Is "nappy Headed hos" really THAT big of a deal?

[tony]

I dont see why he is getting in trouble for stating facts

No offense but I don't think you've been alive long enough to even understand the situation, your statement only proves this.

On the issue, it was a stupid statement but I'm more angry at the fact that Al Sharpton is taken as the voice of blacks and the media seems to feed him more and more. What these idiots (such as sharpton) only did was widen his customer base. People enjoy drama, people like to be offended.. so Imus did himself a justice by saying what he said..and he got a two week paid vacation out of it too.

I'm tired of playing the game.. I'm black and know that I can say whatever I want about white people and get away with it. I could get on the radio and call all the white people in the south redneck white trash and nothing will ever happen.

I guess I am fed up with being grouped into the majority of blacks who complain about what white people do but turn my back to real issues within the black community such as black on black crime or the lack of education in the community. Not all of us think like that, its just the ones who do seem to get all of the attention.

[Kamikaze]

On the issue, it was a stupid statement but I'm more angry at the fact that Al Sharpton is taken as the voice of blacks and the media seems to feed him more and more. What these idiots (such as sharpton) only did was widen his customer base. People enjoy drama, people like to be offended.. so Imus did himself a justice by saying what he said..and he got a two week paid vacation out of it too.

I'm tired of playing the game.. I'm black and know that I can say whatever I want about white people and get away with it. I could get on the radio and call all the white people in the south redneck white trash and nothing will ever happen.

I guess I am fed up with being grouped into the majority of blacks who complain about what white people do but turn my back to real issues within the black community such as black on black crime or the lack of education in the community. Not all of us think like that, its just the ones who do seem to get all of the attention.

Amen to that. +1

[Professor X]

No offense but I don't think you've been alive long enough to even understand the situation, your statement only proves this.

On the issue, it was a stupid statement but I'm more angry at the fact that Al Sharpton is taken as the voice of blacks and the media seems to feed him more and more. What these idiots (such as sharpton) only did was widen his customer base. People enjoy drama, people like to be offended.. so Imus did himself a justice by saying what he said..and he got a two week paid vacation out of it too.

I'm tired of playing the game.. I'm black and know that I can say whatever I want about white people and get away with it. I could get on the radio and call all the white people in the south redneck white trash and nothing will ever happen.

I guess I am fed up with being grouped into the majority of blacks who complain about what white people do but turn my back to real issues within the black community such as black on black crime or the lack of education in the community. Not all of us think like that, its just the ones who do seem to get all of the attention.

Begin rant.
I agree with you. I normally don't get involved in conversations like this because it ends up becoming white against black but I will give it a shot. There is no way for anyone to know what this guy was trying to accomplish, if anything, by his statements. Maybe he shares the views of most on this board that there is a double standard when it comes to racist comments. Maybe he didn't feel that his comments were racist. However, there are certain words that are not slurs, but attack a certain group of people. NAPPY refers to black peoples hair. Plain and simple. HOES is a derogatory statement to women. Plain and simple. I don't think it was called for, but that's my opinion. I would never have heard it if not for the media attention because I don't listen to his show so it doesn't affect me. What bothers me is that any time there is a question of a racist remark or action, the majority of people jump to Al Sharpton or some random rapper as an excuse for some action. Noone who brought them up for argument would ever take anything said by them serious but they are put up as black spokesmen or represetatives. As a matter of fact, anytime someone black does something ignorant or stupid, it's used as an excuse for everyone to follow their example.
End rant.

[Jaimecbr900]

No offense but I don't think you've been alive long enough to even understand the situation, your statement only proves this.

On the issue, it was a stupid statement but I'm more angry at the fact that Al Sharpton is taken as the voice of blacks and the media seems to feed him more and more. What these idiots (such as sharpton) only did was widen his customer base. People enjoy drama, people like to be offended.. so Imus did himself a justice by saying what he said..and he got a two week paid vacation out of it too.

I'm tired of playing the game.. I'm black and know that I can say whatever I want about white people and get away with it. I could get on the radio and call all the white people in the south redneck white trash and nothing will ever happen.

I guess I am fed up with being grouped into the majority of blacks who complain about what white people do but turn my back to real issues within the black community such as black on black crime or the lack of education in the community. Not all of us think like that, its just the ones who do seem to get all of the attention.

I am so glad to see that someone has enough intelligence and common sense to weed thru all the BS and tell it like it is. Major, major props.

I've said it a million times folks. If you play into the hand that the racists and the bigots stereotype you into, YOU are the bigger fool for giving them ammo to shoot you with.

The more the Black community backs bigots and racists like Sharpton and Jackson, the bigger the black eye to the community as a whole. Some people don't get that. Equality is not division. Equality is not choosing one side over the other. Equality is calling a spade a spade, REGARDLESS of color/race.

To all of you that dismiss the notions of bringing "rappers" or "entertainers" into this mix, you are just perpetuating that same laisse faire attitude. 50 cent didn't sell millions of records to just white America. As a matter of fact, truth be known I'm willing to bet that the scale swings widely the other way. Now, if you think it's "OK" for him to use the N word and call women "ho's" and "bitches" enough to pay $12 for his CD.....why is it so bad when a total unknown to you (many of us have confessed that we don't listen to Imus) says just a fraction of what YOU PAID for???? Think about it. It's "ok" for a person who's claim to fame is using that same vernacular and is proud to be a "thug" to say far WORSE than some half dead white guy did to only a fraction of the size of the audience??

So let's put all this into REAL perspective shall we?

Imus on a good day has maybe 100,000 loyal listeners. Rappers and entertainers have what? Millions of loyal followers who PAY and make them filthy rich to listen, laugh, and be "entertained" while using 100x's worse derrogatory vocabulary. Then how come Sharpton, Jackson, now even the Mayor is all up in arms about that? What exactly is sooooo important about a relatively insignificant person that has very little to no impact on society as a whole, especially when compared to the iconic pedestal today's youth put "entertainers" on????

Is it really that important to fight this battle when there are so many more important and higher impact battles to be fought?

[Kamikaze]

I've said it a million times folks. If you play into the hand that the racists and the bigots stereotype you into, YOU are the bigger fool for giving them ammo to shoot you with.

Exactly.

The more the Black community backs bigots and racists like Sharpton and Jackson, the bigger the black eye to the community as a whole. Some people don't get that. Equality is not division. Equality is not choosing one side over the other. Equality is calling a spade a spade, REGARDLESS of color/race.

True equality won't occur until "race" as we know it disappears. Once we all intermix and blend until you can't tell who's what, then maybe there will be equality. But even then I bet someone will come up with something to create division.

To all of you that dismiss the notions of bringing "rappers" or "entertainers" into this mix, you are just perpetuating that same laisse faire attitude. 50 cent didn't sell millions of records to just white America. As a matter of fact, truth be known I'm willing to bet that the scale swings widely the other way.

IIRC, I read somewhere that the majority of the sales from the Rap/Hip Hop genre comes from white listeners. I could be wrong but for some reason that came to mind when I read your post.

Now, if you think it's "OK" for him to use the N word and call women "ho's" and "bitches" enough to pay $12 for his CD.....why is it so bad when a total unknown to you (many of us have confessed that we don't listen to Imus) says just a fraction of what YOU PAID for???? Think about it. It's "ok" for a person who's claim to fame is using that same vernacular and is proud to be a "thug" to say far WORSE than some half dead white guy did to only a fraction of the size of the audience??

It's not "OK" for anyone to say it. It's just not as big of a deal when the person is of the same race or part of another minority. Plus, there's still a lot of animosity between Blacks and Whites in the South. Some things aren't easily forgoten or forgiven even if the person/people you're hostile towards had nothing to do with it. No, it isn't fair but neither is life.

Is it really that important to fight this battle when there are so many more important and higher impact battles to be fought?

No. The problem is that most people have their priorities arranged in such a way that they make sure they get the maximum benefit regardless of how it affects the greater cause.