Showing posts with label Don Imus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Don Imus. Show all posts

Monday, April 16

:: Why Won't Imus Stop Annoying Me?

I keep thinking I'm done with this story... and then it pulls me back in. Look closely and you can actually see history being re-written before your very eyes.

Imus went down because his comment - which I would argue is primarily sexist with a racist adjective, but that dosn't really matter - (1) landed on an inviolable target, and (2) was picked up on right away by people with juice. And by juice I mean staff at NBC and CBS who were personally offended and made it known at the highest levels; the professional organization for black journalists, who spread the news far and wide to people with connections to NBC and CBS; and concerned individuals at influential levels within the corporate sponsors.

These people were, I have read, for the most part women, minorities and parents ("how would I feel if someone said this about my daughter?"). They were appalled by the racism AND the sexism, and they reacted accordingly.

Days later, it seems the story is all about the racism. The WaPo/ABC News poll I cited earlier asks people if Imus deserved to be fired for his "racist comments" - no mention of sexism. In op-ed after op-ed, male authors pay lip service to sexism - mentioning the "racist-and-sexist comment" before devoting their article solely to racism (E.J. Dionne's recent column is an exception). And in discussion thread after discussion thread, men bicker back and forth about whether (to sum it up) white men should have to refrain from making racist comments since black men are making them too.

Yet look at what the Rutgers team themselves said about Imus, courtesy of Newsweek (yes, god help me, I looked at Newsweek).

Still, Imus's comments stung. "When I heard the quote I was confused," Kia Vaughn, a 6-foot-4 sophomore center from the Bronx, told NEWSWEEK. "I felt intimidated and scared, and it was the first time that I ever felt that way in my life ... I couldn't believe someone was talking about my womanhood and calling me a ho." But the players didn't let the hurt penetrate their pride. "Why would he say that if he doesn't know us or what we accomplished?" asked forward Myia McCurdy.

For team captain Essence Carson, a 6-foot forward/guard from Paterson, N.J., who wowed the public with her poise, Imus's remark was more sexist than racist. "It was an attack on women first," Carson told NEWSWEEK. "He just made it race-specific." Initially, the Knights wanted to ignore Imus and absorb their pain as a team, she said, but after a little discussion the women decided they "had to take a stand." Stringer's example was key, said Carson; "Coach has been through everything you can think of, [so] we know we have the strength to bear anything."
I wish I could praise Newsweek - no, really - but the fact is they couched a genuinely inspirational article under the heading "Race, Power and the Media." Not "Race, Gender, Power and the Media"... but I'm sure it was just an oversight.

No, actually I'm sure it was someone at Newsweek knowing that three-word combos are stronger than four or more words, and making the call that sexism just isn't as important a problem as race. After all, sexism is just important to women, and not even all women, just some women (like the Rutgers team, but whatever) while race is important to everyone.

Sadly, this misses what I think is the real take home lesson - diversity works. If women and blacks weren't present at the top levels of CBS, NBC and the corporate sponsors, this story would have slunk away with barely a whimper.

A similar scenario played out over at Washington Monthly, in the comments thread of a Kevin Drum post on Imus. Comment after comment about race, about Al Sharpton, about Jesse Jackson - all basically arguing the same points - (1) I (white guy) will stop saying racist things only after they (black guys) agree to stop saying racist things, and (2) any presence by Al Sharpton automatically disqualifies the opinions of all black people and any white people who might agree with black people.

One after another, each comment reified that race was the important issue, and sexism - well, why bother even mentioning it. Until, that is, a poster with a feminine sounding screen name (not me) commented:
What is interesting to me is that the worst element of the "nappy-headed ho" slur - "ho" - meaning whore - is more sexist than racist, and yet the sexism part seems easier to overlook than the racism part for everyone I've heard of discuss the matter except over at Shakesville.
Well, you should have seen the conversation shift!

Sike. Actually, she was ignored for the remainder of the thread (nearly 100 comments) except for one guy who thought Imus wouldn't have called a white woman a "ho" (it was then pointed out that Imus refers to his own wife - a white woman - as a "ho" -- "Wow, he's worse than I thought!" was the reply). Again, poster after poster reaffirmed that sexism doesn't merit discussion - and that concern by women, for women - played no role in bringing about the fall of Imus. Never mind what the team said... the guys are here to tell you what bothered you the most.

This is why, I guess, when it comes to discussing sexism with men, most women pull a Cartman: "screw you guys - I'm going home!"

The Rutgers team succeeded where, up till now, all others had failed - they brought shame to one of the media's biggest bullies. More from Newsweek, about their meeting with Imus:
The [question] that kept coming up, in various formulations and from numerous players, was "Why?" Why target them? How could he not know his remarks were hurtful? Was he proud of making his living by ridiculing others? The players were clearly less than impressed by Imus's wan explanation that ridicule was his job.

"I know that this is not my problem," one player told Imus, according to the Rev. DeForest Soaries, who mediated the Thursday-night session. "I don't want you to think that I question myself because of what you said. I'm a classy woman at a great university. I will pray for you."

Indeed. Read more!

:: Fresh Grist for the Imus Mill

A poll conducted by WaPo and ABC news on the Imus imbroglio finds - surprise surprise - wide disparities of opinion between the races and genders. The results - which appear to be raw, with further details promised later today - are: Whites are split on firing - 47% for, 49% against. Blacks - 70+% for, remainder (I guess) against. Of all women (all races) - 55% for, compared to all men (all races) 48% for.

This strikes me as being in line with the commentary I've seen on the topic - both from professional opinion leaders and the hoi polloi. Lots of comments by white men lashing out at all african-americans for not collectively keeping rappers in line. Lots of comments by black men decrying racism and sexism, but then only discussing the racism. And comments by women, where you can find them, saying its about damn time. And the elite of the elite - for example, Frank Rich, tap-dancing double-time to find a way to oppose the firing and oppose Imus, or support the firing while still supporting Imus. Put another way, one group of elites seems to dislike Imus but feels like the cat just walked over their grave, and another group likes the firing but wants to salvage a relationship with Imus and/or his friends. Read more!

Sunday, April 15

:: "Imus Dead"

I never thought of Bill Buckley as one to go in for rank sensationalism, so I took the bait and read his recent opinion column titled "Imus Dead." Because I was thinking, you know, maybe Imus was dead, which is all too plausible since he looks like he's hanging on by a thread... instead what I got was seven paragraphs that added up to "jolly good he's gone, I found him rather tiresome." I certainly agree with Mr. Buckley, but shouldn't we save headlines like that for occasions when someone has actually, literally died? Oh, Buckley, you rogue. Read more!