherwise, why would he have subjected himself to Sharpton’s hypocritical inqusition? (OK, so there’s the obvious career preservation consideration here, but work with me….) If Imus is sincere, and if he is willing to make a concerted effort to be more careful about the use of racially-charged language in the future, then why are so many African-Americans still demanding Imus’ metaphorical head on a stake?
It’s not like Al Sharpton is a paragon of righteousness himself. The man who brought us Tawana Brawley has not been above using race to further his agenda and polish his own apple. It would be absurd to even think that Sharpton has the credibility to use righteous indignation as a weapon against Don Imus. Neither of these trolls come to the table with clean hands.
So many African-American leaders talk about wanting to be a full partner in today’s America, yet they’re willing to fall back on the sins of the past when it serves their purpose. Even worse, they seem to have completely lost the ability to forgive.
No reasonable person would defend Don Imus…but does it have to be so difficult to do the right thing and forgive the maroon? And what’s so wrong with the idea of a second chance? Let Imus prove that he’s learned his lesson; if he sins again, then by all means feed him to the wolves. Until then, how about losing the faux righteous indignation and stop acting as if you’re still some horribly oppressed minority?
Memo to African-Americans: if you want to be a full partner in the looney bin that is America, you need to have a thick skin. You need to stop living in the past. Slavery ended 142 years ago. My Irish forebears weren’t exactly welcomed with open arms when they came to America, but you don’t see Irish-Americans erupting every time someone tells a demeaning Irish joke. We recognize that being an American means being exposed to a lot of insenstive, ignorant dickweeds. We may not like it, but there it is. Deal with it.
No, our experience was not like yours, but that’s not what this is about. It’s about losing the hair trigger, the virulent self-righteousness, and remembering that sometimes a knuckle-dragging troglodyte is just that. No, Don Imus’ remarks were nothing if not wholly unacceptable. If you were offended by what he said, then exercise your right as an American and tune in someone else’s show, I hear Howard Stern would LOVE to have y’all as listeners. If enough people stop listening to Imus In The Morning, guess what? He’ll lose his platform.
Y’all deserve better, but the display of a complete lack of a willingness to forgive hardly speaks well of the African-American community. Perhaps it’s times to lighten up just a wee bit?
