Don Imus should NOT have been fired! - Cheats - http://maxpages.com/codesector5/Don_imus

Well if you haven't heard about it by now, our country is yet again making things bigger than they should be. Last week on Don Imus' national syndicated simulcast and radio show, "Imus in the Morning", Imus said some insensitive comments that got our nation in an uproar.

Don Imus: "So, I watched the basketball game last night between -- a little bit of Rutgers and Tennessee, the women's final."

Sid Rosenburg: "Yeah, Tennessee won last night -- seventh championship for [Tennessee coach] Pat Summitt, I-Man. They beat Rutgers by 13 points."

Don Imus: "That's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and --

Bernard McGuirik: "Some hard-core hos."

Don Imus: "That's some nappy-headed hos there. I'm gonna tell you that now, man, that's some -- woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like -- kinda like -- I don't know."

To hear the comments live check it out here:

What's my reaction and perspective on this you ask? The media has blown this WAYYYYY out of proportion. Should Don Imus have said what he said? Probably not. But should the media make this distraction a national issue and portray Imus as the scapegoat for Racism and Sexism? Absolutely not.

Don Imus is a Shock Jock. He is going to say things that people don't like and may be "politically incorrect". He's said these things for years and his show has never been pulled. Why now? The media as made this into an issue and it shouldn't be. It's not a racist issue. If you listen to the comments, Imus was comparing the Rutgers women to the Tennessee women. Saying that he wouldn't want to mess with the Rutger's women and that they were "nappy headed" opposed to the Tennessee women who were cute. Both teams were predominately black, so if Don Imus was racist why would he call one team nappy headed and the other team not? Since when is "Nappy headed" or "Ho" a racist terms towards blacks? If anything it's sexist. If you think Beyonce is attractive and gorgeous and say Oprah is fat and ugly, does that make you a racist? No. That's just your opinion. Also, Imus's program is a comedy news show. I can't speak for Imus, but appears he doesn't really feel this way about these women. He apologized and everything and it just should have ended there. If Imus is black and makes the same comments, then there is NOWHERE near an uproar. If he makes fun of the MEN college basketball team then it's not that big of a deal. It's only because it's innocent women who aren't really famous. Which I see as somewhat valid, but if you are in any part of the media or on TV, be prepared the get make fun of or joked about. 90 percent of these girls have never even heard of Imus and I'm pretty sure if they were told that these things were said and the media didn't make it an issue, then they would NOT have really cared. Even the Rutger's captain said when she initially heard the comments she laughed.

Since when has Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson been the poster boys and voice of opinion too what black people think? These guys are turning the Imus controversy in another measure to compare 2007 to the 1960s. While in 2007, black people have more serious problems then to what some radio host says. A lot of the hip hop culture is demeaning, anti education, violent, destructive, and pro drugs. That right there is a MUCH bigger issue today then racism is. It takes someone like Don Imus to open a dialog and say something that black people often say to themselves.(Ie Calling your women a "Ho" or "Bitch") Sharpton and Jackson are still trying to divide us. They are still making this a "Black" and "White" America. They are still focused on old problems and not really focusing at the ones at end. I'm not saying that the old ones don't exist anymore. They do. Just not to the magnitude that the new ones do and most of the old ones are non-existent for the most part. The more these guys focus on the negative and play the victim, the more likely it seems to happen. I suggest they focus more on trying to make a positive impact on society opposed to dividing the country in their own way. We are all people. Times have changed for the most part. Get over it, move on, and build now and for the future. Stop sticking in the past.

There isn't really a double standard in this society anymore if you think about it. It can be okay for a black guy to call his friend "Nigger" but not okay for a white guy. It can be okay for a Women to call her friend a "whore" but not for a guy. Why? Why do these words and actions have so much power in this society? Why does every little thing have to be taken literally or out of context? It's ridiculous. Some girls call themselves "Bitches and hos" or "Sluts and Whores" all the time but some will flip out if you call them that jokingly or take it literally. The more you say something, the chance for it to be said increases dramatically. If you don't want the word to be said then don't say it in the first place. If everyone had that mindset, then we wouldn't be having that much of a problem. That's not to realistic you may say. Then don't let the word have "power". It's just a word. If your going to say something negative then turn that word into a positive. It's all about context of what you say. ANY WORD can be degrading and demeaning under the right context or tone. Where did the word "Whore" or "Ho" come from? Where it comes from doesn't matter. All words come from people and it's the people who put meaning to the word. Therefore any word can be said in a positive or negative light. Let's replace the word "Whore" with "Vacuum". What if vacuum meant women who engages in sex for money and whore meant object to clean and pick up dust? It may to some people. It's all about relevance to the person. But even if it did, would that still make it "right" to say it? The problem is that most people assume there is a "right" way and a "wrong" way to go about something or to live your life and classify it into two category's. In my opinion, there isn't. It's all about opinion, perspective, and relevance something has to you in your life. The media and a lot of people in power likes to determine what is and what isn't. Now is that "right"? I guess that is for you to decide.

In conclusion, I think Imus had the right to joke around and say what he said. I don't think he should have because people other than is listeners didn't understand and took it the wrong way. He should have known better in that sense. A suspension was reasonable but a firing was absolutely ludicrous. The man genuinely apologized when he didn't have too. He's done a lot of charitable things for our society. Yes he's said some controversial things before, but nothing of this magnitude that this media circus has created. Well why not keep him on the air and use Imus as a conduit for forgiveness and change. He's paid his dues. Let him show us that we can learn from our mistakes and move on from a situation. Unfortunately, this can't be done on public airwaves on television no longer. Hopefully, we'll realise that we take things to literally, out of context, and blow things WAYYY out of proportion in our society. Number one example I believe is the Bible. As there are some good writings in it, in a whole it's taken literally to a tee too most people and things are taking COMPLETELY out of context. Look up the definition of "metaphor" people. I hope for the best and hope that people will concentrate on moving forward in society, opposed to dwelling on the past and current negative problems.

Mother Teresa said it best:

"I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there."

To view my actual blog, The Prodigy's Perspective, click on the link below:

Sign Guestbook

View Guestbook

dc1287@yahoo.com

Visitors: 00026

Page Updated Mon Sep 29, 2008 9:26am EDT