Heard it in a Rap

¶ … heard it in a rap song as we channel-surfed past MTV, the words "nappy-headed hos" would have evoked a kind of mild disgust. As they emanated from the mouth of the haggard host of Imus in the Morning, though, "nappy-headed hos" sounded vulgar, creepy, and shocking. No number of rap videos can prepare audiences for a mean-spirited, misogynistic, racist, and backwards comment delivered not in a song but in an off-handed and thoughtless way.

Yet we Americans should use Imus' statement as a springboard for genuine and fruitful political and social discourse. Instead of firing Imus, we should keep him on, and use his statement as an example of what needs to be changed in our society. Don Imus surely deserved to be penalized for what he said, and should very well think long and hard about what would prompt anyone to ridicule the Rutgers athletes.

His initial suspension and his being fired were justified in light of how his sponsors might have been eager to pull their support from his show, and also in light of the enormous pressure the show's producers must have been under. Moreover, firing Imus sends a sound message that the deeply rooted misogyny and racism in our culture cannot and will not be tolerated. Don Imus, host of his eponymous talk show, has every right to exercise his freedom of speech.

This is not an issue of freedom of speech; Imus was not arrested for speaking his mind. His sponsors simply cut him off. The market censured him, and money speaks in America. Censoring Imus may have the opposite of the intended effect. To eliminate racism and misogyny in American culture we need to cut to the chase. Talk show hosts like Imus make a living by being outspoken.

Surely Imus would be more than willing to engage in open dialog in order to reveal the root causes of his feelings toward women of color, and toward female athletes in general. The ensuing discussion might very.