Quote from kut2k2:
What "Minority cause" are you talking about? AFAIK the only thing racial minorities in America want is to be treated the same as White Americans: judged by conduct, not by race.
And stop making this about Sharpton and Jackson; they are irrelevant. Do you honestly think that if A&J never opened their mouths on this matter that it would all have gone away? Dream on.
Media Matters for America has prepared the following timeline documenting events from Imus' slur of the Rutgers team on April 4 to MSNBC's announcement on April 11:
Wednesday, April 4
* On Imus in the Morning, host Don Imus referred to the Scarlet Knights, the Rutgers University women's basketball team -- which is made up of eight African-American and two white players -- as "nappy-headed hos" after executive producer Bernard McGuirk called the team "hard-core hos." Media Matters for America noted Imus' comments at the time.
* The New York Times later noted that "Imus's remarks were picked up ... by the Media Matters for America site," and Salon.com's Jonathan Miller similarly credited Media Matters for posting video of Imus' comments. In an article about MSNBC's decision to drop the show, the Los Angeles Times identified Media Matters as "the liberal media watchdog group that first spotlighted Imus' remark last week." USA Today also reported that Media Matters "originally called attention to Imus' remarks."
Thursday, April 5
* Addressing his "nappy-headed hos" comment, Imus asserted, "I don't understand what the problem is, really," and referred to the remark as "some idiot comment meant to be amusing," as noted in Miller's April 10 Salon article.
* WNBC.com, the NBC affiliate in New York, reported Imus' April 5 comments in an article the same day, which quoted a Rutgers spokesperson saying, "We agree with Mr. Imus that this was, in his own words, an 'idiot comment.' We are very proud of the success of the Rutgers women's basketball team. Coach [C. Vivian] Stringer and the Rutgers players are outstanding ambassadors for this great institution."
* MSNBC released a statement that asserted, "While simulcast by MSNBC, 'Imus in the Morning' is not a production of the cable network and is produced by WFAN Radio." It added, "As Imus makes clear every day, his views are not those of MSNBC. We regret that his remarks were aired on MSNBC and apologize for these offensive comments." The statement was noted in an article published at 3:26 p.m. ET on NBC10.com, the website for the NBC affiliate that serves the Philadelphia area.
Friday, April 6
* Imus apologized on Imus in the Morning, asserting, "Want to take a moment to apologize for an insensitive and ill-conceived remark we made the other morning referring to the Rutgers women's basketball team," and adding, "It was completely inappropriate, and we can understand why people were offended. Our characterization was thoughtless and stupid, so, and we're sorry." Media Matters noted Imus' apology at the time.
IOW it took Imus two days to apologize, which meant that he was feeling pressure to do so, not remorse over what he said. I would have backed him even if he had taken one day to sincerely apologize, but as you can see above, he still didn't see what the "fuss" was all about.
As noted by myself and many others, this was not the first time for Imus.
So tell us, Mr. Apologist, how many times does Imus or anyone else in a similar position get to transgress? Give us a fucking number so we don't have to keep arguing this nonsense over and over and fucking over.
Here's something from the editorial page of the conservative San Diego Union-Tribune:
* * *
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The Imus disgrace
CBS, NBC, his big-shot pals also shameful
Even before radio-TV host Don Imus' repellent reference last week ..., his history was so littered with disgusting racist remarks that it was already a mystery how the CBS radio network and MSNBC kept him on the payroll.
Nothing about his two-week suspension changes that fact. Imus shouldn't just be contrite, he should be ashamed -- but that also holds for CBS and NBC for keeping him on the national stage.
What's stunning is the readiness of so many of his enablers in the nation's media and journalistic elites to downplay Imus' racism as a mere failure to be "politically correct." In 1997 on "60 Minutes", Imus admitted one of the reasons he hired staffer Bernard McGuirk, who also slurred the Rutgers team last week while on the air with Imus, was his proficiency at telling n-word jokes. For years he has made a habit of singling out dark-skinned blacks for ridicule. Here's what he had to say about veteran journalist Gwen Ifill in 1995: "Isn't The New York Times wonderful? It lets the cleaning lady cover the White House."
This isn't "politically incorrect." This isn't satire. It is flat-out, full-on racism. Yet Tim Russert, Chris Matthews, Cokie Roberts, Sens. John McCain and Joseph Biden and dozens of other white media and political heavyweights have gone on Imus' show, admonished him for the remarks, but then appeared to act as apologists for him. ... At some point being willing to go on Imus and lend him legitimacy becomes a comment on these folks' character.
Enough is enough. The corporate bosses at CBS and GE/MSNBC need to realize that the money Imus makes for them is dirty money. ... Spewing racism is unacceptable. Period.
* * *
The above is from a newspaper that is routinely as rightwing as The Washington Times.
Thanks for the heads-up that you find nothing morally wrong with racism. It's good to know the type of persons we're dealing with here.
I shouldn't have said "morally". I only meant legally. Thank you for calling that out.
