That perfectly describes the new standard that's been set. Any comment containing a reference to race and/or gender that is crude and classless qualifies. It's not an automatic disqualifier to broadcast though. It must be called out by an official arbiter of racism or sexism.
...hence Jackson and Sharpton. I hate to sound cynical here, but it has crossed my mind in the past couple of days that Jackson and Sharpton may have intentionally picked the Imus "controversy" because of its convenient timing.
Think about it. A couple of weeks ago Jackson and Sharpton knew, like everybody else, that the dismissal announcement in the Duke Lacrosse case was imminent on the horizon, and that announcement could bring them both huge potential embarassment considering how they both vocally supported Mangum, the lying "ho" stripper, and how they both condemned the innocent Lacrosse players.
Imus' remark handed them the perfect opportunity to keep themselves off the designated apology section of the front pages. Even though his remark wasn't really anything more than an off color joke, and even though Imus did that sort of thing all the time, it could be spun into another Michael Richards type controversy if Sharpton and Jackson played it right. And play it they did - just enough to keep themselves out of the Duke story while simultaneously laying a false and unearned claim to the moral highground over Imus.
Any other week of the year and Sharpton/Jackson very possibly would not have even wasted their time with Imus. But in a week where they themselves could easily become the subject of a very embarassing strike against their own reprehensible behavior, they needed something else and they needed it quick. Then an oblivious blithering radio host gave it to them.