Issue Runs Deeper than Imus
By Kimberly Lilly, 04.25.07
For the past couple of weeks, it has been impossible to turn on the television and not hear the name Don Imus. Host of CBS’ “Imus in the Morning,” the TV and radio personality made headlines on April 4 when he referred to the Rutgers women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed hos.” And while those outraged by his comments are justified, I am somewhat shocked at the backlash being thrown Imus’ way.
With lyrics like “It's a ho wide world that we livin' in” and “If money's gonna make me slam these hos,” it’s ironic that Imus gets fired while rap music stars get rich. Too many black men, and even some women, have referred to both black women and women in general as whores. After hearing how the many different black organizations were taking a stand against Imus’ comments, I couldn’t help but wonder - why is this stand just taking place now?
A majority of rap music lyrics degrade women in some way, and though this point has been recognized by the black community, no black organizations have petitioned for Ludicrous, 50 cent or Jay Z to be fired.
The issue with Imus referring to the Rutgers women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed hos” goes deeper than this one incident. Perhaps Imus had reason to feel okay making those comments due to the many African-Americans using such terms lightly on a regular basis in their dialect, music lyrics and jokes.
No man or woman, black or white, deserves to judge another in anyway. The same stand that has been taken within the black community to show Imus and the world that his comments are unacceptable should be taken against African-Americans who freely use degrading terms to describe women on a daily basis.
This is a transcript of the controversial conversation Imus was having with executive producer Bernard McGuirk and radio personality Sid Rosenberg:
IMUS: So, I watched the basketball game last night between - a little bit of Rutgers
and Tennessee, the women's final.
ROSENBERG: Yeah, Tennessee won last night - seventh championship for
[Tennessee coach] Pat Summitt, I-Man. They beat Rutgers by 13 points.
IMUS: That's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and --
McGUIRK: Some hard-core hos.
IMUS: That's some nappy-headed hos there. I'm gonna tell you that now, man,
that's some - woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like - kinda like - I don't know.
McGUIRK: A Spike Lee thing.
Only hours after the degrading conversation took place McGurik, Rosenberg and most of all Imus were regretting their comments. Imus’ “nappy-headed hos” comment caused the National Association of Black Journalist (NABJ), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored people (NAACP) and black Greek sororities Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta to petition for his firing.
