"THE I-MAN"
THE CONTEXT
Imus in the Morning on MSNBC weekday mornings, a potpourri of news and sports updates, serious discussions with newsmakers and politicians, live and recorded music, and comedy. It's a tough mix to manage. Tim Russert and Chris Mathews have never tried it. Certainly the Imus program is a far cry from its AM TV rivals, Today or Good Morning America. The comedy consists primarily of comments made from the "seat of the pants" or "off the top of the head", spontaneous jabs at people, mostly prominent, whose names cross the news wires on a particular day or cross the minds of any of the 5 studio regulars. The usual comment is pointed, cynical, sophomoric and offhandedly funny. Surely many of these jibes are hurtful. If punches are pulled in the day-to-day caustic quips and put-downs, it's not readily apparent to this regular viewer.
Of course, the freewheeling, "anything-can-happen" atmosphere makes Imus in the Morning "must-see" TV from 5:30 to 9 AM. Yet it's only a CBS radio show that's syndicated around the country and simulcast on MSNBC. Don Imus is a "shock-jock" of some 30 years running who has morphed his format over the last 15 years to include freeform interviews of some depth for an entertainment program. Imus is an infomaniac who has an understanding of the issues that belies high school dropout status. Consequently, he attracts important authors, CEOs, charitable foundation chairs, media critics, military and political pundits and politicians, particularly presidential aspirants, along with a "Who's Who" of entertainers, all of whom run the gamut among racial and ethnic origins, and religious and political orientation.
He and his wife run a working cattle ranch for kids with cancer and other serious illnesses. The millions of dollars in donations are utilized completely to run the ranch and provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the children. No one in the Imus family receives a nickel for their administration of the foundation and the ranch.
Don Imus has demonstrated that he is a good person and is no racist over the 30+ years he has ranted over the airwaves. He has received hate mail targeting him as a n----- lover for playing and showcasing R & B artists, for playing the sermons of famed black evangelist Eugene Patterson, for championing the candidacy of Harold Ford, Jr. to become the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction, and for speaking out on important issues. Imus hammered home the conclusion that the Bush administration ignored the people left behind in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina "because they were black" - BEFORE any hip-hop celeb raised the point.
THE CONTROVERSY
The 2007 NCAA final women's basketball champoinship pitted University of Tennessee against Rutgers University. The Rutgers girls were sentimental favorites in many quarters for their underdog status against the Lady Vols who have been there, done that several times in recent memory. The remarks that ignited the firestorm referred to the appearance of the Rutgers team which includes eight black women. Imus was discussing the game with producer Bernard McGuirk.
"That's some rough girls from Rutgers," Imus said. "Man, they got tattoos ..."
"Some hardcore hos," said McGuirk.
"That's some nappy headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that," Imus said.
THE FALLOUT
A growing chorus of protests, complaints and calls for Imus to be fired has erupted primarily among black civil rights spokespeople and organizations, including the Black Journalists Organization. Imus has been trying to stay out front of the firestorm delivering several excruciatingly frank expressions of apology. He spent the weekend working the phones, reaching out to all the people whose books Imus hyped to best-seller status, the politicians and journalists who jockey for position to engage with Imus on the current issues, the community leaders for whom Imus has spearheaded fundraising activities that have brought in hundreds of millions of dollars for sick kids, mistreated vets and a prominent military memorial. Imus is fighting for his professional life, appearing on Rev. Al Sharptons radio show Monday, knowing full well that Sharpton and his counterpart (rival) Rev. Jesse Jackson are not likely to back off their demand that he be fired from MSNBC and CBS radio. I find it hard to believe that anyone with the demonstrated power to make or break people and products and initiate trends, whose ratings have recently shot up 39%, is going to be banished from the airwaves before his time - but events could overtake him this time.
It's not difficult to see where Sharpton and Jackson are coming from. They draw heavily upon a segment of the black community for support for their various crusades and, let's face it, a sizeable portion of their sizeable incomes. So they play to "the base" and as we have seen so often they can stir up a groundswell of indignation and protest. Neither of these men can step far outside the parameters of their usual behavior or they risk losing large numbers of the base. I've noticed that Sharpton and Jackson have exhibited more outrage over Imus's remarks than any of the ladies on the Rutgers team - and neither of these concerned civil rights champions has personally contacted anyone connected to the team. It's almost as if the angry protest machine takes on a life of its own - whether the Rutgers women are aboard or not.
Don Imus has been suspended from CBS radio and MSNBC for two weeks beginning April 16. It is not a "slap on the wrist", it is a wake-up "kick in the ass" for Imus who is too invested personally and in the lives of his staff, both on and off the air, to leave broadcasting in this way at this time. The Rutgers women's team was apparently unfamiliar with Don Imus before this incident pushed them together in the national spotlight. In the segregated cultures of America, it is possible for most black folks to be unaware of an Imus and for most white folks to be unaware of Tom Joyner. The Rutgers women's team has selected two of their members to have a private dialogue with Imus, to listen to his apology, and to discuss his promise to make amends by trying to lead by example, more than he has to date. And they will decide whether to accept or reject the Imus apology.
THE RACIAL LANDSCAPE
The comments in question are indefensible in any context and from anyone's wagging tongue. Imus acknowledges that he regrets the remarks because they were not only hurtful, but because they were stupid. He doesn't beg, but he petitions for a chance to be heard, to tell everyone that he knew better but let slip a cheap, stupid shot at a team of remarkable young women athletes. The only comparison that leaps readily to mind for me is Rush Limbaugh, another radio personality who is essentially a shock-jock and a comedian, although he postures as a "journalist". The difference between Imus and Limbaugh is the right-wing pundit always rises up in a defensive posture as wounded by criticisms and expressing outrage that "liberals" are mischaracterizing his hateful, racist rhetoric. Limbaugh does not apologize to anyone.
In light of the chasm that separates the black experience from what is often referred to as white, this incident once again raises the question of how does "Political Correctness" affect all of us and is the PC standard a level landscape or does it tilt more for some than for others? I believe that any understanding of the difference between what a black comedian can get away with what a white comedian might say and get nailed for must examine the chasm that separates the worlds in which most black folks grow and live from where most white folks live. As long as that real, palpable cultural divide exists, what's funny coming out of a black humorists mouth will often be verboten for a white comic. Sociologists can explain that it has to do with "in-groups" and "out-groups". The minority whose common touchstones are all from places and experiences that the white majority can only experience second-hand, in books, films, and entertainment is not about to give permission to draw from the same reservoir of humor to someone who hasn't lived what he or she has lived. (It's likely that most of the loudest protesters calling for Imus to be fired have rarely or never watched his program).
Look at the few white Americans who have attained icon status among black Americans -Abraham Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, JFK and Bobby Kennedy and Bill Clinton. Acceptance among black Americans is not usually extended to just any white person. One must earn their trust by demonstrating an awareness of the history between whites and blacks in America and a consistent passion to finally resolve that history. If Imus's apology is not generally accepted in the black community, perhaps it's because they find apologies suspect, even though apologies are not all that forthcoming from whites in the establishment or from those living and working alongside black folks. HELLO!! The white majority establishment cannot even come to terms with apologizing for slavery! Is it any wonder that there is a separate black experience where children grow into adults who shun so many of the things we take for granted in the "mainstream"?
Race is the greatest single problem in America. Unless and until we're all consciously sharing the same experience, white comedians will be expected to leave the race-specific "street" language and trash talk to the black stand-ups and hip-hop artists. I just hope Imus and his homies "get it". He's a good man who said a terrible thing, not out of malice or hate, but from stupidity.
