"These boots are made for walkin'
And that's just what they'll do
One of these days
These boots are gonna walk all over you"
And that's just what they'll do
One of these days
These boots are gonna walk all over you"
Condoleeze Rice says she's glad Don Imus was fired:
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday that radio host Don Imus' comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team were "disgusting" and she was pleased he was fired. Imus called the women players "nappy-headed hos" -- racist, sexist remarks that resulted in a barrage of protests and ultimately in the outspoken host losing his CBS Radio show, which was also televised.
"I'm very glad that there was, in fact, a consequence. I think that this kind of coarse language doesn't belong anywhere in reasonable dialogue between reasonable people," Rice said in an interview with syndicated radio show host Michael Medved.
Rice, the first black female U.S. Secretary of State and a former college professor, said the young women Imus targeted were fine athletes trying their best.
"It gets ruined by this disgusting -- and I'll use the word 'disgusting' -- comment which doesn't belong in any polite company and certainly doesn't belong on any radio station that I would listen to," she added.
Asked how she handled racist, sexist comments directed her way, Rice laughed and replied: "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. And I really don't care because, you know, I'm a mature woman."
Why should Imus have been fired? Because he used language that black people use all the friggin' time?
Here's a Stevie Wonder lyric from one of his biggest hits of all time (I Wish):
Looking back on when I was a little nappy headed boy
And, as far as the word "ho" is concerned, that's actually become a term of endearment among the younger generation, as has the word "pimp."
If Condi thinks we little boys and girls (also called "We the People") need government advice and consent on what we can and can not say, then Condi (as a citizen herself) is looking for a Daddy. You know, a pimp. And, that is a tremendously immature decision for a free human being.
Look, I hate Imus. I don't like his politics, and I don't think he's funny, but the term "Freedom of Speech" means something.
Who the hell does Condi Rice think she is to weigh in on such an issue? As a government official, it's none of her fucking business. Everyone is willing to defend separation of church and state, right? Well good, I'll go there with you. But clearly, there is also a separation of speech and state in our country. We can say whatever the fuck we want, and if any of you nappy-headed ho's out there want to disagree with me, then Fuck You.
"I'm very glad that there was, in fact, a consequence. I think that this kind of coarse language doesn't belong anywhere in reasonable dialogue between reasonable people," Rice said in an interview with syndicated radio show host Michael Medved.
Rice, the first black female U.S. Secretary of State and a former college professor, said the young women Imus targeted were fine athletes trying their best.
"It gets ruined by this disgusting -- and I'll use the word 'disgusting' -- comment which doesn't belong in any polite company and certainly doesn't belong on any radio station that I would listen to," she added.
Asked how she handled racist, sexist comments directed her way, Rice laughed and replied: "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. And I really don't care because, you know, I'm a mature woman."
Why should Imus have been fired? Because he used language that black people use all the friggin' time?
Here's a Stevie Wonder lyric from one of his biggest hits of all time (I Wish):
Looking back on when I was a little nappy headed boy
And, as far as the word "ho" is concerned, that's actually become a term of endearment among the younger generation, as has the word "pimp."
If Condi thinks we little boys and girls (also called "We the People") need government advice and consent on what we can and can not say, then Condi (as a citizen herself) is looking for a Daddy. You know, a pimp. And, that is a tremendously immature decision for a free human being.
Look, I hate Imus. I don't like his politics, and I don't think he's funny, but the term "Freedom of Speech" means something.
9 comments:
i'm glad he was canned.
he's still free to speak - just not on msnbc or cbs.
and they can pick and choose whomever they want to use theuir airwaves.
just like a shopping mall owner can expel a politicker.
repeat: there is NO freedom of speech issue here. none. zero. zilch. nada.
True,
AND
The Secretary of State ought to have nothing to say about the issue.
If Imus' comments drive away advertisers, then he ought to be canned. If the guy running the company chooses to have a more "moral" approach, then he ought to be canned.
But, if this is all about PC leveled at white people, when it isn't leveled at people of color, then fuck it.
I don't like Imus, but I think this is all bullshit, and I intend to use the phrase nappy-headed ho as much as possible in the future.
the phrase itself is not criminal; it is merely racist. it is not illegal to say racist things.
if you want to fine, BUT NOT AT MY BLOG.
imus used it to refer to fine upstanding women. he was wrong to say it.
if you use it again HERE at TAB you will be fired from my blog. permanently.
i detest the hiphopers who use that language and the revs al and jesse.
none of them post here.
they are all attacked here.
without racist language.
we may attack islam or radical islam here, but not arabs as a race.
we want to save them from radical islam. they are trapped by it.
that's why we want to eradicate misogyny.polygamy and endogamy in their societies: so their kids can grow up to be fine and free.
and not into jihadomaniacs.
racist genocidal maniacs.
i will not permit racist BS at my blog.
that's why we oppose affirmative action: because it perpetuates racism.
i hope you get it.
Reliapundit,
I am not using the language in this post in a racist manner. I am using it to demonstrate that it is my right to use it.
And, I am not the only writer who is expressing this kind of opinion. Roger Simon also thinks it is ennerving that Condi Rice has weighed in on such an issue:
http://www.rogerlsimon.com/mt-archives/2007/04/now_rice_animal.php
Now, admittedly, I am probably the only "rational" blogger who is expressing himself in this manner, but you ought to know me better than to believe that I am using this phrase in a racist manner.
This is your blog. I respect that. You go ahead and take the post down if you want. I will not quit.
However, I do maintain that the phrase "ho" is actually a term of endearment to the younger generation. And, you know what? I ought to know, because I hang out with people that age, and so do my friends.
I'm a geezer, but I'm a musician, and often we musicians are friends with a larger sector of society than are other groups of people.
I know whereof I speak, my friend.
And, once again, I am no fan of Imus. I think he is unfunny, and he very well may be a racist, but it isn't the business of the Secretary of State to weigh in on such an issue.
Like I said, there is a seperation of speech and state, and that needs to be maintained.
By the way, I don't detest the hiphoppers who use such language. Language is malleable. Words do mean stuff, as Rush always says, but slang is ever-evolving.
Wasn't it Dick Gregory who named his autobiography "Nigger" way back in, like, 1969? I think his point was, "I'll take this word and reshape it. I'll make this word mean something else entirely."
Like I said, you do what you want. I won't be offended. I respect what you do, and this is your blog. I write here because I like you.
u r talking passed my points:
1 - u say this is a freedom of speech issue. I SAY IT IS NOT.
a private company can hire and fire the people it wants to fire and hire; imus probably had a morals clause, and he broke it.
2 - the terms are demeaning: a ho is a ho is a ho. when people like to be called ho's then there is something wrong with their culture/attitude/upbringing.
3 - condi has free speech, too. she can weigh in on anything. when belafonte and glover call her bad names i attack them. ditto when imus calls fine basketballers names too.
AND REPEAT: imus can go on and speak as much as he wants. just not for HUGE $$$$ from cbs and msnbc. REPEAT: he is free to speak and say what he wants.
4 - free speech doesn't mean FREE FROM CRITICISM.
5 - dick gregory is an ass.
BOTTOM-LINE: use racist language and you are out.
there are differences between the races - obviously. and differences between individuals. OBVIOUSLY.
those who reduce them to groupist derogations are not wanted here.
it is time the black community got rid of it's anti-white/anti-West postmodernist leftist BS and got itself some new leaders.
who can help them instill; self-respect. decency. hard work ethic and eradicate this HIP HOP SUBCULTURE and put it into the dustbin of history where it belongs.
this is what BLAIR was speaking of earlier this weak: there is a nasty destructive negative subculture of crudity and violence in the youth culture today - especially among blacks.
it had been exploited.
not it's time for it to evolve into the past: go extinct and be replaced by something more wholesome and mutually beneficial.
bill cosby has spoken of this. and many others.
you seem to be putting yourself on the side of the destructive anti-humanist anti-woman idiots.
if you oppose the desructuive subculture of radical islam then you must oppose the violent drug-oriented sexist racist subculture of hiphop, too.
we need to wipe both off the face of the earth.
hiphop with verbal criticism.
radical islam with anyhting and everything we've got - because it's evolved into a hugely violent force, worldwide.
the folks like CBS and hillary who make money off this subculture and then criticize imus when he mimics it are hypocrites and assholes. they need to be criticized too.
BUT... not with the aim of extending hiphop's reach and realm.
but of strangulating it.
it is time we restored the possibility of a sense of shame to our culture.
imus was ASHAMED of what he said.
i accept that.
hillary and cbs and msnbc should be ashamed of taking/making $$$$$MUCHO MUCHO moiney from this same crowd of hiphoppers.
another example os the shamlessnes of this crowd is the fact that today THERE IS NO DISTICTION between NOTORIETY and CELEBRITY.
example:" paris hilton and her sex tape.
now she is a star - one who th major networks and studios fawn over.
society - HUMANITY - is better when we distinguish between notoriety and celebrity.
we need to stop valorizing bad things.
which means when crude distasteful secist/racist things like crop up - like hiphop language used by imus or hiphoppers - we criticize it.
now drop it here at TAB.
period.
I think the issue here really comes down to the use of the word "ho" by Imus. Admittedly, it took me several days of switching radio stations that were discussing Imus' comment without saying what it had been for me to finally find out just what he had said. There is the issue of societal significance of which people in which groups are "allowed" to use certain terms in our society. I find this interesting from a socio-linguistic perspective as it is, and its similarity to the flap over Ann Coulter's "rehab" joke. Gay people use the word she used all the time, and it is not at all taboo unless used by outsiders as an epithet, abusive comment, or threat.
I think that firing people for such comments represents major corporate ass-covering rather than the true feelings of these companies. I don't know much of Imus, but from what I have heard, he insults pretty much everyone. I have no idea what the context was for this latest comment. His firing could set an interesting precedent, however. Rosie O'Donnell, as we all know, has been quite the fount of incendiary speech herself lately, yet doesn't seem to be putting out resumes just yet. She'll probably never be fired unless she ramps her language up to the point of drawing a line in the sand as far as her employers and her speech are concerned. Now with the precedent set by Imus, speech by pundits will be under a different sort of scrutiny.
Condi's comments are interesting, and I must admit, I sort of admire her for her defense of the women in question, seeing as Rice herself has been called almost every racist name in the book by black people opposed to her political party. But she is playing right into the idea that it's OK for anyone else to use that sort of speech if they are of her race, just not if they are white.
I, myself, am rather nappy headed. OK, very much so. And calling my hair "nappy" comes from having had so many black friends over the years who refer to it as such. My "Don King look" (which is produced by my gravity defying nappy-ass hair) is always a big laugh for everyone. But I've always had black friends trying to help me out with my crazy hair, whether with advice or with actually slapping different concoctions onto it. I don't mind at all when other people with nappy hair comment on it. There is a rather condescending tone that can occasionally feel insulting, though, coming from whites who have very managable hair. It is not comfortable to hear these comments, I'll say that much.
On the other hand, had Imus for any reason been talking about me and made that comment, I'd have pulled up a picture of him with his insane hair and just said "look who's talking!!". As for calling women "ho"s, I'd tell him to shut it. But then, if these basketball players ever had done videos for YouTube, they'd be so used to being called vulgar and racist names that I doubt they'd have minded Imus so much.
Bottom line, this will sest an interesting and possibly dangerous precedent for anyone in the future who perhaps is using racially charged language but is not meaning to be offensive. I think Imus was being offensive, meant to be. But this will affect others who may just be yakking away. Were sponsors threatening to pull ads? If so, that'll be what this really boil down to. Otherwise, an apology would've fixed things.
well said pim!
if imus had said this about ayaan ali hirsi and condi then he would have been just as racist and just as wrong and just as insulting but would have not lost his job.
but, he picked on young fine innocent hard-working regular young women.
it was a media giant and millionaire picking on young kids that did it.
and if all the shock jocks think twice before uttering racist things, then that is good.
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