Here's why.
First, all the pinheads calling this a "freedom of speech" issue are clueless. Despite what the First Amendment says, you can't say any fucking thing you want to. If you don't believe me, go yell "FIRE!" in a crowded theater, or go verbally threaten violence to the President or the Vice President, and see how long it takes you to need a really good lawyer to get your dumb ass out of jail.
You can be sued for slander if you maliciously lie about somebody else verbally, or sued for libel if you put it in writing. So much for "freedom of speech".
Second, nobody hires you to exercise your rights. They hire you to represent their company in a specific capacity and manner. If you start using language that is defamatory or vulgar in your workplace that makes your co-workers or your company's clients uncomfortable, you can be fired.
I've never held a job that didn't require me to sign a statement that I would not engage in racist, sexist, or other bigoted language or activity. I don't know where all you ET bigots find jobs that let YOU do so, since you think such restrictions are so "unfair" and "political correctness out of control."
Third, Imus is not a klansman, but that doesn't mean that he is not a racist. I find it fascinating that the bigots here and elsewhere think that the standard for racism should be whether a person is a member of the KKK, or Louis Farrakhan's group, or some other racial supremacist group. What nonsense. There is a huge gulf between the tiny fraction of humanity that is totally race neutral and the racial supremacists, and the majority of humanity falls within that gulf. In other words, most of us are racist to some degree, and there's nothing wrong with that necessarily. It depends on what you're racist about. If you've decided that you would only marry another person who shares your race, there's nothing wrong with that because it's your life and only you can judge what type of partner you can be intimate with.
The problem with racism is when it is used to attack or limit other people. Imus has done some great things for kids of all races, but that doesn't "immunize" him from being held responsible when he calls a group of college co-eds who weren't bothering anybody "nappy headed hos" aka "Black whores." The fact that he was trying to be funny doesn't excuse it, because it was deliberate insult humor. The whole point was to belittle those young women by deriding their looks. It was producer McGurk who first called them "hard-core hos", an insult that included the two White members of the 10-woman basketball team, then Imus immediately followed it up with "nappy headed hos", adding a racial component to an already egregious sexist insult.
Some things are firing offenses, no matter how much cred you've built up through adding value to your company and through charitable works. Of course the real reason why Imus was let go was because the sponsors (the REAL clients of MSNBC and CBS, no matter what you viewers and listeners might think) were saying "Enough!" And the sponsors were leaving because they were facing boycotts from THEIR clients.
Fourth, this isn't the first time Imus has stepped over the line. He's been warned before about some things he was saying. So the only real surprise was that he was finally being held to account for his latest offense. Happens everyday to ordinary workers.
Fifth, Imus and his fans can't excuse his behaviour by saying "rappers are doing it too!" What are you assholes, nine years old?! Since when is your behavior in YOUR workplace conditional on what's happening in some other workplace? I think most of the ET bigots don't even have jobs, and have never held a real job, since they have such delusional views on what should happen in a workplace.
Should the Black rappers and the rich, mostly White-owned companies that finance them, be called to account? ABSOLUTELY. I got no problem with causing rappers grief, having always believed that "rap music" was a contradiction in terms, even before it went inexcusably gangsta.
Go for it, and if you succeed in destroying the rap industry, I'll raise a glass in celebration.
But that's got nothing to do with Don Imus.
First, all the pinheads calling this a "freedom of speech" issue are clueless. Despite what the First Amendment says, you can't say any fucking thing you want to. If you don't believe me, go yell "FIRE!" in a crowded theater, or go verbally threaten violence to the President or the Vice President, and see how long it takes you to need a really good lawyer to get your dumb ass out of jail.
You can be sued for slander if you maliciously lie about somebody else verbally, or sued for libel if you put it in writing. So much for "freedom of speech".
Second, nobody hires you to exercise your rights. They hire you to represent their company in a specific capacity and manner. If you start using language that is defamatory or vulgar in your workplace that makes your co-workers or your company's clients uncomfortable, you can be fired.
I've never held a job that didn't require me to sign a statement that I would not engage in racist, sexist, or other bigoted language or activity. I don't know where all you ET bigots find jobs that let YOU do so, since you think such restrictions are so "unfair" and "political correctness out of control."
Third, Imus is not a klansman, but that doesn't mean that he is not a racist. I find it fascinating that the bigots here and elsewhere think that the standard for racism should be whether a person is a member of the KKK, or Louis Farrakhan's group, or some other racial supremacist group. What nonsense. There is a huge gulf between the tiny fraction of humanity that is totally race neutral and the racial supremacists, and the majority of humanity falls within that gulf. In other words, most of us are racist to some degree, and there's nothing wrong with that necessarily. It depends on what you're racist about. If you've decided that you would only marry another person who shares your race, there's nothing wrong with that because it's your life and only you can judge what type of partner you can be intimate with.
The problem with racism is when it is used to attack or limit other people. Imus has done some great things for kids of all races, but that doesn't "immunize" him from being held responsible when he calls a group of college co-eds who weren't bothering anybody "nappy headed hos" aka "Black whores." The fact that he was trying to be funny doesn't excuse it, because it was deliberate insult humor. The whole point was to belittle those young women by deriding their looks. It was producer McGurk who first called them "hard-core hos", an insult that included the two White members of the 10-woman basketball team, then Imus immediately followed it up with "nappy headed hos", adding a racial component to an already egregious sexist insult.
Some things are firing offenses, no matter how much cred you've built up through adding value to your company and through charitable works. Of course the real reason why Imus was let go was because the sponsors (the REAL clients of MSNBC and CBS, no matter what you viewers and listeners might think) were saying "Enough!" And the sponsors were leaving because they were facing boycotts from THEIR clients.
Fourth, this isn't the first time Imus has stepped over the line. He's been warned before about some things he was saying. So the only real surprise was that he was finally being held to account for his latest offense. Happens everyday to ordinary workers.
Fifth, Imus and his fans can't excuse his behaviour by saying "rappers are doing it too!" What are you assholes, nine years old?! Since when is your behavior in YOUR workplace conditional on what's happening in some other workplace? I think most of the ET bigots don't even have jobs, and have never held a real job, since they have such delusional views on what should happen in a workplace.
Should the Black rappers and the rich, mostly White-owned companies that finance them, be called to account? ABSOLUTELY. I got no problem with causing rappers grief, having always believed that "rap music" was a contradiction in terms, even before it went inexcusably gangsta.
Go for it, and if you succeed in destroying the rap industry, I'll raise a glass in celebration.
But that's got nothing to do with Don Imus.
