Don Imus

[bluesbassman]

I've been working on a screenplay intended as sequel to the 1992 movie, "White Men Can't Jump." The working title is "Black Women Can't Do Math." Given the outrage over this Imus/Rutgers incident, I guess I'll scrap the project (shrug).

[EricOF]

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Borodog give me a friggin break. Describing someone as nappyheaded is the same as saying they area black.

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So Imus accused them of being black and they and you are insulted. Which are the racists again?

[funkytown]

Joel 2006 - spoken like a true narcissist

[Bill Haywood]

[ QUOTE ]
I've been working on a screenplay intended as sequel to the 1992 movie, "White Men Can't Jump." The working title is "Black Women Can't Do Math." Given the outrage over this Imus/Rutgers incident, I guess I'll scrap the project (shrug).

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White people are not sensitive about how high they jump, so that movie title is just good natured fun, not insulting. It does not play to a stereotype that has damaged whites for generations.

Suggesting low intelligence is, however, a hurtful play on hoary old stereotypes. See the difference?

It amazes me that so many white guys are obsessed with the injustice of not being able to say things that blacks say to each other. But you see, it is not coming from some conspiracy to enforce double standards. Some things are insulting in one context, but not another.

The other day in the hall, I heard two of my students greet each other affectionately: "hey, slutt," "hey, punk." Sensitive man that I am, I know not to greet the girl as "slutt," and I don't feel all oppressed over it. I respect the fact that people only want some people to say certain things about them. Why is that a big deal?

It can work the other way.

I read an "Overheard in New York" piece awhile ago where a black guy voices his admiration for the healthy booty of white girl. His buddy then chastises him, explaining something to the effect of, "white girls don't like to be told they have big butts. Only black girls do." So you see, black men also face the crushing humiliation of not being allowed to say out loud that a white woman has a big butt, even though white guys can say it about black girls.

It amazes me that the simple request that people not use hurtful language is turned into a big reverse discrimination case. Find something real to talk about.

[joel2006]

Quote:

Borodog give me a friggin break. Describing someone as nappyheaded is the same as saying they area black.



So Imus accused them of being black and they and you are insulted. Which are the racists again?

He insulted someone's hair and yeah he used a term blacks themselves often use to describe unruly black hair.

Eric, maybe you don't get it or don't want to get it, but to black people, calling hair nappy is a description, calling a person nappy-headed is an insult. Calling a person nappy-headed ISN'T the same as calling them black, it means they are trifling and have poor personal hygiene, or it means that one accepts white supremacist standards of beauty and considers their hair ugly, but among blacks it is almost always an insult and much more so if referring to a woman. Funkytown-?????

[Kaj]

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Police officers call each other pig (affectionately), but you can't. Do you feel reverse discriminated against over that?

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Yes, I do, and rightfully should.

[niss]

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Eric, maybe you don't get it or don't want to get it, but to black people, calling hair nappy is a description, calling a person nappy-headed is an insult. Calling a person nappy-headed ISN'T the same as calling them black, it means they are trifling and have poor personal hygiene, or it means that one accepts white supremacist standards of beauty and considers their hair ugly, but among blacks it is almost always an insult and much more so if referring to a woman. Funkytown-?????

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Do you understand the nature of Imus's show? Why is this insult *so much* different than any of the other insults he's dished out to a variety of ethnic groups that he should lose his job over it? The man's job is, in part, dishing out insults irreverantly.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think what Imus said was the least bit funny. But to say that he should lose his job over this one particular insult over any of the other offensive things he's done in the past is a little silly. Why is this different, for example, than what was uttered on his show about the Williams sisters, for example?

And I can't help but keep coming back to how bothered I am by the hypocrisy of those who stand behind Mr. Sharpton here. Imus said something bad. Bad words. Shouldn't have said them. The Rutgers players will move on with their lives in short order, and likely will have little lasting effect from this. Al Sharpton ruined an innocent young man's life in what was much more of an abhorrent incident of racism than this. Al has not done a single thing to make that right (among other items in Al's hit parade). Al and those who stand behind him should clean up Al's own house before he yells how people should be fired for making a mistake. The fact that he has somehow become the leading spokesperson for the "black community" on this issue is as sickening as Imus's words.

[Prodigy54321]

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White people are not sensitive about how high they jump, so that movie title is just good natured fun, not insulting. It does not play to a stereotype that has damaged whites for generations.

Suggesting low intelligence is, however, a hurtful play on hoary old stereotypes. See the difference?

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there is no actual difference between the two

the difference seems to be that white people generally don't get mad about it, while black people generally do.

[AlexM]

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black people are allowed to say "nappy headed ho" as much as they want and whites can't. That's blatant racism.

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Poor you.

Police officers call each other pig (affectionately), but you can't. Do you feel reverse discriminated against over that?

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That's different. If I call a cop a pig, I'm trying to insult him. I could certainly call cops pigs on the air though without getting into trouble. And it's possible that I could become friends enough with some cops to call them that in a friendly way. Not even remotely the same.

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It's a respect thing, not a discrimination thing.

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So a person who loves rap music and rap "culture" so much that they mimic those involved isn't respectful? That makes no sense. It's the best compliment you can give!!!

[West]

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Why is this insult *so much* different than any of the other insults he's dished out to a variety of ethnic groups that he should lose his job over it? The man's job is, in part, dishing out insults irreverantly.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think what Imus said was the least bit funny. But to say that he should lose his job over this one particular insult over any of the other offensive things he's done in the past is a little silly. Why is this different, for example, than what was uttered on his show about the Williams sisters, for example?


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It isn't, it's sad that he could say something like that and still have his job prior to this. But just because it may not make perfect sense that this is the particular straw that breaks the camel's back, doesn't mean the camel's back doesn't deserve to be broken.