Posted by
arandomguy on Friday, April 13, 2007 12:38:57 AM
This story has me angry. I'm no fan of Don Imus - I've never listened to his show, and I never plan(ned) to listen, but the outrage over his comment I believe is far more then what is necessary. I understand that calling the Rutgers basketball team "nappy-headed hoes" is not the nicest thing to say. I understand why this would be deeply offensive to the Rutgers team.
And I understand that Imus runs a comedy program, did not say this with malicious intent (he said it in a lame attempt at humor), and I think the supposed outrage over this is unwarranted. Imus apologized to the Rutgers team, and asked to meet with them to apologize in person - and he was going to do so, when MSNBC and CBS Radio dropped his show entirely.
Now, I'm not sure how many people listen to Imus. I'm not sure how decent his show is - as I said, I've never listened. Yet firing a man for a comment to me seems both extreme, and callous. Businesses have the right to make decisions about who they hire and who they fire, don't get me wrong. Yet Imus going on the Al Sharpton show to apologize (and don't forget Sharpton could be seen as a business competitor of Imus), and these public calls for his removal are a bit much.
It was a lame attempt at humor that failed miserably. It was juvenile and pointless. Yet it doesn't warrant a man losing his job. On the radio today, Imus rightly asked when Sharpton will be apologizing to the Duke Lacrosse players, who were declared innocent by the NC Attorney General. When will Sharpton be apologizing? Never, because he doesn't have to apologize for the racist and bigoted things he says. It's justified because he calls for it in the name of civil rights.
True civil rights leaders would be appalled at people like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, who are nothing more then troublemakers.
... Am I going to get fired for that?