by: B.J.
Posted: April 13, 2007
Don Imus’s crass
attempt of comedy by defaming the character of The Rutgers University’s
college women’s basketball team has created a firestorm in this country that
was LONG overdue. For that reason alone, I would like to personally thank Imus
for his crass attempt of comedy. There’s
no doubt that talk radio has lost its steam in the past few years, mainly
because the entertainment value (which is what this is ALL supposed to be about)
has suffered mightily. Many of the
present shortcomings in talk radio aren’t entirely the on-air talent’s
fault, however. Many of these
problems are attributed to media consolidation, over-syndication, and
heavy-handed management practices in the industry.
What media consolidation has done is eliminated the competition component
from the equation, thus discouraging new and refreshing talents to enter this
industry—which is EXACTLY what the talk radio industry needs right now.
In saying all of that, I still realize that it is the sole discretion of
a company to make whatever hiring/firing decisions they want to make for
whatever reason they see fit. In
addition, media consolidation has virtually eliminated the incentive to address
the slippage in the overall interest in talk radio.
With
that being said, many on-air talents tend to go further and further “outside
the box” to keep their listeners entertained.
This is a very risky and dangerous practice, and unfortunately, I believe
that this is what led Imus to make the statement he made.
In fact, Don Imus has a history of making outrageous statements, however
his latest statements barked up the WRONG tree—the tree of the “African
Queen” (despite the fact that two of the Rutgers women’s basketball players
are white). His comments, as bad as
they might have been perceived, is exactly what this country needed when it
comes to addressing the tense race relations between whites and blacks in
America. It also brings to light
the race that’s more prone to racist behaviors, beliefs, and thought
processes today. Without doubt,
this dubious distinction must reside with African-Americans, as of now.
When
I use the term African-American, I use it to describe American blacks that
refuse to identify themselves with their TRUE country of origin.
Their taught hatred of this country compels them to call themselves this
divisive name. True enough, some
American blacks who use this connotation are just going along with the so-called
leaders current decision to use the term African-American, but most people who
actually feel that the term African-American is the appropriate description of a
true black American are doing it for nothing short of racist reasons.
Over the past forty years at least, African-Americans have succeeded the
most racist of whites in furthering racial tension and division between the
black and white races in this country, and Imus’s words have reopened racial
scars that weren’t properly healed in this country, and for that I must say,
“Thanks.”
Although
I truly believe that Imus’s statements weren’t racist in nature, or intended
to be racist, his statements clearly exposed the extreme “chip” many blacks
still have on their shoulders regarding race, and we have white liberals (which
are the TRUE racists of the white race) and so-called black leadership to thank
for this. These two entities have
united together to create a very irrational mindset among African-Americans that
leads them to believe that white Americans overall still have a deeply rooted
hatred of blacks, and there is NO statement further than the truth.
White Americans today have bent over backwards to disprove the notion
that they hate blacks based on the color of their skin alone.
They have remained silent (for the most part) while the black community
continues to participate in behaviors that are destroying their own race. In addition, white Americans have allowed false accusations
of racism to alter their true grievances about blacks, many of which are very
legitimate today, and should be publicly expressed. The truth of the matter is that the silence of white
Americans does black Americans no good—especially when black Americans depend
so much on white affirmation for so many things.
In addition, I believe that Imus’s fate (his firing) might have
compelled many white and black Americans to express this openly and honestly.
We have Imus to thank for this as well.
Open
and honest dialogue about racial matters is the only way we can remove the
racial tension between whites and blacks, and this is where I believe the
direction of the civil rights struggle was headed before the movement became
hijacked by a bunch of race-bating pimps who use racial hatred and division for
their own personal gain. Coupled
with white guilt, these race-baiters, otherwise known as black leadership (i.e.,
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton), have built their fortune by doing whatever
possible to keep this tension alive and current between the races.
They have no interest in open and honest dialogue because they have any
interest in actually solving race relations in this country, since they derive
their power and wealth from not doing so. Many
black Americans are very aware of this, and white Americans are starting to
realize it, and we have Imus to thank for this also.
Not
only are many black Americans publicly rejecting the notion that Jesse Jackson
and Al Sharpton are their leaders, they are also publicly rejecting the obvious
degradation of their women at the hands of rap artists—many of which that are
black. Therefore, white Americans
are finally becoming aware that there are plenty of black Americans that share
similar grievances and frustrations that they have, and they are not all rooted
around the notion that all white Americans are racist.
This is a very refreshing discovery to white Americans, and if it
weren’t for Imus’s statements, many white Americans might not realize this.
Since this Imus situation was blown way out of proportion, I believe that
we have reached a time in this country where “Enough is enough.”
Now we are closer than at any point in our nation’s history towards the
open and honest dialogue between the races that is sorely needed—much to the
dismay of so-called black leadership. We also have Imus to thank for this.
All
we as blacks ever needed from white Americans is honesty, open communication,
and equal treatment under the law. We
did not need any special handouts, favors, or set-asides.
Those things are nothing short of an admission that we still are NOT
equal—and that is NOT what the original civil-rights argument was all about.
Nor was the original civil rights movement about demanding apologies for
previous atrocities at the hands of white American ancestry. That definitely does us no good today, and neither does the
misplaced guilt of white Americans that causes them to suppress their honest and
candid opinions about self-destructive black behaviors.