Showing posts with label Don Imus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Don Imus. Show all posts
Thursday, June 09, 2011
Monday, October 08, 2007
Don Imus, Like a UFO, Keeps Coming Back
Don Imus Close To Deal for Return To Airwaves Dec. 1
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
10-6-07
Don Imus appears to be heading back to the airwaves.By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
10-6-07
Less than six months after his long-running radio program was terminated in an uproar over a racial remark, the sharp-tongued host has come to financial terms with one of the nation's top broadcasting companies.
A source familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, said the contractual details would likely be finalized within a week. Although the deal, which would pay Imus millions of dollars, might hit a last-minute snag, the Imus team is confident that he will be back on the air around Dec. 1.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Imus Isn't The Real Bad Guy
By JASON WHITLOCK
The Kansas City Star
4-11-07
Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture.
The Kansas City Star
4-11-07
Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture.
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Thank you, Don Imus. You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem.You’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.
You’ve given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.
Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.
The bigots win again.
While we’re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I’m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.
I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.
It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.
Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves.
It’s embarrassing. Dave Chappelle was offered $50 million to make racially insensitive jokes about black and white people on TV. He was hailed as a genius. Black comedians routinely crack jokes about white and black people, and we all laugh out loud.
I’m no Don Imus apologist. He and his tiny companion Mike Lupica blasted me after I fell out with ESPN. Imus is a hack.
But, in my view, he didn’t do anything outside the norm for shock jocks and comedians. He also offered an apology. That should’ve been the end of this whole affair. Instead, it’s only the beginning. It’s an opportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$.
I watched the Rutgers news conference and was ashamed.
Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for eight minutes in 1963 at the March on Washington. At the time, black people could be lynched and denied fundamental rights with little thought. With the comments of a talk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last week serving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes about the amazing season her team had.
Somehow, we’re supposed to believe that the comments of a man with virtually no connection to the sports world ruined Rutgers’ wonderful season. Had a broadcaster with credibility and a platform in the sports world uttered the words Imus did, I could understand a level of outrage.
But an hourlong press conference over a man who has already apologized, already been suspended and is already insignificant is just plain intellectually dishonest. This is opportunism. This is a distraction.
In the grand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat to black women in particular. If his words are so powerful and so destructive and must be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we do about the idiot rappers on BET, MTV and every black-owned radio station in the country who use words much more powerful and much more destructive?
I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuing education and that they’re selling out their race if they do?
When Imus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset. Until then, he is what he is — a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore when you’re not looking to be made a victim.
No. We all know where the real battleground is. We know that the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show. There’s no money and lots of danger in that battle, so Jesse and Al are going to sit it out.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
The Phenomenon of Don Imus, The Media and UFOs
By Frank Warren
The UFO Chronicles
4-10-07
I’m sure you’re wondering what the hell Don Imus has to do with UFOs; the answer is very little (to the best of my knowledge).
That said, the little part is that Imus (like UFOs), in his own right is a phenomena unto himself; he’s one of the original “shock jocks” (along with Howard Stern); in fact, the term may have been borne shortly after their respective careers were launched.
In 1973 Imus was described (in print) as, “outrageous, irreverent, hilarious, brash, insane, ridiculous, and phenomenal!” For the most part, those adjectives can still be used today; however, as is always the case with time, the man, his career, and his show have evolved.
The Imus in The Morning Show, has been for many years now, a platform for politicos and leading journalists alike to voice their outlooks, ideologies etc., and that is inclusive of former Presidents, and those striving for the office.
Anyone who has watched, and or listened to Don Imus knows that there exists a locker-room, blue comedic atmosphere that many would find offensive. No one is excepted from the barbs that originate in either a skit, and or dialogue; this is inclusive of any race, creed, color and or gender.
On the flip-side, Imus is known for calling a spade a spade and often takes politicians, journalists to task; e.g., the recent debacle at the Walter Reed Hospital; this mix has served him well, and garnered him popularity and high ratings.
Unless you’ve been devoid of all electronic media sources you’ve undoubtedly heard about Imus’ “nappy headed ho” remark, which now saturates all sources of news venues. The comment was made in reference to Rutgers University Women's Basketball team and has snow-balled into the other phenomena i.e., the media’s fervor” in covering those three words and his use of them!
Sadly, everybody and their brother is jumping on their respective soapboxes to not only express their views, but to make ultimatums (short of lynching the man) e.g., calling for his dismissal etc.
For those passing judgment on Don Imus based on the three word sound bite, (that will unquestionably permeate the airwaves for the next few weeks) take a minute, and reread the previous paragraphs. Imus in his own defense highlighted the context in how these comments were made, and stated he intended no malice, but admitted that regardless of intent the damage was done; he has since overwhelming apologized and even did so on one of his biggest disparagers (to put it mildly) i.e., the Reverend Al Sharpton’s radio show. (He also has requested to apologize directly to the team and their families themselves).
The Rev. Jesse Jackson has also jumped on the bandwagon, and drawn a line in the sand, stating that you’re either with us (fire Imus) or with him.
There’s certainly no debate that what Imus said can be offensive, but this type of “crass humor” isn’t new, or isolated; Pryor, Murphy and Chris Rock come to mind; given the same set of circumstances methinks had one of them been the purveyor of the remark(s) this wouldn’t be occupying the American mindset presently. For those that believe that it’s OK for an African American to throw racist barbs at another African American, the idea is ludicrous!
Finally, the harshest critics of Imus, i.e., Sharpton and Jackson are no strangers to the very same hot seat that Don Imus now occupies; let us not forget Jackson’s referral to Jews as "Hymies" and to New York City as "Hymietown" or Sharpton’s defamatory statements about Pagones, Maddox re the Tawana Brawley case in which he was successfully sued for liable. (Jackson asked for forgiveness—sound familiar?)
The importance of, and acknowledgment that racism is still prevalent in our society goes without saying, but to inflame the populace at the expense of Don Imus for his crass sense of humor is not the solution; in fact in my view, it’s part of the problem!
Sharpton and Jackson, are using this incident for their own political purposes and agendas; the media is reporting it for the money, i.e., ratings etc., and Don Imus is left with his foot in his mouth seeking redemption.
Personally, I believe Imus is genuinely sorry for his remarks, and is not a racist and has had the guts to humbly apologize; furthermore, it is my hope that he will be allowed to convey this directly to the Rutgers University Women's Basketball team and let them judge him directly, rather then through all the media propaganda and opportunists!