ESPN's panel discussion show The Sports Reporters had a discussion about Don Imus this morning that was notable for a few reasons. The first is that the panel consisted of three white men (Mike Lupica, Mitch Albom and Bob Ryan) and one black man (John Saunders). Saunders was the only one of the four who thought Imus deserved to get fired for calling the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos." It would have been nice to hear a female perspective on the nasty way Imus described these young women.
Also interesting: Lupica is a longtime Imus friend who bizarrely referred to Imus's comment as "one offense" and added, "If I thought he was a racist I wouldn't have been going on his show for 25 years." Lupica might be right that Imus isn't a racist, but he's very, very wrong if he thinks Imus's offensive language was just "one offense."
And yet another interesting part of this is that Ryan also referenced his own history of offensive comments -- he was suspended by the Boston Globe in 2003 for saying Jason Kidd's wife should be smacked. Ryan had the best point about Imus's claims that he's "a good person who did a bad thing." Ryan said, "That is not true. He is a good person who has done hundreds, maybe thousands of bad things if he's refering to remarks of that nature, whether they're about gays or blacks or women or whatever. That's his shtick."
Previously at FanHouse:
Snoop Dogg: Don't Compare Me to Don Imus
Stuart Scott on 'Ho': 'I Didn't Say That It's a Good Thing'
Stuart Scott Says Calling a Woman a Ho Is 'Affectionate'
Annika Sorenstam: Don Imus? Rutgers? Never Heard of Them
Who's Worse, Don Imus or Billy Packer?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-15-2007 @ 12:28PM
jon said...
Thats his job..vulgar yes..offensive yes..but who isnt offended by stuff everyday..the thought police are coming...already here
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4-15-2007 @ 12:42PM
ron said...
I don't know, I kind of think Jason Kidd's wife needs to be smacked these days after what she's said in the divorce hearings. Maybe Bob Ryan was just ahead of the curve.
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4-15-2007 @ 12:44PM
candy said...
I personally that ALL language of this nature should be stopped by ALL races. I think the black culture should stop because it is demeaning to them. No matter HOW innocent a non-black person's comment would be, it is always going to be taken as offensive, and I don't think people should keep begging for forgiveness when you hear it on the streets, in restaurants, sporting events, comedians do it, television does it,,,but it is acceptionally brought to the surface when white people do it.
I think all language has gotten out of hand...the F.work is now a common thing and it is NOT right. OUr children and grandchildren should NOT be exposed to it. There used to be values in this country and boundaries, now anything goes and it isn't right.
We have become like the other countries were years ago..nudity on prime time t.v., filthy language and suggestions about everything...Some things are better left unseen and unheard.
GOD BLESS AMERICA>..somebody needs to
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4-15-2007 @ 1:08PM
sarita said...
I watched the show this morning and I was disappointed by the representation on the Imus ordeal. For Lupica to claim this was one offense, shows how misinformed he is regarding his boy Imus' life long career. I find it hard to believe that ESPN could not find a woman to sit in on the panel today to represent a fair and balanced opinion.
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4-15-2007 @ 4:51PM
Kirk said...
What some people apparently fail to realize is that the whole premise of Don Imus's show is to be offensive and insulting. Thus, the reason he has been labeled a shock jock.
But, now, suddenly, after years of insulting commentary, including racial insulting commentary, suddenly he gets fired for merely being what he has always been.
Why? In Imus's case because of a couple hypocritical race-baiters like Al Sharpton and Jesse "Hymie Town" Jackson decided they needed a new target they could use to demonstrate their political power.
If public opinion is souring on such humor, so be it. But, it's hypocritical and solely politically-motivated if the same people going after Imus aren't going to be making the same demands of rap artists, Howard Stern and other elements of the entertainment industry equally sexist and racist.
If not, the whole sorry situation won't produce anything that has been productive.
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4-15-2007 @ 8:08PM
smokin joe said...
What most of white America may not be aware of is that there is an anti-n-word movement building up throughout the black community and its being directed primarily at blacks who are users of the word and other demeaning terms. Unfortunately, for Imus his timing was all wrong...not over-looking the fact that he had no business saying what he said in the first place...but he did get caught in something that is already brewing. To learn more please go:
http://www.theunitedvoices.org
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4-15-2007 @ 8:25PM
H. Lewis Smith said...
Most of white America isn't aware of an anti-n-word movement presently building throughout the black community which is being directed primarily at black users of the word and other demeaning terms. Insofar, as Imus is concerned, everything is about timing and his was all wrong...of course this goes without saying that he had no business saying what he said in the first place...but he did get caught up in something that's brewing within the black community. To learn more please go to:
http://www.theunitedvoices.org
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4-15-2007 @ 9:12PM
Colson Jones said...
I'm not defending Don Imus..he was wrong and he admitted it..but to FIRE him as CBS and MSNBC did ...is unbelievable..If they feel so strong about the Imus affair...let them donate the millions of dollars they made from his broadcasts to the Red Cross or Cancer Society..As to Sharpton and Jackson...we all know what a couple of phonies they are..COME ON AMERICANS....SPEAK (or better yet) SHOUT OUT!!!!
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4-16-2007 @ 6:53PM
Donne Nichols said...
Imus was wrong!Slavery was wrong! That said,nobody is saying hiphop or rap is bad music,they are saying alot of the words expressed are offensive and disrespectful.Those who condem one and defend the other are no better than the ones who spew this crap.Hiding behind a record label or so called free speech is no excuse! Respect for others,thats the point.
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4-30-2007 @ 3:29PM
Mustafaa Muhammad said...
Peace,
We as black people need a knowledge of self, understanding of self and appreciation of self. These things lead to us not having to demand respect but command respect by us respecting self. Brother and sister rappers need to stop falling into the game of our self destruction.
"As a person thinketh in their heart so are they" Bible
What you see on these records is the manifestation of the warped mind that has been produced under the U.S.A.
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