Nappy Headed Hos

[ChiefJoJo]

I think there are two differences between Imus and Rap music.

First Imus also wants to pass himself off as a serious news commentator on MSNBC and CBS radio. If he wants to play in this territory then he is going to be held to a higher standard than someone spewing out Rap music. He can't use the excuse that he is a "shock jock" or he is a hypocrite.

But more important, Imus used the public airwaves to attack specific individuals with some of the most offensive remarks in our society. The women, who were very accomplished individuals and deserving of our admiration for having gone to college and also winning a basketball tournament, were instead attacked by a representative of the media. Their only offense... they didn't appeal to Imus's sense of what a woman should look like. For this alone he should be fired.

[Snowguy716]

A person that regularly insults people and offends people should not be fired for doing what he does best. Finally, somebody decided to start an uproar about it and the mainstream media bit.

This is all sensationalist bullcrap.

I'm a liberal, and by no means a racist... but as my mother used to say "I wasn't put into this world to tiptoe around everybody's feelings."

He shouldn't lose his job because he insulted a few people. He should lose his job because nobody should be listening to him harp on while making a fool of himself. And I agree, people like him probably shouldn't have been hired in the first place.

Another thing that kind of disgusted me: Hillary Clinton is parading this crap all over her website "Send a message of support"... but you'd be hard pressed to find an "issues" section on her site. That's right Hillary.. keep avoiding the issues. That'll get you elected.

[krazeeboi]

It's not that because they have been a plenty of protest against the negative elements of hip-hop, but the point of the column was there is a lot of self-degradation that does go on in the black community. We are so quick to degrade one another because somebody doesn't act like the majority, ect. However, the moment somebody else says it then everybody wants to rise Cain and Abel over it. That is hypocripsy.

Jason Whitlock was right to a point, Sharpton and Jackson are just using this incident once again to further their agenda and line their pockets. It's funny when everybody wanted to call Bill Cosby a "sell-out" when he was telling the truth back in 2005.

[FromCityToRural]

What he said is kinda mean (which was the intent), but I still fail to see what's race-specific about what he said...?

[monsoon]

CBS has joined NBC and dumped Imus completely.

[Snowguy716]

We can let Ann Coulter get away with alluding that John Edwards is a f@ggot, but we can't let Imus get away with calling some people nappy headed ho's?

Welcome to the world of the double standard.

[GRDadof3]

We can let Ann Coulter get away with alluding that John Edwards is a f@ggot, but we can't let Imus get away with calling some people nappy headed ho's?

Welcome to the world of the double standard.

[michaelskis]

Imus is a very talented broadcaster who is very well informed of current events and public opinion regarding a very wide ranged of topics. Having said that, he is an idiot because his harsh attitude that approaches the realm of shock jock status overshadows his true talent.

I don

[Recchia]

What he said is kinda mean (which was the intent), but I still fail to see what's race-specific about what he said...?

[Gusterfell]

There have been a lot of protests over what Ann Coulter says, but apparently either the networks she appears on enjoy the publicity or not enough people put pressure on advertisers to encourage them to pull the plug. Other then making appearances on the cable trash news networks, I think she just works for herself, doesn't she?

[Cadeho]

We can let Ann Coulter get away with alluding that John Edwards is a f@ggot, but we can't let Imus get away with calling some people nappy headed ho's?

Welcome to the world of the double standard.

[dgreco]

just remember the phrase sticks and stones, these girls should not be hurt for life, they should be strong enough to overcome it. I just think it has gotten to thepoint where it has gone to far.

[FromCityToRural]

"Nappy-headed" is very racial.

[Michi]

He should not be fired. If all of his advertising support drops the bomb on him though, then that is what he deserves and he will have to readjust his career plans by the outcome of those actions. I also agree with his decision not to meet with anymore media.

What really bothers me is that while the social structure of inner city America is falling apart, there are certain activists wasting their time going in circles with this crap. What's interesting though is that this is EVERYONE'S problem, not just those directly involved or directly offended, or any one particular race. It's obsurd to think so.

What I would like to see from these periodic instances of racism/sexism/classism in the entertainment/broadcast world is a coalition of the general public to say enough is enough and realize that crying over what some isolated prick (who appologized for his insensitivity) is not going to even begin to address the rest of the iceberg of social ills in this country. I believe the way this is being handled is making it worse.

There is a local evening show on channel 95.5 here in Detroit called "The Big Boy Show". I use to listen to this station frequently, but have lost all desire to do so, mainly because of this show. Basically, it is a fat, white DJ who has a fake "hip hop" accent (think K-Fed) who bases the show on anything and everything skanky or heinous. Therefore, the clientelle who call in are extremely predictable: 1) trashy white guys talking about abusing their underaged women, 2) trashy white girls cussing up a storm and using phrases like "he's be triffl'in, ch'all", and 3) giggly black girls who think Big Boy is sexy. I guess if anything good comes from it, it is a lesson in social behavior and social influences and where the day-to-day ethics of our society is headed.

I had never even heard of Imus before the recent conflicts, so maybe it is best that he just hang up his coat, if my understanding of his crude image is really true.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendID=49880395

A golden tooth! Give me a break!! lol

You'd think after the second girl-on-girl action, we'd get the point.

Listen live:

http://www.channel955.com/main.html

What's the similarities w/ Imus? There are plenty.

**Edit: I plugged in to listen just as I posted this. Time it took to hear the word ho...less than 5 minutes. Shortly after, a girl called in saying she was dropping a duce. Big boy suggested he wanted her to take a picture of it, so watch for a picture of a big piece of s*it on the website.

[UptownNewOrleans]

most of rap music is a joke and the rap

[Michi]

^ Just curious, Uptown, do you use the N-word in conversation? And if so, do you mind if others hear it?

[Charlotteman]

Interesting comments.

I agree Jesse Jackson has no halo over his head. He is a well known anti semite. He has said things about Jews that would make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

There are some people that think Jesse and Al Sharpton are (anti-white) racists.

I also agree with comments about how disrespectful Rap lyrics are. I think what disturbs me the most is the use of the N word by black rappers. A few years back Bill Cosby rightfully spoke out against this trend. I'm a believer in free speech, and I don't wanna make this language illegal. I just hope some musicians wake up and realize there is such thing as positive uplifting music.

A statistic to remember is that white suburban teenagers are Rap's biggest customers. I don't want anyone growing up thinking the N word is "okay" because their favorite rapper uses it in every song. And I don't want people growing up thinking it's cool to call people names because they heard it on Imus.

[Captain Worley]

I'm white as white can be, and it's not exactly unheard of for my hair to be nappy too... I honestly, really don't understand what all the hoopla is about...

Besides which, it'd take some pretty thin skin to really be bothered by this.

[monsoon]

^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.

Captain Worley, you either fit this category, or you persist in making irrelevant posts that tend to take a subject, off-topic. I am not sure why you insist in reducing every topic here to a frat house joke, but I tell you it is going to stop one way or another.

[torgo]

I think this has been blown out of proportion. Yes, what he said was ignorant and stupid, but, for example, the D2 women's basketball team where I live got an article in the paper "responding" to Imus and carrying on about how insensitive it was. Why are they talking about this? People act like being offended is some kind of accomplishment. This whole thing will be forgotten in a month, and he'll get picked up on XM or something. Pretty much any self-important talking head out there, from Sharpton to Jackson to Coulter, have made comments a lot more offensive than what Imus said. For some reason, the media just got a hold of this one and ran with it.

[monsoon]

^The reason and the difference is that he choose to attack very specific individuals who were not public figures.

[michaelskis]

I will continue to buy rap because I can relate to a lot of what the artists are speaking on...

[GRDadof3]

I think a lot of people are missing the major point between Imus vs. Sharpton, Coulter and Jesse Jackson. We all have the inherent right to free speech, but we do not have a RIGHT to be heard. Imus had a radio show on CBS because he was given the privilege to do so. No one cares what Imus says about black female basketball players while in his own home, or standing out on a street corner, or at a restaurant, yada yada yada. It's his right to say whatever he wants. Jesse Jackson, Coulter and Sharpton don't work for any company that controls public airwaves. They run their own gigs and try to get in front of the cameras every chance they get.

I don't care what anyone on here says, if you said something similar to this about a group of your co-workers, African Americans or women in general while at work, you'd get your walking papers faster than you can say "but I meant ho in a good way....."

To compare this to rappers is also apples to oranges, because there is a mechanism to get rappers to not use the same language: don't buy their products. He should have just been fired and it should have been the end of it. No Sharpton, no Jackson, no one else needed to even pipe in on it.

[cityboi]

This is a very positive step. yes it was very appropriate to fire him.

[Charlotte_native]

Rappers aren't identifying specific "hos". They say the word in a general sense, whether good or bad, but not "at" someone specifically.

As for anyone that wouldn't think a black person would be angry at a white person referring to one of them as "nappy headed"...you really can't believe that.

I'd love to have seen the reaction of many had Imus (who, by the way I had never once heard of before this) berated some Christians, or Christ himself. Maybe make a run at the Pope or at otherwise offend religious folks. Watch how much "words" mean then.