Thursday, April 12, 2007

Don Imus Vs. The Duke LaCrosse Ho


(Who set black women back more?)


I am absolutely stunned by the fact that Don Imus was fired. This entire story is fascinating and relevant on so many different levels. It actually got crazier because Imus may have killed the New Jersey Governor in a car crash. Corzine was on his way to broker a meeting between the Rutgers women and Imus.

  • Corzine broke his leg, sternum, collarbone, six ribs on each side and a lower vertebra, state police and other government officials said.
Ouch.

A lot of people thought the two-week suspension by CBS was the only doggy bone that would be put out there and that after two weeks Imus would be back on the air and back to the status quo.

After all, the NY Times reported that he brought in $50, yes $50 million in advertising between his TV and radio show.

  • His program generates in excess of $20 million in annual revenue for CBS Radio, his primary employer, and his flagship New York station, WFAN, according to two people apprised of the show’s finances who spoke on condition of anonymity. When advertising revenue for affiliates and MSNBC, which simulcasts the program, is included, the figure exceeds $50 million.

America was supposed to be all about the buck. If you bring in those ad dollars, then you will always win right?

And the craziest shit is that after the Rutgers story broke, his ratings actually went up.

Peep it,




But apparently it wasn't enough. Imus even let Al Sharpton take a verbal tinkle on him on Sharpton's radio show and that couldn't stop the rage.

Then Obama said Imus should get fired. I have to give Obama credit for being the only presidential candidate with the goddamn sense to call for his ouster. Only an ass would think his history of degradation of black women wouldn't come out.

  • Isn’t The Times wonderful,” Mr. Nelson quoted Mr. Imus as saying on the radio. “It lets the cleaning lady cover the White House.”

When bitch-ass closet racists like Guiliani and McCain try to say that shit is gravy because Imus apologized, it makes me wonder what else these fools would do if they even got close to be elected.

And then Oprah booked the Rutgers team on her show.
A Presidential candidate on your side is nice and all, but when Oprah steps on your team, it is a wrap.

The fact that Don Imus was fired for this, after decades of racism, was a sea change for Black representation in the media. If an old guard white man can get taken down by some young basketball playing Negro whippersnappers, then maybe there is some hope for representational justice out there.

But as positive of a statement as it was, it was equally negative because of the ugly spectre of black hypocrisy?

Throughout all of this people started asking, "Why do Black people refuse to criticize themselves?"

The most sickening thing to come out of this was of course from the King Nigger, Snoop Dogg who claimed that the disgusting shit that rappers say is completely different from what Imus said.

  • "It's a completely different scenario," said Snoop, barking over the phone from a hotel room in L.A. "[Rappers] are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We're talking about ho's that's in the 'hood that ain't doing sh--, that's trying to get a n---a for his money. These are two separate things. First of all, we ain't no old-ass white men that sit up on MSNBC [which announced Wednesday it would drop its simulcast of Imus' radio show] going hard on black girls. We are rappers that have these songs coming from our minds and our souls that are relevant to what we feel. I will not let them mutha----as say we in the same league as him."

This is coming from the nigger who showed up to an award show with two black "women" chained to him.





Remember that shit?

Or this shit,

  • Media watchdogs are barking over an MTV cartoon that portrays a Snoop Dogg-like character leading two women around on leashes - before scooping up their poop.

    The new MTV2 animated series "Where My Dogs At?" satirizes such Hollywood stars as Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan.


He also added,

  • "Kick him off the air forever," he said. "Ban him like they did [Adam] 'Pacman' Jones. They kicked him out the [National Football] League for the whole season [for numerous violations of the NFL's personal-conduct policy, including multiple arrests], but this punk gets to get on the air and call black women 'nappy-headed ho's.' "

Isn't this what I said yesterday? Pacman Jones, a fucking criminal who plays football in his spare time has somehow become a freedom fighter.

People need to step up and call this shit out for what it is. Rap and its "culture" is the disease.

  • Where are the calls to prosecute the Duke LaCrosse whore who had 5 different men's semen in her and shitted on Black people and everyone else who supported her?

  • Where are the boycotts of "Flavor of Love?"

  • Or "I Love New York."

  • Of Snoop Dogg's CDs?

  • Of Busta Rhymes and all "Stop Snitching" rappers?

It disgusts me to agree with Bill O'Reilly, (about some of the shit he says here) but he's right about Snoop.



When will Black people get the courage to say what White people get accused of being racist for?

11 comments:

  1. It does seem a bit unusual that, after all the offensive, morally reprehensible things the man has said in his long tenure as a radio host, this would end up being the one thing that finally got him fired. I mean, the comment you quoted about Gwen Ifill, who's never been anything other than intelligent and professional, was easily one of the coldest things I’ve ever heard. And the 60 Minutes thing? Wow. It's kind of surprising that he could survive the sort of controversy that something like that would presumably bring. Don Imus must have been on some Neo-type shit.

    There's a cumulative effect, of course, though.

    That's not to say that his recent comments weren't out of line and this whole blacks understandably offended and angry with person and a bunch of liberal white people turn their collective guilt over their own racism into righteous fury and eviscerate him thing isn't justified. I get it -- fire dude. Not like I'll be missing him. Shit, I didn't even know people still listened to the radio.

    Also, it seems a bit silly to think this is anything other than a financial decision, with the drumbeat for his firing growing progressively louder in spite of his token suspension, the word boycott being thrown around, and corporate overlords slowly beginning to pull their advertising dollars -- even if he was a pretty successful venture for NBC. They certainly didn't suddenly find some internal, corporate conscience after a week or so and realize firing dude was the right thing to do. It's just that people didn't stop pressuring them. Wishful thinking, though, I suppose.

    And lastly, people overstate the value of these kinds of controversies. It seems, more than anything, that these sorts of things just go towards teaching people what they can and can't say in public, a regular reaffirmation of the official line. I highly doubt anything changes as a result. Maybe someday ...

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  2. Why do you moderate comments now? Did something happen?

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  3. Man, I agree with everything you say, except for this:

    "Rap and its 'culture' is the disease."

    People have been arguing that books, music, movies, TV, etc. corrupts society/the youth for ages; those people are always wrong.

    I think you have the causal arrow pointed in the wrong direction.
    Least common denominator black culture (not just rap, but pop R and B, cross-dressing coon movies, hoodrat/thug novels) is for the most part a result, not a cause, of ignorance and irresponsibility.

    People who think that type of "art" constitutes authentic black expression are straight ignorant. Those who know better often fail to criticize these ignorant fools because of insecurity about race and class identity and because of the obsolete notion of preserving racial solidarity at all costs.

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  4. - I'm not saying this is going to bring about some kind of Dead Prez fantasy revolution.

    I'm not that naive. As I said, I didn't even expect dude to get fired. But that fact that he did in 2007, might hopefully mean something.

    - I'm just dealing with spam.

    Eauhellz - People always decry certain media as the new evil. This isn't the same. The outcry against rap today isn't some racist attempt to kill the expression of black people. It's a call for them to step up against the popular images of themselves that they allow others to consume and allow minstrels to profit off of.

    Whites, blacks and everyone else. It may be fucked up for Imus to say a man should pimp slap his black wife, but I think in some ways, the standards to how to talk to black women are lowered by rap.


    What is the mainstream face of black culture in America?
    Sadly, it's hip-hop. And it's not only a result of external forces. This shit is a cycle, meaning rap is a cause for the shit that happens as well.

    I didn't say rap represents all black people, but black people in many ways let it represent them.

    We basically are agreeing that people need to stop the weak racial solidarity argument that gives too many rappers the coon pass they abuse.

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  5. that duke girl is a nappy-headed ho. Uh... um... I mean, black people are the gr8ist!

    I liked Snoop better when he was laiiiiiid back. Free Pacman! So an innocent bystander got shot in the back and will never walk again. Make it rain on dem hoes!

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  6. I'm sorry to be ign'ant but..

    What awards show was that Snooop brought them girls to?

    He's misogynistic and a dumbass, but I'm not the only one who went daaaaamn Snoop!

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  7. I dont think the answer is censorship or protest of rap music.

    Rap music is given too much power and therefore too much blame. The 'pimp' 'hoe' 'bitch' mindstate grew out of 70s pimp and blaxploitation culture. Bishop Don Magic Juan isnt hanging out with Snopp just cuz'

    Where were the protests of Superfly, The Mack, Dolemite, etc in the 70s? Or Iceberg Slim books? Freakin Scarface.

    Why is a music genre singled out exclusively or movies or even TV?

    Don Imus and Snoop are apples and oranges.

    Don Imus has a political platform to shape debate which can lead to public policy. You need $15 dollars to buy a Snoop CD that has a parental warning all over it. The radio version are edited. The videos have whole lines and even hooks blanked out.

    If you want to talk about the objectification of women in videos it isnt any different than what has been going on in American media for ages. From the porn mags, to SI swimsuit issue to Calvin Klein ads to America's Next Top Model.

    It didnt start with rap on any level.

    The real problem is the lack of balance being propogated by record labels, radio stations and video stations that have deemed that only one kind of music and images are to be shown.

    There is a reason why as soon as Bob Johnson sold BET to Viacom they got rid of all the political and news content.

    One style of anything is bad. The crap now being forcefed is bad and a censored, insincere waterdown PM Dawn rap world is bad as well.

    At some point you have to let free expression and free speech continue to take root in any form. Just let everyone have the opportunity to be heard. Remember when radio stations played everything and even non-singles? Remember when video stations played everything?

    You cant have all Tyler Perry movies and say no to Quentin Tarrantino. You cant have all paintings of fruit and sunsets and no Robert Mapelthorpe.

    Public Enemy and NWA existed in the same world. That can happen again.

    It is a slippery slope. What's next after rap? TV? The Shield? The Wire? Sopranos?

    Just like with anything you have deliniate what is for kids and what isnt. What happened to parental responsibility and teaching kids how to think? I grew up listening to everything from the Too Much Trouble who had songs about raping women to De La Soul. I knew it was just music the way the Terminator was just a movie.

    If you have a dumb ass kid that thinks Jim Jones is the "realist" set your foot and teach them what is what about the world.

    Now, you have people counting the 'vulgar' words in songs. How uncritical and intellectually lazy is that?

    Im a grown ass man. If I want to listen to Three 6 Mafia, watch Baby Got Back 186 with a Robert Maplethorpe portrait of MLK pissing on Jesus I should be able to.

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  8. As a fellow grown ass man I definitely understand that sometimes you want to listen to some M.O.P. or Slayer, embrace your ID and headbutt someone.

    No one should tell anyone they can't listen to a song because it says the word fuck 54 times in it.

    I do not fuck with censorship, book burning and all that nonsense.

    All I'm saying is that if you thought it was cool for Imus to get fired, then you should support the criticism of the negative shit rappers do outside of the music.

    Don't just ride out against Imus because he's white. Call out everyone.

    Good shit on the Robert Maplethorpe nod. Never thought I'd see him mentioned here.

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  9. Oh Im all for calling out the legions of Gangstaliciouses out there.

    I guess I was riled up when I listened to Al Sharpton's radio show today.

    He was basically talking about making sure certain music never gets put out.

    If that happens then it is a slippery slope to other things.

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  10. I never thought I would say this but Snoop is kind of right. The reason what Imus said was so egregious is because it was targeted at a group of people that we could put a face to. Snoop creating some caricature and calling her a ho doesn't rise to that level. Its like the difference between telling a "blond is dumb joke" and telling a "sue is dumb joke". One we laugh at, including sue, the second one makes you unconformable.

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  11. I think Snoop was the wrong person to adress this issue considering he had women in chains and called them his ho's just because they would do anything he asks.

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