VIDEO: Don Imus and My OJ Prize

Are you watching Who's the Man? in the background?

Yes!

point taken. thank you.

Very well said, Smooth.

Mark Cuban made a similar point on his blog this week about the Imus situation. He said because the corporations own these media outlets, you will not have any one of them stand up for unpopular voices once the going gets rough.

And that's scary.

Given the nuance and thoughtfulness that marked your commentary, I was nonplussed to see that your final shot at Imus was a one-two video/audio combination focused on his age and physical appearance.

Don Imus was just one of many ignorant voices that still speak (and walk) amongst us now, and for every one we succeed in silencing, another one will rise to take his (or her) place. It's a surprising short-term "success", but more needs to be done if we're really interested in curing the underlying "disease" rather than simply reacting to the "symptoms".

fair enough, that was a cheap shot

Well done, Jay. I've been feeling really conflicted about the Don Imus "victory" lately but hadn't quite been able to articulate why. But what you said really hit home for me.

I still think media activism is extremely important because it helps combat one form of institutional racism. But I'm starting to wonder what really changes at the end of the day, after the outrage, the apologies, the disciplining, the press releases?

Don Imus's casual racism is indicative of just how deeply engrained these beliefs are for him. What has changed? He's probably learned to watch his mouth, but I doubt that his beliefs have changed in any shape or form.

I think part of the problem is that in the mainstream media, the dialog is rarely going to advance beyond finger-pointing (who are the bad guys? Imus? or those naughty, naughty rappers?). But if we're going to affect any real change, we need to demonstrate that racism and sexism do not simply consist of individual acts of rudeness.

Oh great, here's comes the next racist radio incident, this time from Power 105:
http://www.angryasianman.com/2007/04/power-1051s-are-you-smarter-than-asian.html

Carmen,
That ain't the same. The whole dichotomy between ethnic people and white folks is way more sensitive. The history is too ugly. It's always gonna be more of a hot button issue when white peopls say something racist.

Fake racism like say Blacks vs. Asians or Mexicans vs. Asians is never really gonna resonate the same way. Cuz Mexicans and Blacks ain't never hang any Asians. Latinos and Black people ain't never tell a Asian muvafucka to sit in the back of the bus or you cain't get no job here cuz you don't look like us. Latinos, Black folk and Asians ain't got that kinda history so ain't no real genuine beef there.

Mutual respect should always be considered, but there is a difference when a white muvafucka says something racist and when a person of colour does. Because white folks have acted on these little comments from slavery to dropping diseases into colonized nations to giving smallpox to Native Americans to raping black slave women to thier portrayal of themselves in their media outlets as larger than life, courageous heroes. There's a HUGE fucking difference.

When you hear them say something foul, if you are non-white, then a little alarm goes off in your head that says, "Are they gonna act on that?" But you know ain't no Black folks 'bout to go "Night Riding"* on any Asians.

All of this behaviour cannot be tossed into the "Hey you're a racist!" or "Wait, that's racist!" bag. History contributes to a different type of sensitivity when these statements are made.

It's not all the same.

But I think people already know this. Real smart muvafuckas are so intelligent that they can pretend to be dumb.

-Black People

* Night Riding refers to what the white klansmen did for fun. At night. On horseback, fucking with Black folks while they were in the house chillin'. Member that scene in the Malcolm X movie? Those were the Night Riders.

BTW, Trusouf, if you in here, I just listened to my Red Gon Wild Album.

And I finally watched that Primo "Classic" jawn with Nas, Rakim and The God (KRS-ONE).

-Black People

Oh shit, I just read my post. I wasn't really cussin' at you Carmen. Sorry. It just came out that way.

-Black People

Quotable from Redman off the Red Gon Wild album.

"I get you dumb like white people lookin' for wierd noise."

-Black People

i see you jay. but when you act inappropriately (and inappropriate does come close to describing imus' behavior) you get fired. period. it is certainly foolish to assume that firing 1 sexist/racist/anti-semite will solve "imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy" but not everyone who advocated his firing assumed as such and for those who did this is an opportunity to educate them to the history of the black diaspora and the intricacies of gender relations. This history is the primary informant of modern instances of isms. people are operating out of a gross ignorance that American education fosters.

Imus gets fired for his comments...but Miss Jones doesnt for her comments about the "Tsunami song?" Double Standards.

Imus gets fired for his comments...but Miss Jones doesnt for her comments about the "Tsunami song?" Double Standards.

welcome to it, "what the." double standards. judging from this past year, imus could've called the rutgers team dyke hos, dropping the nappy headed piece, and gotten away with a ho-hum apology. instead he fell right into the ever waiting and sharp claws of al sharpton and co.

i don't think i'm alone here, and if i am so be it. al sharpton and many of the extreme black rights leaders (extreme indeed) do more to create racial tension and promote segregation than alleviate it. leading imus to the gallows in this witchhunt does nothing for the well being of minorities. it's a power play to expose how horribly afraid white people are of being deemed racists and how certain blacks exploit this.

same lynchmob showed up for those duke kids. now acquitted, where'd they go? homosexuals took a beating this year but everything pretty much died down with an apology.

while some of you may sit back in your chairs thinking you've won a battle, you really haven't. get your eagle on to celebrate if you think you have. i'm a young kid waiting for a bunch of old men with old agendas and older biases to retire. sometimes i truly can't believe i'm 19, watching a battle between old men that really proves nothing and wishing people would look at the big picture to be productive. nice video smooth.

^^ edit

19, watching a battle between old men who should know better than to engage in such a small peanuts battle. especially when a lot of people listen to them and inherit their positions rather than think for themselves. this situation bothers the hell out of me.

Smoove,
We need some upliftment. Can we get a bangin' breaks set or something? You know like the good ole days? Monk one? Oneman? Help. Anybody?

-Black People

i think the point is simple: silencing racist white people does not necessarily improve race relations or help black people.

i honestly don't care about Imus and his firing. peace to sharpton and anyone else who wants a better world. i'm just an observer.

But do consider that Imus' getting fired may or may not improve race relations.

also, people should delineate race relations from improving quality of life (economics, police, gangs, etc). i'm not saying the two are separate (they aren't). But putting the focus on prominent white people might not be the most productive approach.

blackpeople
yeah i told ya man
that tracks the shit
but when i downloaded it the first rakim verse was missing and they only had his 2nd one.
oh yeah ....
hey smooth
how bout some hip hop news man?
oh and has anyone heard poet laureate infinite by canibus yet? im just wonderin why its multi layered

Jay are you on myspace? Let's be friends!

Jay, just checking this out now.

I have to say, I agree that focusing on single incidents isn't enough but that's always been true. And in pointing that out, it's important not to lose out on the opportunity to celebrate along the way.

The Imus incident was as important for the dialogue that erupted and continues now in relationship to hip hop as it was for the large response to unacceptable nonsense that forced a specific action on a large corporation.

I think it's also a mistake to categorize people's responses as silencing Imus. I think anybody that stops for a moment to consider media realities knows that Imus can get back in action at any point he wants but not necessarily wherever he wants.

To be worried about what will happen if the right starts doing a lot of this kind of thing is misplaced. They've been doing this for a long time and often on a much quieter but broader scale.

More importantly, a tactic is good for the present but will weaken if overused. Yet that doesn't make it a bad tactic for the moment.

Of course, we agree that enshrining and repeating tactics is not a good strategic choice and that moving past a response based politics is key to change. I hope we can also agree that stopping to enjoy victories, however momentary, is something we need to do along the way.

ghost town.........

So you're happy Imus got fired, but concerned about the possible stifling effect these kinds of tactics could have on someone like Chuck D? Do you have any sense of proportion?

Imus wasn't slamming Black people in gereneral, or Black women. He made the mistake of believing he had licence to employ Black vernacular. And he used it to make the pretty common sports-commentator observation that one team looked spiffy and the other team looked comparitavely rough. I know this observation is made all the time because I've heard it several times myself and I don't follow any sport at all. I recall this observation being made in a world series about 10 years back.

But Imus did cross the line, absolutely. If I had been on his staff, as soon as they cut to commercial, I would say to Imus, "Are you out of your miiind?! You can't say that! No, never mind the rappers. Whether you were being racist or just racially insensitive, that comment WILL be interpreted as racist and you will offend people. You need to appologize immediately."

The ubiquity of this kind of language doesn't give White people licence to use it, but at a certain point, this situation becomes untenable. I live near a big junior high school in queens. Most of the students are of Latin American, Asian, South Asian and Middle Eastern descent. But you know what they have in common? They call each other the 'n' word. What can I say? I wish it weren't so. But it sure looks like that cat's out of the bag to me. At this point, all I can hope for is that the word finally does lose some it's power to hurt and harm, the way Lenny Bruce postulated years ago.

But back to Imus- on the racism scale, I give his remarks a 2.

Getting back to Chuck D? Tell you what- I'll just throw out a few quotes, and if you're still reading this thread, you rate them, if you wish:

- "...so-called chosen - frozen"

- "...apologies made to whomever pleases; still they got me like Jesus"

- and my personal fave, the band name "Confrontation Camp"

This is the kind of "progressive voice" you're worried might be stifled?

Knock.

Knock.

Yo is smoove home?

Can he come outside? Tell 'im bring his GI Joe's. We gon' be around the schoolyard playin wrestlin'. I just made the bangin worldchamp belt outta cardboard.

Then after we finish wrestlin' we gon have a slam dunk contest on the crate.

It's hot outside we gon have fun. Tell smoove to come outside.

Sike but yo, anybody (smoove included) know how or where one can upload a mix of thier music?

I made myself phat tapes from back in the day and I put 'em all on iTunes and the homie NYCKING was like he banging 80s & 90s. So I wish I could help him out buy I 'ont know how to upload this shit.

Yo you ever hear the steezo jawn, talkin sense? Or crown rulers paper chase?
What's the name of the dudes who sing dynamite? I forgot. Member? Grand Puba was in there. They had another jawn called Keep on movin. that was rockin.

Yo is there a site or something were I can upload this shit off of iTunes to help us get through these ruff times?

-Black People