Don Imus – The Language of Race

04/13/07 | Rick Vassar

[Rick Vassar]

Don Imus – The Language of Race by Rick Vassar (13 April 2007)

“From the outset, I believe all of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air…”

- CBS President And CEO Leslie Moonves

The level of Les Moonves’ revulsion grew as Imus advertisers began to pull out in droves. American Express, Sprint/Nextel, Proctor & Gamble, GM, and Staples all announced that they were disassociating themselves from Imus and the fray, and Moonves’ outrage grew as the bottom line began to shrink.

MSNBC – well that’s a no brainer. Nobody is going to watch an elderly man and his middle-aged sidekicks sit around and tell bad jokes into a microphone. Heck, the Imus audience on MSNBC was made up of people who were too lazy to get up in the morning and turn on their radios. Instead, they rolled over, picked up the remote and put on TV Imus.

Nobody actually watched it.

Les Moonves is not morally outraged. He is financially outraged. In less than one week, Don Imus went from being an asset to CBS to a bleeding liability. CBS cut its losses and ended the relationship. When Imus moved from the plus side to the minus side of the ledger, it was over.

Don Imus made a crass, off the cuff comment that was wildly inappropriate, offensive and hurtful. That’s what he was hired to do, and he has been doing it for years. As Howard Stern moved the line of civility, Don Imus followed right along.

The conversation now centers on whether you believe Don Imus to be a racist. Some in the African-American community say that because it came out of his mouth, it must be close to the surface and are his true feelings. Others say that this is how white people talk when no one else is around.

These arguments are inherently racist. To believe either scenario, one must believe that all white people are racist. And that argument itself is racist. To make assertions about a group of people based on the color of their skin is the definition of racism. We assume that what Imus said is what he believes, and that may or may not be true.

So where do we go from here?

Maybe it starts with cleaning up the language a little bit. I mean, you can say “F- you” on the radio but not the real phrase, although everyone over the age of seven knows what it means.

“B--ch” and “‘ho” have become so commonplace that no one really blinked when Imus uttered the word – it was who it was uttered about that caused the uproar. What about the “n- word”? This word is so offensive that when spoken, it just breathes hatred. Yet, in the African-American community, it is more often than not used as a term of endearment. If the word is so divisive, then why doesn’t everyone try to use it a little less often?

Look at the words from the Ice Cube song Giving Up the Nappy Dugout ***explicit lyrics***. On Amazon, it’s called “a tale about an overprotective father who screens his daughter’s date at the front door.”

Uh, no…

This song, from the Death Certificate album, sold over 2 million copies in 1991-92. It is reasonable to believe that with that many copies out there, this song has probably been played close to a billion times. For those of you who understand what the title means, the lyrics are 100 times more offensive.

The point…

Maybe for the conversation to change, the language should change. This is not a matter of free speech. It’s just common decency.

If we continue to divide on language, we will never come together on race.

http://insurance-guy.blogspot.com/2007/04/don-imus-language-of-race.html

[JZelle]

Coming soon:
NAPPILY EVER AFTER

starring Halle Berry

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365545/

[dynachrome]

Wanna bet that there is a title change forthcoming?

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Nobody actually watched it.

For no one ever having watched the program, it sure seems that a lot of folks know a lot about it....

[TigersEye]

Obama jacking street cred with homey Ludacris.

"It's two a.m. in the morning and it uhh..
Light showers and you're probably hookin up with that girl
That's been, two-wayin you all week. her baby daddy's out
Of town so uhh, you can f#*k around. it's okay to check in
That motel 6. $59.95, not a cent more, for that dirty-ass ho.
Yeah. stop by that convenience store and pick up them rubbers -
Magnum i hope. this is phazon love and uhh, i love hoes.
I just don't pay 'em!"

"Cut up! know we like that, get that cut up
Freaky thangs, we be bout 'em
Get that cut up! oh-whooooooo, cut up
Freaky thangs, we be bout 'em"

Ludacris - Word of Mouf
(Warning: The rest of the lyrics are, more blatantly, XXX)

Ludacris has about six albums worth of songs like this.
Probably 10% are about drugs and/or violence instead of just hoes. It's obvious how much he "loves" black women.

[ClearCase_guy]

Sniff! Ludacris writes such lovely poetry! It’s ... it’s like Chaucer.

[isrul]

There’s some Stevie Wonder song that includes the term “nappy headed”. Don’t know the title because any time I hear one of his songs, I change the station asap.

[TigersEye]

Yes he does and so does Ice Cube. I just wish I understood the language better.
I'm sooooooo white. What does Nappy Dugout mean? /s

[ClearCase_guy]

Don’t know the title because any time I hear one of his songs, I change the station asap.

I'm not sure you're allowed to do that.

[Blue State Insurgent]

PURSUIT OF NAPPYNESS

[Rick Vassar]

google it

[gunnyg]

Speaking of Imus...

So where is the List of Sponsors that NBC/CBS were so scared ****less of losing that they put the **** to Imus?????

I’d like to see the list—I got some **** for them too!
In my own small way.

Just Plain D!ck
The least I can do...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Star Traveler]

You said — “Warning: The rest of the lyrics are, more blatantly, XXX”

Well, my goodness, they sure are! And I don’t even get half of it, so it’s probalby twice as bad as I really understand...

It’s no wonder that our 13-18 year olds are having these s&f parties and filming themselves doing it all... This is what it has come to.

Regards,
Star Traveler

[Star Traveler]

I guess the idea is that old white guys on the radio can’t be calling them nappy headed hoes, but Ludacris sure can — and — say what he’s going to do to them, and make millions while he’s at it...

Regards,
Star Traveler

[Suzy Quzy]

THAT’s A SONG???? OMG!!

[Frank_2001]

That was about his biggest hit ever! Back in ‘77, it was on the radio every 10 minutes or so....

[Frank_2001]

Nat “King” Cole, he ain’t;)

[Harrius Magnus]

Or maybe we should thicken our skin some and stop using race as a political poker chip. Sorry, Charlie, but you do not have a right not to be offended, so hyperventilate somewhere where you’re comfortable while I practice FOS. Indeed, I would argue multiculturalism is a much more relevant societal ill than race, this day and age. When truth is honored again, I will start worrying about stepping on your pretty little twinkle toes.

[Suzy Quzy]

It’s worse than I thought!

[TigersEye]

That's just one of his "songs." There were quite a few others I couldn't excerpt without having to disguise so much of it with symbols that it would have looked like lines of code. Also this one had a definite affectionate tone towards the "hoes" whereas a number of others tended to lean towards beating them and cheating them then leaving them.

It is also obvious that the "hoes" referred to are not, in most cases, professional prostitutes. Ludacris is talking about women in general. One of the worst was a duet with none other than Dog Poopy Scoop so I think we can kick the Scoops excuses from yesterday to the curb. He's a liar.