Nappy Headed Hos

[monsoon]

IMO, MSNBC and CBS fired Imus for the simple reason that advertisers dropped him like a hot potato. If that not had happened, he probably would still have his job.

[Michi]

^ That's a good point. What ever happened to the Michael Richards outrage? To me, his outburst war far more offensive than Imus' for the simple reason that it seemed to have a higher level of intention as it was repeated over and over. I suppose the Imus controversy will just get swept under the rug just as well.

[FromCityToRural]

^Honestly I think people are being disingenuous when they claim they didn't know that a white person referring to a black person as "nappy headed" does not have bigotry spread all over it. If you truly don't understand this then I would say you have led a particularly sheltered life and it would pay for you to listen to the people in this thread who do say it is considered a bigoted and hurtful thing to say. It might help to learn a little beyond what be seen outside your own front window.

[monsoon]

All I can say is, I beg to differ on so many levels...

[Captain Worley]

My parents taught me to be polite, but i really didn't know 'nappy headed' was racist. Believe me or not.

I'm surprised people are more upset at that than they seem to be at Imus calling the women hos. At least, that's the perception I get from watching the news.

[Charlotteman]

A personal feeling about this specific slur from Imus----I am caucasian but I happen to have "nappy" hair. Probably from my Irish heritage:) who knows? hehe But the point is, people both black and white have called me "nappy headed" almost my whole life. IT DOES NOT FEEL GOOD. It feels like an insult, which it is. So those of you who think calling someone nappy headed is benign, think again.

Calling people names, whether it is fat, or ugly, or stupid, or nappy headed, or the N word or the C word, whatever, it's very ugly-----RESPECTFUL PEOPLE DO NOT CALL OTHER PEOPLE NAMES. Words can hurt. No doubt about it.

[nowensone]

My parents taught me to be polite, but i really didn't know 'nappy headed' was racist. Believe me or not.

I'm surprised people are more upset at that than they seem to be at Imus calling the women hos. At least, that's the perception I get from watching the news.

[JDC]

Well obviously it's not okay to make racial jokes of any kind. It's just not tolerated by the general public. So why are gay jokes still so widely accepted? Turn on any talk show or late night program and you'll hear gay jokes. Even on the news - I once heard Pat Buchanan refer to someone as a "flamer" on MSNBC - no public outcry for his dismissal. Nobody batted an eye.

Harvey Fierstein wrote a pretty good guest column in the NY Times relating to this.

Face it, if a Pentagon general, his salary paid with my tax dollars, can label homosexual acts as

[monsoon]

.... Hos, a derogatory term for women, is OK, .....

[nowensone]

^ That is itself disingenuous, one, you know what is meant by "it is OK" in this context, and two, Imus would not have been fired for calling the Rutgers

[Charlotteman]

Speaking of the acceptability of gay jokes----call me weird but I'm gay and I happen to get a huge kick out of gay jokes. Not the violent, hate type. The sexual-edged gay jokes I find hilarious. But that's just me:)

Now if Ann Coulter makes a gay joke I would feel differently. maybe it has to do with who's telling the joke. Some people in our culture are still in the stone ages about gay people, so we won't even bring them into this discussion.

Actually I think the last bastion of ugly names being accepted in our culture is "fat". Calling someone fat is soooooooooooooooo mean and ugly. But it is accepted in many spheres in life, just like "ho" is.

Ho is getting to be an overused word. Used so much it hardly has any true meaning anymore. But it still sounds like an insult to me, along with fat and every other ugly name people call other people.

[monsoon]

^You don't know that.

I fully believe he was fired for making the insults to a specific set of girls and not for the specific slur. These women were well accomplished, deserving of our admiration and an example for everyone to follow. And they were slapped in the face by someone in the media because they did not appeal to his idea of what a woman should look like. This was why it was unacceptable and so offensive. I said this in my first response in this thread so I am not being disingenuous. (go back and look if you like)

In addition, I also said that he was fired because the advertisers dropped him like a hot potato. Please check that earlier too. Sharpton and other's are opportunists taking advantage of the situation however the fact remains that he was fired because the only color that matters to the media is Green. Their actions in this matter was irrelevant.

I would contend that it is not acceptable for any broadcaster to refer to any woman as a Ho. People won't accept it and they would most likely be fired.

[FromCityToRural]

In what way? That it isn't offensive? That civilized people don't treat each other this way? Please tell us why it is OK to mock someone as nappy headed. Especially when it is a White man saying it about a Black woman he doesn't know.

I will repeat myself, anybody who has grown up in this country, who doesn't know this is wrong was not taught good manners by their mother, and/or is just being disingenious because there is no other way to justify what Imus did.

[Eastwestrob]

I am glad he is gone...I am disappointed that it took a tasteless comment to get rid of him....Here is my interpretation of peppermint...I mean Imus..."uuuh....welllll...hmmmm....cough...."

[richyb83]

I have barely even noticed who Imus was before all of this happened. Of course he was wrong.

But I will have to agree with ex-athlete's Charles Barkley and Jim Brown. Sharpton and Jackson do make things worse. He want's to know "who made them President and Vice Pres. of Black America"?? They just spread more gasoline over the flame. ex- the Duke La Crosse players that were ruled not guilty. There names are tarnished missing the championships and their coach fired. MLK would not condone Sharpton attitude.

[Charlotteman]

fromcitytorural, I noticed in your post you mentioned being unfamiliar with the term "nappy headed". Then you termed it an "affliction"..........

Not trying to attack you in a PC mode, but your comment shows that "nappy headed" is indeed a slur, an insult. You weren't familiar with the term, but you assumed it was an affliction. No fault of yours though. It's something you had never heard of. (I'm definitely not attacking you fromcitytorural.)

Again, there are plenty of nappy headed white folks, myself included. BUT when someone who happens to be white uses the term about someone who happens to be black---it goes into dangerous waters.

This thread is really excellent I think. It is bringing out some really important issues for us all to contemplate.

[krazeeboi]

Ho is getting to be an overused word. Used so much it hardly has any true meaning anymore. But it still sounds like an insult to me, along with fat and every other ugly name people call other people.

[FromCityToRural]

fromcitytorural, I noticed in your post you mentioned being unfamiliar with the term "nappy headed". Then you termed it an "affliction"..........

Not trying to attack you in a PC mode, but your comment shows that "nappy headed" is indeed a slur, an insult. You weren't familiar with the term, but you assumed it was an affliction. No fault of yours though. It's something you had never heard of. (I'm definitely not attacking you fromcitytorural.)

Again, there are plenty of nappy headed white folks, myself included. BUT when someone who happens to be white uses the term about someone who happens to be black---it goes into dangerous waters.

This thread is really excellent I think. It is bringing out some really important issues for us all to contemplate.

[Snowguy716]

I saw the entire issue as a witch hunt. Imus is an idiot and what he said was pretty racist and stupid. But that's just it: They're words. Ever heard the childhood saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." I think the people that were out on this witch hunt including Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson need to sit down and think about what those words mean.

Racism is everywhere in our society and it is wrong and unnecessary. Those that prevailed in getting Imus canned do nothing more than divide America further. Let's talk unity instead of who hates who and what racially charged words are most offensive.

[M. Brown]

Here is my take.

Do I think he is racist.? No. He was just being stupid and wasn't thinking.

Do I think what he said was racist? Yes.

Do I think he should have been fired? No, but I do think that a very long suspension would be good.

Do I think the black community should stop saying words like ni99a etc? Yes. I am black and don't say these things. If the word was meant to be used to lessen blacks then why say it ourselves?

[MadVlad]

Here is my take.

Do I think he is racist.? No. He was just being stupid and wasn't thinking.

Do I think what he said was racist? Yes.

Do I think he should have been fired? No, but I do think that a very long suspension would be good.

Do I think the black community should stop saying words like ni99a etc? Yes. I am black and don't say these things. If the word was meant to be used to lessen blacks then why say it ourselves?

[Charlotteman]

M. Brown I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who is offended by hearing black people use the N word. It is disrespectful beyond words, and it should never become an acceptable word in our language.

Imus apparently used these kind of questionable references for a long time before his recent troubles. It is easy to say "why is he on the hot seat now?" But metro said it well when he mentioned that Imus's insult wasn't just about hair. He was speaking ugly about people we should all be very proud of, the women's basketball team. Those gals are the kind of disciplined, proud, and hard working people that we all should strive to be like. Imus's comment attempted to reduce them to a meaningless group of nobodies.

Thank our lucky stars that people finally had enough of Imus's uncouth remarks. To insult such an admirable group of people as the women's basketball team is really more than anyone could find amusing.

[Charlotteman]

Imus is at it again!

In a recent radio show during a discussion of Dallas Cowboys player Adam Jones, who is in a legal mess:

Imus: "What color is he? (Jones)"

Show guest: "African-American."

Imus: "Well there you go."

Okay this is it folks. If there was any doubt before, there isn't any now. The man should be removed permanently from his job. We just can't take the chance that impressionable kids will hear him and think his comments are "okay".

[dxartist]

Imus is at it again!

In a recent radio show during a discussion of Dallas Cowboys player Adam Jones, who is in a legal mess:

Imus: "What color is he? (Jones)"

Show guest: "African-American."

Imus: "Well there you go."

Okay this is it folks. If there was any doubt before, there isn't any now. The man should be removed permanently from his job. We just can't take the chance that impressionable kids will hear him and think his comments are "okay".

[Raintree21]

While I don't think it was an appropriate comment, I look at it as if you don't like it or agree with it, don't listen to him. He has a right to say whatever he wants as an American. It's in the Constitution. Remember, he's a shock jock so he's doing what he does best. I don't like Imus so I don't listen to him. I don't like rap or agree with (some of) the message of many songs, so I don't listen to it. People can change the channel just as easy and that sends a stronger message to him, his network, and his advertisers.