Open mouth, insert foot.....

[poltr1]

Last week, NYC radio personality Don Imus really put his foot in it. While discussing the Rutgers womens' basketball team with his producer, Bernard McGuirk, Imus referred to its members as "nappy-headed hos". (McGuirk had called them "hard-core hos", to which Imus responded with his remark.) (Story here, along with an excerpt from the show.)

Imus has since apologized for his remark, and -- this just in -- has now been dropped by MSNBC. WCBS has suspended him for two weeks without pay.

Although the intention of the banter may have been humorous (or so was claimed), it was insensitive, hurtful, and put womens' college basketball in a bad light. These women worked hard to achieve what they did -- the NCAA championship game, only to lose to Tennessee.

But what gets me is that gangsta rappers can get away with saying what Imus said, and not feel any repercussions or get any flak. There's a double standard out there. Black-on-black dissing is OK; white-on-black dissing is not. The great Stevie Wonder can sing about himself being a nappy-headed boy, but I can't even say those words and not be thought of as a racist.

I'll admit that there are some things I don't get because I'm not part of the subculture. This is one of them.

Comments

Re: It's about ownership

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Small nitpick: "epithets", not "epitaphs". But you knew that :-)

And yes, the rule of thumb I (and many of my friends use) is that ethnic (and equivalent) jokes and nicknames are fine when used about a group the speaker belongs to, not otherwise.

Re: It's about ownership

[athenawindsong.livejournal.com]

Small nitpick: "epithets", not "epitaphs".

Thank you. May the gods bless the detail-oriented. :o)