Imus be an idiot . . .

[Dustin Kesselberg]

But, SezMe - should he be excused simply because he's a "professional" mud-mouth? I just can't understand the recent tendency for "professionals" (whether they're politicians, comedians, or movie stars) to mouth off regarding minorities without concern for how their remarks might be taken.

Excused from WHAT? Being fired? Being suspended? For something as trivial as what he said?

I just have trouble with anyone belittling another race or culture. When I was in the military I met friends of all races and all religions (and many different cultures) who I would have died for. To think that their children or grandchildren would be injured by such hurtful language bothers me greatly. Being a professional mud-mouth isn't any more an excuse than "I was making a joke," or "I just had too much to drink."

If he wants to insult the Rutgers players then that's his right. That's what he does. His remarks were offensive and should of only been offensive to the players themselves, but they were by no stretch of the imagination "racist". Sorry.

 

[Dustin Kesselberg]

Imus probably deserved to be thrown under the train a long time ago. But lets get real. You can't do stuff like call Rutgers' womens basketball team a bunch of black whores, and then act surprised if they get pissed off. So Imus takes his lumps for running his mouth.

Then he takes more lumps for agreeing to have anything to do with Sharpton. The first offense could have easily been an off the cuff accident. The second is sheer stupidity, completely self inflicted.

You're a liar. Stop saying he called them "Black whores". He didn't.

He said "Nappy headed hos".

"Nappy headed" doesn't necessarily mean black. Many whites have nappy hair. The players happened to have nappy hair and they happened to be black. Ohh, it must be racist!

 

[Dustin Kesselberg]

You are missing the point. It was not the individual words that were racist, it was the phrase.

if I refer to a black woman as a black woman that is not a racial slur.
If i call a black woman a "bitch", while misogynistic, that is not a racial slur.
If i call a black woman a "black bitch" that is a racial slur, as a reference to racial characteristics has been included in the insult.

Who made up those rules?


Either way. Imus never mentioned their race. He mentioned their attributes, which happened to be nappy hair. Which they have. Which HE has as well. He's white.

 

[Gurdur]

Who made up those rules?

Society + history.

Either way. Imus never mentioned their race. He mentioned their attributes

Evasion.

 

[Dustin Kesselberg]

Society + history.

When? Where? You're being too vague.

Evasion.

Evading what? He mentioned their hair, which happened to be nappy. Which it is. Which HE has as well. He's white. What is racist about what he said?

 

[Gurdur]

When? Where? You're being too vague.

Don't be so childishly silly. On two threads now you have had every tiny detail pointed out to you. The fact that you disagree with them does not change the fact that they have been pointed out to you.

Evading what? He mentioned their hair, which happened to be nappy. Which it is. Which HE has as well. He's white. What is racist about what he said?

Already dealt with this one on the other thread;
the fact is "nappy" is usually taken by common usage to mean closely kinked hair, not long curly hair, and closely kinked hair is a characteristic of blacks, and in context implies blacks.

The fact that you yourself use the word "nappy" to mean something a bit different does not change the fact of common usage. Deal with it.

 

[Dustin Kesselberg]

Don't be so childishly silly. On two threads now you have had every tiny detail pointed out to you. The fact that you disagree with them does not change the fact that they have been pointed out to you.

Stop lying. You've provided no details. There's only been 3 posts since you made the assertion. You've provided every tiny detail since then? You claim that "History+Society" makes up those rules. Really? Explain how.

Already dealt with this one on the other thread;
the fact is "nappy" is usually taken by common usage to mean closely kinked hair, not long curly hair, and closely kinked hair is a characteristic of blacks, and in context implies blacks.

Liar.

1 : closely twisted or curled

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=Kinky

Many whites (INCLUDING IMUS HIMSELF) has kinky hair!!!

The fact that you yourself use the word "nappy" to mean something a bit different does not change the fact of common usage. Deal with it.

I use it as it's defined. Stop lying.

 

[Babbylonian]

I'd love to defend Imus because I used to enjoy his show (currently, I don't get up early enough to listen/watch and I choose Stern on Sirius instead). But, this is a long pattern with both him and his sidekicks. Racial slurs, with black people being the most common target, have been common on the show for years (particularly from his producer) and he's only apologized or disciplined underlings when someone pays attention and calls him on it. I don't think it's unreasonable for people to be offended by him on this matter.

Of course, I think that if he was fired for his comments - by either WFAN/Westwood One or MSNBC - that wouldn't be right. Again, he's been doing this for a long time and those companies knew what they were doing every time they offered him a new contract. It would be pretty disingenuous of them to pretend that they actually cared about his racist remarks now, just because it happened to get noticed in the mainstream press.

Then again, if he did get fired it would be a bit of poetic justice since the current remarks were made while on the air with one of his former sports guys who was also fired for making racist remarks (which he claims was a practice encouraged by Imus, and I believe him since I remember the mild in-studio reactions at the time).

 

[SezMe]

SezSomeone:

I don't know most of the other people on that list but Sharpton stands out to me as one of the most racist "media commentators" there is.

What has Al Sharpton done to deserve this label?

No, it was not SezSomeone, it was me. SezMe. I'll stand by what I wrote. Go here and read the section "Tawana Brawley Controversy" which is, IMO, improperly named. It is not a "controversy". It is factually true that Sharpton used race to falsely exploit a situation with assertions he knew were false. And to this day, he has never acknowledged, much less apologized, for his actions.

Since that time, he has pushed the race issue whether it was relevant or not. That, by my definition, is racism.

Sharpton is a diversion from this thread. If you want to pursue this matter further, start a new thread.

 

[Gurdur]

Stop lying. Liar. I use it as it's defined. Stop lying.

Wrong. BTW, you really are a petulant little drama-queen, aren't you?

 

[SezMe]

Evading what? He mentioned their hair, which happened to be nappy. Which it is. Which HE has as well.

Really?

 

[Dustin Kesselberg]

Wrong. BTW, you really are a petulant little drama-queen, aren't you?

Cowardly cop out.

1 : closely twisted or curled

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=Kinky

Many whites (INCLUDING IMUS HIMSELF) has kinky hair!!! When I refer to whites with "nappy" hair I clearly am using this definition from Webster.

 

[Dustin Kesselberg]

Really?

It really depends on the day. Here's a recent picture of him with "nappy" hair...

Here's an older one of him with obviously "nappy" hair...

 

[Gurdur]

Which part of "closely twisted or curled" do you miserably fail to understand, Dustin?

 

[Dustin Kesselberg]

Which part of "closely twisted or curled" do you miserably fail to understand, Dustin?

Imus's hair looks pretty damn "Closely twisted and curled" to me. You must need glasses.

 

[Cain]

Since that time, he has pushed the race issue whether it was relevant or not. That, by my definition, is racism.

And what an interesting definition it is. I still don't see how you've demonstrated Al Sharpton is a racist, let alone "one of the most racist 'media commentators' there is." Also, before clicking on it I noticed I had viewed the link -- a Wikipedia entry, unfortunately. Surely you can do better than this. Also, upon reviewing the page I've noticed it has already been vandalized: Sharpton is called the 'n' word in the first sentence of his biography, and his mother is described as a "nappy headed hoe."

I always hear White Devils (I can say that because I'm white) bitching and complaining about people who want to discuss how racist our society is.

Don Imus' comment was unambiguously misogynistic and racist and you're saying he's either not as racist, or possibly about as racist as Al Sharpton. Admittedly I don't watch a lot of television, but whenever I see Sharpton he always seems tolerant and respectful, particularly with respect to gays and lesbians. Compare with Imus, Limbaugh, Savage, Coulter, and others. Here especially I want to emphasize his role as a talking head because you very specifically criticized him as a media commentator.

 

[Dustin Kesselberg]

And what an interesting definition it is. I still don't see how you've demonstrated Al Sharpton is a racist, let alone "one of the most racist 'media commentators' there is." Also, before clicking on it I noticed I had viewed the link -- a Wikipedia entry, unfortunately. Surely you can do better than this. Also, upon reviewing the page I've noticed it has already been vandalized: Sharpton is called the 'n' word in the first sentence of his biography, and his mother is described as a "nappy headed hoe."

No doubt fans of his...

I always hear White Devils (I can say that because I'm white) bitching and complaining about people who want to discuss how racist our society is.

No you can't. I'm offended. You're racist! Your speech must be regulated! You must be fired from your job and publicly humiliated!

Don Imus' comment was unambiguously misogynistic and racist and you're saying he's either not as racist, or possibly about as racist as Al Sharpton. Admittedly I don't watch a lot of television, but whenever I see Sharpton he always seems tolerant and respectful, particularly with respect to gays and lesbians. Compare with Imus, Limbaugh, Savage, Coulter, and others. Here especially I want to emphasize his role as a talking head because you very specifically criticized him as a media commentator.

Nothing Imus said was even remotely racist. Stop lying.

 

[Gurdur]

Imus's hair looks pretty damn "Closely twisted and curled" to me. You must need glasses.

Compare:

with

Which part of "closely twisted or curled" do you miserably fail to understand, Dustin?

But prance around in your weirdly exaggerated outrage some more, Dustin, it's entertaining.

 

[Dustin Kesselberg]

Compare:

with

Which part of "closely twisted or curled" do you miserably fail to understand, Dustin?

But prance around in your weirdly exaggerated outrage some more, Dustin, it's entertaining.

Their hair is "more nappy" than his is...So? How is this an argument that his isn't nappy? His hair is 'less nappy' than other peoples and more nappy than others. So what? His hair is still nappy, based on the definition which says "Closely curled". His current hair is fairly closely curled and his earlier hair was definitely without a doubt closely curled.

 

[Gurdur]

Their hair is "more nappy" than his is...

Wrong again. According to common usage, one shows nappy hair, Imus is not.

I find it weird but entertaining to see to what extents you go to post your hysterical prancing outrage about Imus being called out for being an offensive jerk. Boy oh boy, Dustin, are you in for a life of disappointment.