I received a call today from a producer at WVON in Chicago. My good friend Roland Martin (the black dude on CNN) and I are going to discuss Don Imus tomorrow morning at 8 am. I like WVON, it's literally my favorite station in America. There is a great deal of tradition there.
I was involved with the first removal of Don Imus from the air, as I worked with Rev. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton on the phone to talk about ways to deal with him. I mentioned that if African Americans engage in a unified effort to challenge his corporate sponsors, we can bring him down. That is what Jesse and Al did, and it worked. As a Finance Professor, I always look to the money first. That is the most critical element of power in a capitalist democracy.
You can imagine how disappointed I was to see Don Imus back on the air so soon. I admit that when I saw Imus appear on Al Sharpton's show, I really believed he was truly sorry for what he did. For him to repeat his actions is simply baffling, and I wonder out loud Rev. Jackson and Rev Sharpton feel the same way.
I recorded some of my thoughts on Don Imus below. The fact that this man can do what he did the first time, get back on the air and repeat the same stunt one year later is yet another reminder of just how little respect African Americans get in white media. No, it's not mainstream media, because mainstream media should reflect viewpoints from all perspectives. The truth of the matter is that most media is owned by people who are not black, so people like Imus and Bill O'Reilly can get away with this stuff without being forced to engage in any form of respect or responsibility. The ownership structure of American media is an artifact of 400 years of slavery and economic exclusion of African Americans. Our grandparents never had the chance to own CNN, FOX or NBC and they also did not have a chance to own the corporations that financially support these media outlets. African American wealth was stolen from us and now lies, in part, in the hands of companies that support racism on the airwaves.
So, the networks continue to insult black people and there are no consequences. Personally, I am getting tired of this crap. What is most ironic is that no matter what anyone says about black people on the air (lynching Michelle Obama, killing Barack Obama, calling Mrs. Obama a Baby's mama, calling Barack a terrorist, or calling black women Nappy headed hoes), someone is always there from the right wing willing to rationalize this behavior (some, like Juan Williams, are even black). It reminds me of a relative I had with a drinking problem. No matter how much you pointed out his weakness, he always had an explanation. America's addiction to racism is a lot like the addictions of my uncle.
It's actually kind of pathetic.
The video is below:
18 comments:
Al Sharpton hasn't got much room to talk about anything, he owes the IRS backtaxes, so hes a nothing but a big fraud
Al better take care of Al and leave Don Imus alone, at least Don Imus pays his taxes.
I am truly upset by this latest Imus incident. I am not upset with Imus, yes, he should have not asked that question. But let's get to the real problem.
Any time a white person makes a disparaging remark: one word or one sentence, the media is all over it. The first time Imus was given a huge fine, lost his job, had to get "sensitivity" awareness and apologize to everyone and everything. (He spoke 1 adjective considered racial.)
BUT, a black preacher can preach for years about hatred for the whites. Invite others to speak at his church and they, too, speak contempt of the whites and nothing, NOTHING is done. All is explained away. Obama, who attended this church for 20 years and called his "preacher" his spiritual adviser - and NOTHING.
Yes, there is racism in the United States. This is lead by black, nationally recognized people spewing hatred for whites. And what will be done about that? NOTHING
I have never liked Don Imus or his show. But he was publicly humiliated, hit in the pocket and he had to eat those words and apologize to the girls of Rutgers, Black women and the Black race in general. The apology was accepted and we moved on.
That being said, this episode is not noteworthy. We have to pick our battles. We can't spend every minute searching for every possibly covert statement said by every white person. We need to save the uproar for issues like his first incident.... overt statements that can't be misconstrued as anything but the old world racist, backward remark that it is. That is when we pounce.
We are at a critical point in our history where a large percentage of white America are standing with us in this fight. They also want to get to the point where this great country of ours becomes a colorblind force of nature. The white hip hop generation are having their second and third children. They are influencing their parents and their children to not see color. To bring out Jesse, Al, Boyce, Roland and Tavis after every itsy bitsy comment will do more harm than good, possibly alienating our 'bipartisan' support and give us the impression of being thin skinned.
Lets drop this one and move on.
Okay, maybe I was going too far with the media bigots' lack of knowledge of ass-whuppins (my blog disappeared while I was typing it). My parents told my 8 other siblings & me not to fight; Martin Luther King's philosophy was to solve problems in a nonviolent manner. And then there was Malcolm X...
These media bigots need to take their words to the hood; they won't because they are cowards. I get so angry at things they get away with, don't get checked on, and I want to kick their butts personally! No amount of TALKING to them will change anything. The sponsors most likely will not sanction them.
The new excuse for Imus' comment is he was pointing out how Blacks are discriminated against. Therefore he made his comment. Anyone who heard his asking, "What color is he? (Black) Oh well there you have it. . ." and believe this cowardly explanation, is foolishly in denial! Imus is a bigot, period. He, Fox News, _ucker Carlson & Pat Buchannon on MSNBC, Rush Limbaugh, and others either got beaten up in school by a Black dude and/or they are acting out on what they learned in early stages of their lives. The lesson: they are superior to all nonwhite folks. (Just not in the boxing ring, golf, baseball, basketball, football, tennis, music and cultural creativity.) They hate Black people and have public forums via the media to cleverly say so; they "throw a rock and run."
Someday someone just might have enough courage to check each of them properly, and that's real talk!
I wouldn't care about Imus. Or waste my time. If they do this for attention, the more attention we give them, the more they do it. And why are we attacking Imus if he didn't make the comment or even started it? Whoever his co-anchor is should be held accountable. I even heard Imus studder after the comment, like he knew dude shouldn't have said that. duh.. he was probably thinking about his pocketbooks.
Surprise, surprise, that hateful man is up to it again. How old are you guys. How many times have you been in a situation where a caucasian person appoligized for a racial statement or comment only to observe that same person doing the same thing to someone else. As Boyce watkins stated' "Don't believe the hype." Sometimes people are truly sorry for what they have done but come on guys, been there done that. Don Imus and people like him can appoligize all they want but they are hateful to the root.
I did think about those young black women that sat and listened to Imus and probally believed his words. In fact black people are a very forgiving people. I wonder what they are thinking now. Time to grow up everyone. Hold your head up, remain human, and move on. Those jackasses, Imus, Hannity, O'Reilly and their bosses hate balck people/brown people. Let's focus more on our souls and our development. They can focus on our backs as we move pass them. God Bless.
Previous comment at 6.27 - you are right - those you mention by name do hate black / brown people and I doubt there's anything that could be done to change that - we shouldn't even waste our time and energy trying. But the real problem is that these individuals have so much power - power to make others think like them. In stead of using their platforms to educate people, they use their positions in the media to make their audience even more dumb, even more fearful and they give license to them exercising even more bigotry. That's what bothers me. They thrive on hate, they're utterly destructive and they're not going to give up their claim to supremacy. That is why I think we must keep up the pressure and hold them accountable wherever possible. It's such a bore even having to think about such unpleasant people but I don't think we can afford to totally ignore them. (And by the way; you 'moved passed them' a LONG time ago)
White people been doing this shit for centuries. When are black people going to learn?
Imus is the average human who has formed thoughts and ideas through experience, not simply because he heard someone else say something about whatever.
We all learn from blacks that it’s okay to call others derogatory names, we learned that white people can’t dance, that only blacks can really play basketball, football, etc. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, right? Well, not if they’re of different colors, it seems in our racists, anti-white society.
As far as the recent media beating Don Imus is taking, well, why didn’t media attack Barack Obama when he said something along the same lines as Imus just did 6/23/2008 …in other words. Specifically, I am speaking of when Bill Clinton claimed that he was the first black president. Obama said something along the lines of “I’d have to see Mr. Clinton dance before I could determine if he was really black or not.” That comment was met with laughter from all sides.
I was offended by Obama's comment, because of the double standard on what we're allowed to say. Apparently, blacks have REAL free speech, while whites are severely censored, even if it is the same thing the blacks are syaing.
It's this over-sensitiviity displayed by many blacks, i.e. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Quanell X, etc. that fuel separation and hatred between our races. When are we all going to just become Americans together and drop all of these power struggles ?!
If a black person said the same thing about a white person you wouldn't be hearing a thing about it. Many blacks fall for the whining of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and others and you all come across as a bunch of cry babies. The rest of us are sick of it. Grow up! It's Sharpton, Farahkan, Jackson and others that are keeping black people down, it's not whitey. You're using whitey as an excuse.
Previous comment at 7:41 "Farahkan, Malcolm X, Jesse, Sharpton do hate [white] people and I doubt there's anything that could be done to change that - we shouldn't even waste our time and energy trying. But the real problem is that these individuals have so much power - power to make others think like them. In stead of using their platforms to educate people, they use their positions in the media to make their audience even more dumb, even more fearful and they give license to them exercising even more bigotry. That's what bothers me. They thrive on hate, they're utterly destructive and they're not going to give up their claim to supremacy. That is why I think we must [start] the pressure and hold them accountable wherever possible. It's such a bore even having to think about such unpleasant people but I don't think we can afford to totally ignore them.
Keeping the black man down is quite a business/money maker for the above named. It pays them to keep it goin'.
If a black person said that about white people, he would be off the air in two seconds. If he said it about a Jew, he would be off the air and then get sued for all the money he made while he was on the air. He says that about black people....nothing.
There are few examples of black people kicked off the air for doing what Imus did, because they don't hire black people in the first place. White people are in a position to oppress, that makes their actions that much more detrimental. I also love it how someone thinks that Jeremiah Wright is like the racist Sean Hannity, just black. Jeremiah Wright spent his whole life with white america killing his friends and family and fucking over his people. There is a difference between fighting racists and creating racism. White people are so undeducated that they don't get it.
Yes - in all the countries I've traveled to (and I've been to all continents) I have to admit that generally speaking, white Americans are the least educated people I've come across. Sadly, they also tend to have the greatest capacity to hate. Even in remote parts of Nigeria and Ghana where education is less available to the poor, I've found the local people have a far more worldly perspective than the average white American. I'm not saying 'all' white Americans are like this - just far too many. (You only have to read some of these anonymous comments to appreciate the lack of understanding out there...)
The reports on Don Imus. I think they are patently unfair because I've been listening to him for years and though I know not everyone can appreciate sarcasm for what it is, I also believe we are jumping the gun with this man. If anyone cares to remember, when Harold Ford, Jr. (Tennessee) was running for election it was Don Imus who are basically slapping the wrists of white voters who he accused of not voting for Ford simply based on color. He made quite an issue of it and did it repeatedly. As for this latest incident, I saw the video. Imus just was making the point that blacks are consistently subject to racial bias and this was just one more example. His efforts to educate his own audience (as well as his own self) have been more than evident what this the people he has been bringing on his show to interview. Don't think I'm trying to stump for the white guy (I won't even date interracially) but let's be fair.
Dr. Watkins, get yourself a copy of the video or audio tape of the incident concerning Don Imus's comments and compare what Imus and Wolfe said and what you heard from your friend and what you said concerning the comments! It seems that if you have a doctorate degree you should be concerned about getting your facts straigt. Or simply watch a Imus program and see if your conclusion is that imus is racist.
ANONYMOUS SAID PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES SHOULD NOT THROW STONES THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IS GOING TO BE A BLACK MAN SO WHY IS IT OK FOR THE GREAT AND ALL POWERFUL REV JESSE JACKSON TO USE THE N WORD REFFERING TO BARACK OBAMA
Post a Comment