ROKER: NOT IN MY HOUSE

MSNBC ^ | 4/11/07 | Al Roker

[teddyballgame]

I don't think I've ever had more response to an online journal than yesterday.

As you may know I called for the firing/resignation of WFAN/MSNBC morning host Don Imus. This after he and his morning "Crew" referred to the Rutgers Women’s basketball team as, among other things, "nappy-headed hos." Ugly racism and sexism at its worst.

Based on the passionate responses we got from people on both sides of the issue, it seems we still, after all this time, have a long way to go in our country when it comes to race.

And, by the way, it's not like I hold a deciding vote at CBS, Inc., Mr. Imus' actual employer, or at NBC Universal, the company that owns MSNBC, and my place of employment, NBC News, as to whether Imus and company stay or go.

[MHGinTN]

The true bigots are the bastards at the corporate level hiring pukes like Imus to do exactly what he did and has been doing for years. They know what they're hiring and for what purposes. They also make billions off of the rap crap which does in spades what the fool Imus did in segment.

All this noise in the media condemning Imus is by design misdirecting the issue away from the bigots who hired Imus to make millions off of his denigration of society and coarsening of our culture.

[Froufrou]

I’ve read all the posts and I agree most with CCG.

And the reference to Chris Rock wasn’t lost on me, either. Who does complain when the ‘honkey cracker’ jokes come out?

I think Roker was on the right track, but he should’ve emphasized the avoidance of crassness and not just racial epithets.

[Froufrou]

I mean, making fun of Rosie O’Donuts is fun, too, but it’s not NICE.

[NordP]

Bingo!

[CedarDave]

You have FReep mail

[KeepUSfree]

"Looking back on when I
was a little nappy headed boy"

Stevie Wonder

Well, maybe it was the "ho" part....cause I don't remember anybody chastising Stevie for his lyrics!

[Froufrou]

Because that's the rule Imus broke. It's okay to talk funky, but only if you're black. That's really what I think Roker was pointing to as the "big" wrong.

[TC Rider]

I seem to recall Imus and company saying ugly things about Al for quite a while. They seemed to enjoy denigrating the Today Show and all associated with it. Their emnity for Al seemed to revolve around him being fat.

So, who’s laughing now?

[NCLaw441]

People have written in asking why haven’t I spoken out against others who have made similar transgressions. The answer is simple; one that I’m not particularly proud of: It wasn’t in my “house” and it wasn’t so profoundly blatant.
***

Was Al Roker or someone in his “house” tuned in to Imus that day? Somehow I think not. And if not, then he should make no comment, under the same grounds he has not written a column, to my knowledge, about hip-hop slop.

[trisham]

He knows he’s being a hypocrite about the whole thing.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Sit down Al!...your grits are ready....

[TigersEye]

A team of young women, striving to excel academically and athletically surely does not deserve to have all that they worked for, all that they sacrificed for stripped away in the name of a "comedy show," in the words of Don Imus.

How was anything at all stripped away from them? You say you don't allow "it" in your house but you also call for Imus to be fired. Sounds like you don't know whether you want to control your own remote or give it to the government.

[beeber]

Nappy headed pimp

[BFM]

I think their speech is hateful, too. I don't condone it. Don't allow it in my home. Don't use the words. Don't go to those concerts. Those companies that profit in the demeaning of women via musical lyrics, whether rap or rock, should be put on notice, as should the radio stations that play the music. Others who have used hateful language have recently been fired from prominent radio jobs. They have been held accountable. African-Americans who believe certain elements of rap music, music videos and popular entertainment need to be more respectful toward our own should speak out and repudiate that element. I know I have, and many others have as well.

The question is, Al, "What are you actually going to do about it?"... You got the soap box, Al, what are YOU going to do? Answer: I'll try to burn Imus (white) but absolutely nothing to the others (black).

Al "I See Nuth-thing" Roker is going to do nothing other than run his yap about racism because it "didn't happen in my house".

What a complete fool. Go back to sleep, Al. Al Bundy has more credibility that you.

[Cyman]

I have said this time and again “ The first person that screams racism is usually the racist”

[DustyMoment]

Don has the right to say what he wants but risks getting canned when advertisers pull the plug. There is also the FCC rules. Big difference.

It might be wothwhile to read my post in its entirety. You, apparently, didn't make to the last paragraph of my post which read in full: "The fact of the matter is that if Al doesn't like what Imus says, he doesn't have to listen to him. And, if enough people decide that they don't like what Don Imus says, the market forces will take over and his network will respond accordingly. This is the magic and wonder of capitalism that leftists never have and never will understand. Roker is obviously over his head and out of his league on this one."

[don-o]

it seems we still, after all this time, have a long way to go in our country when it comes to race.

No worries. Poverty Pimps & Race Hustlers, Inc. is doing a booming business.

[Lizavetta]

it seems we still, after all this time, have a long way to go in our country when it comes to race.

Boy, he's got that right. Elected officials in America can suppress evidence that would clear members of one race, for the purpose of getting elected by members of another race.

What do you think about racially-tinged abominations like that, Mr. Weatherman?

((* crickets chirping *))

[DustyMoment]

Not exactly. Don has to answer to employee General Moters and Viacom and not a record label that knows what it is getting when it produces the album.

I would also submit that, within the context of Roker's argument, that going on the public airwaves is a privilege and not a right and he can't say that on the public airwaves in spite of the fact that Roker acknowledges his First Amendment rights to say what he wants. FCC rules have little to do with First Amendment rights. The FCC has previously ruled that obscene language such as the "F-bomb" may not be broadcast over public airwaves unless (in an updated ruling) it's use is part of a news story.

While many people don't like what Imus said and/or the context in which he made his statement, there was nothing in his comment that has been defined or upheld as obscene. IOW, the FCC is a non-player in this debate. Roker is simply trying to toss a red herring into the debate with the whole privilege nonsense. Broadcasters aren't privileged people, they are employees whose job provides them access to a microphone and/or a camera and a high power transmitter.

[bfree]

When those two POS’s go to Duke and apologize on camera, then I MAY care what they say, nah, I never will.