Jason Whitlock: Imus Isn't the Real Bad Guy
KC Star ^ | 4/11/07 | Jason Whitlock
Imus isnt the real bad guy Thank you, Don Imus. Youve given us (black
people) an excuse to avoid our real problem. Youve given Al Sharpton and
Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now
the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for
true economic and social equality. Youve given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers
the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly
disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.
Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once
again wallow in victimhood, protest like its 1965 and delude ourselves into
believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our
self-hatred. While were fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad
shock jock, Im sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers
basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the
beat of 50 Cents or Snoop Doggs latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and
hos. I aint saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they dont have
the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.
It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our
youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and
overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this
culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug
dealing and violent. Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we
sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make
the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves. Its
embarrassing. Dave Chappelle was offered $50 million to make racially
insensitive jokes about black and white people on TV. He was hailed as a
genius. Black comedians routinely crack jokes and we all laugh out loud.
Im no Don Imus apologist. He and his tiny companion Mike Lupica blasted me
after I fell out with ESPN. Imus is a hack. But, in my view, he didnt do
anything outside the norm for shock jocks and comedians. He also offered an
apology. That shouldve been the end of this whole affair. Instead, its only
the beginning. Its an opportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step
on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$. I watched the
Rutgers news conference and was ashamed. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for
eight minutes in 1963 at the March on Washington. At the time, black people
could be lynched and denied fundamental rights with little thought. With the
comments of a talk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last
week serving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes about the
amazing season her team had. Somehow, were supposed to believe that the
comments of a man with virtually no connection to the sports
world ruined Rutgers wonderful season. Had a broadcaster with credibility and
a platform in the sports world uttered the words Imus did, I could understand a
level of outrage. But an hourlong press conference over a man who has already
apologized, already been suspended and is already insignificant is just plain
intellectually dishonest. This is opportunism. This is a distraction. In the
grand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat to black
women in particular. If his words are so powerful and so destructive and must
be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we do about the idiot rappers on
BET, MTV and every black-owned radio station in the country who use words much
more powerful and much more destructive? I dont listen or watch Imus show
regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women?
Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in
any way that its cool to be a baby-daddy
rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that theyre
suckers for pursuing education and that theyre selling out their race if they
do? When Imus does any of that, call me and Ill get upset. Until then, he is
what he is a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore when youre not
looking to be made a victim. No. We all know where the real battleground is.
We know that the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have
far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad
radio show. Theres no money and lots of danger in that battle, so Jesse and Al
are going to sit it out.
To reach Jason Whitlock, call (816) 234-4869 or send e-mail to [EMAIL
PROTECTED] For previous columns, go to KansasCity
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