Imus is a Ho

Don Imus is currently having a Michael Richards moment, er, two weeks, and possibly rest of his career. After calling players on the Rutgers women's basketball team (the runner up NCAA women's basketball champions) "nappy headed hos" on air, he's serving a two week suspension from radio and cable television broadcasting.

Imus started out mildly enough by saying "That’s some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and –". Yes they are, and yes they do (you go girls). Okay, so they are tough looking. I don't have a problem with this first part of his comment, and I can even give him a pass for what he said later about the winning Tennessee team who "...all look cute, you know, so, like — kinda like — I don’t know." At least he's eloquent.

Point is, we can all appreciate saying one team looks rougher and tougher than another. I can even give another guy, Rosenberg, in the conversation leeway for saying: "It was a tough watch. The more I look at Rutgers, they look exactly like the Toronto Raptors." That's kind of funny. Offensive to me as a woman, but still I'm not off my seat in anger, and it honestly makes me almost giggle.

But when I heard Imus call the Rutgers girls "nappy headed hos" I wanted to vomit and then have him lynched. I guess he meant to continue his clowning on the Rutgers team's toughness by commenting on the fact that they are predominantly black, and without the common decency to use nasty and painful (I'm told) hot combs and lye relaxers. Then he thought to add a little color to the rant and call them all "hos". Nice.

After I calmed down and read more, I found myself conflicted. I realized that a man I love listening to, am frequently offended by, but would be more offended if he was taken off the air, Howard Stern, has said and does continue to say much worse. Is it okay because Howard is talking to Robin when he says these things: a black woman? Is it just okay because we know Howard makes fun of absolutely everyone, all the time, and we expect it, and because Don Imus' comment was thrown back at another white man, and hinted of racial hatred and also was degrading to women?

I read a direct quote from Howard, in which he said: "He's apologizing like a guy who got his first broadcasting job. He should have said, '— you, it's a joke.'" For a moment I thought "Yah, it's a joke! Howard makes these jokes all the time and I'm okay with them." Then I thought again. There's just something different about Imus' comment, about the way it sits in my gut after hearing it. It's not funny, not at all. But is it any different? And regardless, should we allow this type of comment on air? Does banning Imus from broadcasting violate free speech?

After much internal debate I have to say that folks should give him hell, that he should be put on blast all over the blogosphere and broadcast world for saying such a stupid offensive thing, that the stations that he broadcasts with should make statements against him, and should always punish blatant racial slurs. I think he should loose money and power of position just because folks don't approve of that kind of talk, and I think, unlike Howard, that he should apologize and apologize heartily, simply because his comment was not nice. I agree with his suspension by CBS and MSNBC, but I don't necessarily think further action (firing him, etc.) needs to be taken. I'm unsure about it, but that's what I'm thinking right now.

What do you think?