You Nappy Headed Hoe's

[Racing Rice]

I'm sure by now, you all have probably seen or head about the Don Imus incident.

What do you think? Offence to the point that he should have been fired? Was this really a racial thing? Discuss.

Here is the clip from the show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui1jPNDWArM

[ChrisCantSkate]

i was back and forth on this, i dont think he will get fired, but msnbc stopped simulcasting his show, and im sure others will too, he career could be over because of this. honestly i think it was more sexist or even degrading to a less than perfect looking group of girls than racist, but the media loves to make every story they can. if he was really a racist and he covers baskteball games dont you think somewhere in his very long career something else would have slipped out. the rutgers team just looks a little "rougher" than the tenn. team did, and he was a bit more descriptive than he should have been.

[Racing Rice]

I agree Chris.. The whole thing was more sexist then it was racist. Unfortunately the African-American "leaders" like Sharpton and Jackson flipped it around and made it a racial issue. Ignoring the fact that there ARE white women on the Rutgers team.

Which leads me to my next point. Where do we draw the line and why is it okay for one race to act one way, but not okay for all? Listen to black radio for a while. Some of the racist jokes or whatever are a million times worse then what Imus said, but the white community never bats an eyelash. Then you have things like the Imus incident.. Members of the black community start rallying for a white man to lose his job. I don't get it. Where is the "equality" there. I think we as a society should hold everyone accountable for their actions regardless of race, gender, or even politcal stature.

That leads me to my next point. Whatever happened to the 1st Amendment? Everyday it seems to lose it's credibility. I understand that being in the media business that some things aren't politically correct, but should that cause who makes a living doing radio entertainment to be cast out because of stupid drivel like this? Especially on a show that is for the most part a comic, goofing style atmosphere? I personally think it's BS. If they listeners don't like what he has to say, then they shouldn't listen. If they don't listen, his ratings will drop and his services will no longer be. No one would be to blame but himself.

[GT40FIED]

Man...I miss freedom of speech.

I agree...I don't think it was as much racist as it was just stupid. People need to take their ritalin and go back to paying attention to things that matter. That is to say, not what some radio personality you've never heard of (well, ok I knew who he was) said about some dumbass basketball players. Don't like it? Don't listen.

[Racing Rice]

The Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, while visiting a primary school class, found themselves in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings.

The teacher asked both men if they would like to lead the discussion of the word "tragedy". So the illustrious Reverend Jackson asks the class for an example of a "tragedy".

One little boy stood up and offered: "If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a runaway tractor comes along and knocks him dead, that would be a tragedy."

"No," says the Great Jesse Jackson, "that would be an accident." A little girl raises her hand: "If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy."

"I'm afraid not," explains the exalted Reverend Al. "That's what we would call a great loss."

The room goes silent. No other children volunteer.

Reverend Al searches the room. "Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?"

Finally at the back of the room little Johnny raises his hand. In a stern voice he says: "If a plane carrying the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton were struck by a missile and blown to smithereens - that would be a tragedy."

"Fantastic!" exclaims Jackson and Sharpton, "That's right! And can you tell us why that would be a tragedy?"

"Well," says little Johnny, "because it sure as hell wouldn't be a great loss, and it probably wouldn't be an accident!"

[IALuder]

sexiest is what the comment was. but it had to be racist sense the whole team was primerely black. i dont he should of lost his job. should have a fine no, slap on the wrist and a suspension yes.

[Racing Rice]

Originally Posted by IALuder

sexiest is what the comment was. but it had to be racist sense the whole team was primerely black. i dont he should of lost his job. should have a fine no, slap on the wrist and a suspension yes.

So just because the majority of the team was black, it's automatically defaulted to a racist comment? It was a JOKE, and had no intentions.

In 1993 Ted Danson said ""Words by themselves are not racist. Racism is a matter of intent." After a joke as him dressing up as blackface for Whoopi Goldberg. Goldberg sided with Danson on his statement.

Which is a bit ironic, since Whoopi has been vocal in the Imus incident stating how offended she was. She must have forgotten that her offensive humor made her what she was.

It's sad that everything is a double standard really.

[IALuder]

i said it was sexiest, just taken like a raciest remark becuase of the teams majoraty is black,

[GT40FIED]

To be fair, this isn't the first time Imus has said something that could be taken as a racial comment. Hell...he's probably a racist. Then again, I don't care. He's got just as much a right to say whatever he wants as the rest of us. All of this bullshit is just more shit to distract people from what is really going on. Bottom line...this whole thing is a non-issue. In 2 weeks no one will remember.

[GT40FIED]

Sweet zombie jesus...now look what's happening:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=55182

This is exactly what happens when you bend amendments to suit your personal tastes...everyone goes after everything else they don't like on the grounds that it's "offensive". Don't get me wrong...I'd like nothing more than for Limbaugh and O'Reilly to disappear from the earth for good, but I agree with Noam Chomsky; "If you don't believe in freedom of speech in matters of speech you disagree with, you don't believe in it at all". Let them say what they want and don't listen. Quit being whiney little pussies, America.

[IALuder]

hurray for freedom of speech...wait nope we dont have that anymore.

[Racing Rice]

Originally Posted by GT40FIED

Sweet zombie jesus...now look what's happening:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=55182

This is exactly what happens when you bend amendments to suit your personal tastes...everyone goes after everything else they don't like on the grounds that it's "offensive". Don't get me wrong...I'd like nothing more than for Limbaugh and O'Reilly to disappear from the earth for good, but I agree with Noam Chomsky; "If you don't believe in freedom of speech in matters of speech you disagree with, you don't believe in it at all". Let them say what they want and don't listen. Quit being whiney little pussies, America.

I read that article the other day.. What a damn shame.

[ChrisCantSkate]

well, freedom of speech does not mean you are not responsible for what you say, it means you CAN say it. he wont be arrested or thrown in jail, as would happen in countries who dont have freedom of speech, he just lost his job because the people above him who make decisions, who have a governing interest in the company felt it was best to not continue to bring a negative image on them. same thing happened with howard stern. and especially in the context of being a radio personality, if your boss, or owner, does not approve of what you say, then its not your right to keep your job. it is however his right and ability to fire you for anything that brings a bad image on his company, or any partner companies, such as sponsors.

its really not bending any laws or anything of the sort, people like to bend the "freedom of speech" to mean you can say whatever you want and go on without having to deal with the reaction and consequence of your words. this is not the first time nor do i think it will be the last.

i remember in the 80's or maybe even 70's a football commentator made a comment about the "monkeys" on the field and even though when he said it he didnt intend on it being racist, but rather it was a word he used to describe any group of people or individual person in the same way you would use the word "dude". it however was taken as racist, he made his apology but he was fired.

this is not imus's first offense, and with sponsors money hanging in the balance and talk of them pulling out, what other option does a legitimate business have? it sucks for him, i wont lie. but if i was the CEO of CBS would i have done the same thing? quite possibly. the risk of losing sponsors, listeners, and the bad image on the company... regardless of what his true intentions were, you cant say those things into a microphone and not expect a shitstorm from it. sorry, but from a business standpoint it makes perfect sense.

i dont think he ment it as much as its made out to be, but if you want freedom of speech, then you have to accept the penalty for what you say, ESPECIALLY when your on a public platform. there was no amendment bending, just a common misconception that "freedom of speech" means "free to say whatever you want without anyone being able to say or do anything about it".

[ChrisCantSkate]

figure i'd throw this up

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

and a footnote on the freedom of expression clause

The most basic component of freedom of expression is the right of freedom of speech. The right to freedom of speech allows individuals to express themselves without interference or constraint by the government. The Supreme Court requires the government to provide substantial justification for the interference with the right of free speech where it attempts to regulate the content of the speech. A less stringent test is applied for content-neutral legislation. The Supreme Court has also recognized that the government may prohibit some speech that may cause a breach of the peace or cause violence. The right to free speech includes other mediums of expression that communicates a message.

i'll explane more if its not clear

[GT40FIED]

I see what you're saying Chris. I'm not talking about freedom of speech in terms of Imus being hauled off to jail by the goverment. I'm talking about the fact that people are increasingly more likely to impose their will on companies in stark contrast to freedom of speech. They may call it flexing their muscle as consumers in a society governed by capitalism, but really it flies directly in the face of the principles this country was founded on. If they really had a problem with it, why not exercise THEIR freedom of speech to denounce him? People, especially in this day and age, talk about the need to defend their freedoms but only until someone says something they don't agree with and then it's like those freedoms don't even matter...if they ever did. I hear people say things that boggle my mind in terms of offensiveness and insensitivity on an almost daily basis (usually on Fox News), but you have never heard me calling for their firing. Why? Because I'm confident that I'm a better person than them and because I believe firmly in their right to speak their piece...wrong as I may find it.

I would've been a lot less surprised if Imus had done something blatantly racist like drop "the N word" (man, I hate that term) but I suppose what's done is done. I just fear for everyone else who might express an unpopular opinion. Every douche bag who needs a life will think they can silence them because now there's precident. "Remember how they bowed to pressure and shut down Imus? We can do that too!". Disgusting.

[ChrisCantSkate]

i see what your saying, but this is not the first time something like this has happened. if anything CBS looked at previous cases and figured this was due process with imus. you godda remember though you really dont have freedom of speech at work, its more of a myth, that people think that the first amendment lets you get away with whatever comes out of your mouth. i agree they probobly went too far, you can see earlier in this thread i even thought he wouldnt get fired, but he didnt really express an unpopular opinion as much as make a sexist/racist remark which his parent company(s) didnt support. he did offend viewers(apparently?) and there were sponsors talking about dropping the show. you godda remember they didnt fire him on day one, or even week one. it was only after CBS's wallet and image was going to take a hit that they finally fired him.

[GT40FIED]

Well there are exceptions in the public sector like when you're at work. They give you a book (usually...maybe a contract) with expected codes of conduct in it and you're expected to abide by those rules or you get tossed. If I told every customer/client that pissed me off at every job I'd ever had to fuck off, I would have had roughly 3,723,981 jobs. It's just easier to bite your tongue. That being said, there's only one reason you tune into talk radio and that's to hear people's opinions. Whether you agree or disagree, that's all talk radio is. CBS should realize that and realize that if they don't like what he had to say then they shouldn't have hired Imus in the first place. It's kind of unfair to hire a guy for one thing and fire him for that same thing.

[ChrisCantSkate]

well, he expressed an unpopular opinion, and one that the company didn't agree with. look at howard stern, same basic thing. yes you want to hear controversy, but believe me this guy knows he shouldn't have said anything that can be perceived as racist. thats godda be lesson 1 in being a radio personality

[Racing Rice]

Originally Posted by ChrisCantSkate

well, he expressed an unpopular opinion, and one that the company didn't agree with. look at howard stern, same basic thing. yes you want to hear controversy, but believe me this guy knows he shouldn't have said anything that can be perceived as racist. thats godda be lesson 1 in being a radio personality

You know though.. Opie and Anthony said it best.. When you're a talk show radio host like them and Imus you don't have a script, you say whatever comes to your mind. Unfortunately there are a lot of times you think back on what you said later and think WTH was I thinking? Unfortunately, in Imus' case it came back to bite him in the ass. These guys get paid to entertain, talk, whatever unfortunately you get caught up in the moment, and a joke goes sour. Yes, I feel what Imus said was distasteful and probably not the best choice of words, but thats his job.

There is a book of FCC codes that he has to follow did he break any FCC rules with what he said. Or was it just "pressure from Sharpton and the minority public" that led to his termination?

I took a poll this morning about this. 91% of the voters said that CBS overreacted. 95% said he should that Sharpton has no credibility. There you have it. CBS acted upon the minorities opinion, and chose to fire Imus. I personally feel an apology should have been plenty. Worse case, a fine.

[ChrisCantSkate]

ya know, i agree with what your saying jeremy from my own standpoint. but from a large cooperations standpoint i 100% understand why they did what they did. this is the world we live in. this is how things unfold from time to time. sure it would be great if everything was fair but its not, and you godda play on the real worlds playing field sometimes and not how you think everything should go. do i think its right or fair? no

you also have to remeber that he WILL (99% confidence) get picked up by another radio station, be it FM or sat. sometimes you godda stew in your own shit, and this is his time. its part of being controversial that sometimes the hammer slams in your court.