http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/09/144256
Calls are increasing for the dismissal of talk show host Don Imus over
racist comments he made on his nationally syndicated program. Imus referred
to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" on his show on
Wednesday. We speak with the Rev. Al Sharpton, who is calling for Imus to be
fired and with Maretta Short, president of the New Jersey chapter of the
National Organization for Women. [includes rush transcript]
AMY GOODMAN: Talk show host Don Imus is under fire for making
racist comments on his radio broadcast. On Wednesday's edition of Imus in
the Morning, Imus and his producer, Bernard McGuirk, spoke about the Rutgers
women's basketball team. Rutgers had just lost the national championship
game the night before.
DON IMUS: So I watched the basketball game last night between
a little bit of Rutgers and Tennessee, the women's final.
SID ROSENBERG: Yeah, Tennessee won last night, seventh
championship for Pat Summitt, I-Man. They beat Rutgers by thirteen points.
DON IMUS: Some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they've got
tattoos and --
BERNARD McGUIRK: Some hardcore hos.
DON IMUS: That’s some nappy-headed hos there, I’m going to
tell you that. Man, that’s some -- ooh! And the girls from Tennessee, they
all look cute, you know, so -- like kind of like a -- I don’t know.
BERNARD McGUIRK: A Spike Lee thing.
DON IMUS: Yeah.
BERNARD McGUIRK: The Jigaboos versus the Wannabes --
DON IMUS: Yeah.
BERNARD McGUIRK: That movie that he had?
DON IMUS: Yeah, it was a tough --
CHARLES McCORD: Do the Right Thing.
BERNARD McGUIRK: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
DON IMUS: I don't know if I’d have wanted to beat Rutgers or
not. But they did, right?
SID ROSENBERG: It was a tough watch. The more I look at
Rutgers, they look exactly like the Toronto Raptors.
DON IMUS: Well, I guess, yeah.
LOU RUFFINO: Only tougher.
AMY GOODMAN: Imus in the Morning is broadcast to millions of
people on more than seventy radio stations. It's based at WFAN, which is
owned by CBS, and it's also broadcast on the television network MSNBC.
Public condemnation intensified after Imus initially refused calls to
apologize. Speaking on his radio show one day later, Imus said people
shouldn't be offended by what he called “some idiot comment meant to be
amusing.” As the controversy grew, Imus had an apparent change of heart and
finally apologized Friday.
Several civil rights and media groups have rejected the apology
and are calling for Imus to be removed. The Rainbow/PUSH coalition will hold
protests today outside the offices of MSNBC's parent company NBC. The Rev.
Jesse Jackson said, "If he has a right to use that platform to insult and
degrade, then we have a moral obligation to picket NBC and to protest." The
NAACP and the National Association of Black Journalists have also joined the
calls for Imus's firing and a boycott of his show.
Civil rights leader and founder of the National Action Network,
the Rev. Al Sharpton joins us now on the telephone. Don Imus is scheduled to
appear on Rev. Sharpton’s radio show at 1:00 EST. We are also joined by
Maretta Short, who is the president of New Jersey National Organization for
Women. We welcome you both to Democracy Now!
Reverend Al Sharpton, what are you calling for today?
REV. AL SHARPTON: I’m calling for Imus to be fired. I think that
what he said was racist and sexist, and there must be accountability. If
there is anything at all to FCC regulating and protecting the public, and if
there's any kind of ethics at all among advertisers, they would immediately
move to have him removed. This is no borderline amusing comment. This is as
racist and sexist as you can get.
These are young women who have excelled academically to where
they can attend Rutgers University, excelled athletically, and for them to
be depicted as some “nappy-headed hos,” and we act like this is something
funny, I think is ridiculous.
You must remember, Amy, we’re not talking about just some
wayward shock jock. Presidential candidates and US senators and
major network anchormen go on his show. This would be the
mainstreaming of racism and sexism. We cannot tolerate that.
AMY GOODMAN: So what are you exactly calling for? I mean, Imus
is broadcast in many places here. He's broadcast on WFAN here in New York,
owned by CBS. It goes out syndicated around the country, and then MSNBC
every morning broadcasts the show on television.
REV. AL SHARPTON: They should remove -- they should immediately
terminate Imus. Certainly, there's enough in their contracts on moral clause
alone to get out of these contracts. He has tried to meet -- I have said I
would not meet with him. If he wanted to talk, he had to talk in public. He
said, “Come on my show.” I said, “I would never try to get listeners to your
show.” He said, “I’ll come to yours.”
I intend to tell him today what I’ve told everyone for the last
three or four days: he ought to be fired. If he thinks he's a good guy, as
he’s saying, and he was misunderstood, then he ought to say that, and I will
say to him, “If you're a good guy, you'll resign and help to keep a
precedent that this cannot be tolerated in America.” This is not personal.
What he did was racist and sexist and should not be given a pass because he’s
commercially successful.
AMY GOODMAN: Have you spoken with any of the executives of CBS
or NBC?
REV. AL SHARPTON: Spoke to the people at NBC, and we intend to
speak to the people at CBS. We intend to be having demonstrations in New
York in front of CBS and NBC, if he is still there at the end of this week.
And National Action Network and National Association of Black Journalists
and all of us who began this together are reaching out to other groups to
join us in this.
I will, again, make it clear when Mr. Imus, if he were to show
up at the radio show today, that this is not about whether he's a good guy
or whether he does charitable work, this is about accountability in media.
If the airwaves can be used to, in any way, mainstream racism and sexism, it
is an affront to all of us. We must resist it. We cannot have a precedent
where people can say these kinds of things and walk away without any
penalty.
AMY GOODMAN: And your response to Don Imus basically saying he's
a good person who he made a bad comment, that he just made an idiotic
statement?
REV. AL SHARPTON: You can go to any criminal court building
today, and people that are charged with crimes say that every day. The
problem is the crime, not the person. I don’t have to give a long list of
why I think Imus is a good or bad person, even though he has said many
offensive things before. I think this act must be punished. The issue is not
his other activities. The issue is he said it. He clearly said it. You
played the tape. Others have heard the tape. And whether or not FCC, that
regulates media in this country, and advertisers are going to continue to
support and allow this kind of language to be used, that's the issue here.
If he was a good guy, he would say, “I did something wrong. I
want to step up and withdraw and help establish and continue the
establishment of a precedent here that racism has no part on the airwaves.”
Al Campanis, who was vice president of the Dodgers, said something that I
think was even less offensive than Imus, and he had to leave the Dodgers.
Jimmy “The Greek.” There's a precedent here, that we are now trying to act
like in the 21st century that racist language, racist kind of commentary can
be justified as humor and excused because the guy saying it is an alright
guy. I don't think we can live by that kind of precedent.
AMY GOODMAN: The NABJ, Bryan Monroe, who's the president of the
National Association of Black Journalists, also calling for Imus to be
kicked out, raised other quotes calling Gwen Ifill -- I think his words were
“a cleaning lady,” and describing William Rhoden of the New York Times as a
“quota hire.” Those were quotes in an NABJ press release that Imus had made
earlier, at other times.
REV. AL SHARPTON: Yeah, Imus has a record of this, from what he
said about Gwen Ifill, what he said about Rhoden, what he said about others.
But I don't think that anything has crossed the line more blatantly than
what he said about these young ladies, and, again, both sexist and racist.
And are we just going to continue with this and act like it's alright or,
“OK, I can get away with just an apology”? I mean, Michael Richards, who
just caused a firestorm with his nightclub act, was one matter, and I felt
there that was totally wrong. I’ve condemned people in the black community
for using the N-word and being offensive, and many of them were fired and
suspended from radio jobs. Why would we take a different stand when it comes
to Don Imus, because he deals with the political elite? I think that’s
nonsense. I think he must be penalized. I think the precedent in media in
this country is more important than the person of Don Imus or anyone else,
in terms of their careers.
AMY GOODMAN: Are you taking this to the FCC, as well?
REV. AL SHARPTON: We have this morning sent a letter to the FCC,
asking for them to take action, and we want to meet with the commissioners
of the FCC. If the FCC cannot say to stations that this is not allowed, then
what is their role as regulators? Are they saying to taxpayers that it's
alright that racist, sexist remarks go out over the airwaves? That is not
part of our regulation.
That’s not a question now of free speech. This is a question of
where we regulate radio and regulate TV differently for different people.
There are any number of deejays around the country, even black, that have
been fired and suspended for saying things far less offensive, but
offensive. And I have supported that, even friends of mine, because I think
that you cannot allow the airwaves to become the toilet of racist language
in America.
AMY GOODMAN: Reverend Al Sharpton, joining us on the phone from
New York. He is going to be having Don Imus on his radio program at 1:00
EST. Maretta Short, also with us, president of the National Organization for
Women, New Jersey. Maretta Short, what is NOW calling for?
MARETTA SHORT: Well, thank you, Amy. Yes, well, right now we're
asking for people to go to our website and take action by sending messages
to the general manager, Chuck Bortnick, of radio station WFAN, which
produces Imus's show, and to Karen Mateo, communications vice president of
CBS Radio, which owns WFAN, and to MSNBC television, which airs and promotes
the show. Imus's message is racist to the core, is sexist to the core, and
it’s totally unacceptable.
And our webpage is now.org, by the way. And on Wednesday at
2:30, there is going to be a protest and rally at Rutgers University at 350
Martin Luther King Boulevard. So those who are asking, “What is Al doing
about it? What is NOW doing about it? What is NAACP doing about it?” you
have work to do. You are NOW, you are the NAACP, and it's time for us to
move on this. Imus's actions are totally unacceptable.
AMY GOODMAN: Maretta Short, you are in New Jersey. Have you
spoken to people at Rutgers?
MARETTA SHORT: Well, right now, I’m waiting for call backs. I
have put out calls as -- last night, and I’m waiting for the calls to be
returned. Right now, I’m reaching out to some members of the Rutgers
basketball team. I have not spoken to any of them as of yet, but I certainly
am looking forward to it.
AMY GOODMAN: And has NOW met with General Electric, which owns
NBC, or NBC officials or MSNBC or WFAN or CBS, which owns FAN?
MARETTA SHORT: Yeah, that is a very good question, and I want to
get to that later. But I think that it's important to say, about these
apologies that Imus is supposed to make, there's certain things you can't
apologize for, Amy. You can apologize for stepping on somebody's toe,
bumping into them, but you cannot apologize for the filth that has come out
of his mouth. I mean, I think it's utterly, utterly disgusting, and it
targets a certain audience that nobody's focusing on: the white male
beer-drinking eighteen to thirty-eighters. What makes them feel it's OK to
do that? So now, his show is creating an audience that thinks that talking
in that way and insulting people and spewing out that hatred is acceptable.
It is totally unacceptable.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you both for being with us.
We'll certainly report on what happens today, the latest developments, what
Don Imus says on Reverend Al Sharpton's radio show and what the plans of the
corporate networks are in dealing with Imus in the Morning.
MARIETTA SHORT: OK, well, Amy, thank you very much. And I just
want to say that this is coming to us on the thirty-fifth year of the
anniversary of the Title IX, when women have been given the equal
opportunities in education, including sports, whereas years ago we just did
not have that sort of thing. And, by the way, it was introduced by a woman
of color, Patsy Mink of Hawaii, and I think that's a very important point to
bring out, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: Thank you very much.
REV. AL SHARPTON: I agree. And we certainly support the rally at
Rutgers, and we'll be doing rallies at CBS and NBC on Friday and Saturday of
this week. And we'll keep you informed, Amy.
AMY GOODMAN: Thanks very much, Reverend Al Sharpton and Maretta
Short, the president of New Jersey NOW.
===
Racism Is to Be Expected From Don Imus CBS, NBC, media
pundits complicit in talk host's bigotry
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3082
4/9/07
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)
http://www.fair.org
Action Alert
In the wake of the latest racial slur broadcast on Don
Imus' show, the question is not whether Imus is a
racist--the man, after all, admitted to hiring one of
his co-hosts to do "nigger jokes" (60 Minutes,
7/19/98)--but why CBS, NBC and top media pundits seem to
feel no embarrassment over associating with his racism.
The Imus in the Morning radio show is aired on
CBS-owned radio station WFAN, and is syndicated
nationally by CBS-owned Westwood One. It is simulcast
daily on MSNBC, a cable news channel in which GE
subsidiary NBC Universal holds a controlling interest.
Top media pundits like Tim Russert, Howard Fineman,
Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd are frequent Imus guests.
The show has also been a conduit for televised racism
and other bigotry for years.
FAIR and others have documented numerous instances of
Imus and his on-air colleagues expressing overt racism
and other forms of bigotry. Imus himself has referred
to African-American journalist Gwen Ifill as "a
cleaning lady," to New York Times sports reporter Bill
Rhoden as "quota hire" and to tennis player Amelie
Mauresmo as "a big old lesbo." Imus called Washington
Post reporter Howard Kurtz a "boner-nosed...
beanie-wearing Jewboy," referred to a disabled
colleague as "the cripple," and to an Indian men's
tennis duo as "Gunga Din and Sambo." In Imus' words,
the New York Knicks are "chest-thumping pimps."
Imus' on again/off again sidekick Sid Rosenberg was
temporarily fired in 2001 for calling tennis player
Venus Williams an "animal" and remarking that the
Williams sisters--Venus and her tennis player sister
Serena--would more likely be featured in National
Geographic than in Playboy. Rosenberg insisted to New
York's Daily News (6/7/01) that his comments weren't
racist, "just zoological." In 2004, MSNBC had to
apologize when the rehired Rosenberg referred to
Palestinians as "stinking animals."
In May 2005, MSNBC let Contessa Brewer out of her short
stint as a news reader on Imus' morning show after Imus
had made a daily game of crude personal attacks against
her, calling her a pig, a skank, dumber than dirt and
other similar felicities, all on air. MSNBC claimed
they "expressed their displeasure" to the host (New
York Post, 5/1/05), while noting that his "humor" was
"often brilliant and provocative."
In his most recent racist outburst, on April 4, Imus
called the Rutgers women's basketball team
"nappy-headed hos," just moments after sidekick and
executive producer Bernard McGuirk (the "nigger jokes"
hire) called them "hard-core hos." The Rutgers team,
which recently played in the national championship
finals, is made up of eight African-American women and
two white women.
On April 6, Imus issued an apology for the slur of the
Rutgers team. It was the latest in a long line of
apologies for bigotry on his show. Past apologies have
served to take pressure off Imus, but haven't resulted
in a change of behavior by the host or his colleagues.
Niether has Imus' history of bigotry dissuaded
prominent journalists and pundits, more after publicity
than principle, from appearing on Imus' show. Friday's
show, in addition to Imus' apology, featured an
interview with NBC's Meet the Press host Tim Russert.
In an exceptional report on April 9, New York Times
reporter David Carr noted Imus' history of racism and
the parade of media luminaries who have appeared on his
show, who have rarely raised questions about the show's
bigotry. Carr noted that, even in the aftermath of the
latest Imus slurs, Newsweek editor Evan Thomas defended
appearing on the show, explaining: "I am going on the
show, though. I think if I didn't, it would be
posturing. I have been going on the show for quite some
time and he occasionally goes over the line."
It's time for CBS and NBC to acknowledge that Imus is
unlikely to ever rein in his bigotry, that the crude
and hateful insults are a key part of his routine: Like
the cowboy hat, they provide an air of "edginess" to
what is often otherwise a dull exercise in Beltway
insider back-scratching.
A media company that chooses to run such a show has two
choices: It can declare, explicitly or implicitly, that
calling people "nappy-headed hos" and "beanie-wearing
Jewboys" is an acceptable part of the national
discussion. Or it can end its affiliation with said
program.
The Russerts, Finemans and the like who elect to appear
on Imus' show have a similar decision: Are you down
with "nigger jokes" or aren't you?
ACTION: Contact Westwood One president Peter Kosann and
MSNBC general manager Dan Abrams and ask whether, given
the track record of empty apologies from Don Imus,
their companies have any problems with the hateful
slurs the talk host will predictably air in the near
future.
MSNBC General Manager Dan Abrams (201) 583-5000
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Westwood One Peter Kosann President and Chief Executive
Officer (212) 641-2037 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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