Imus: Wading Into the Waters of Rage

Wow. So, there you have it: The public voice of dissent can actually affect big business.

Don Imus got a slap on the wrist, and after advertising dollars listened to the voices of outrage clamouring over the warhorse deejay’s comments about the “nappy-headed hos” on a college b-ball team, he’s been uncerimoniously canned, without even a final chance to say goodbye.

I see it from two POVs. One, the right to freedom of speech. Two, basic decency.

I’m proud to live in the most multicultural country in the world, and I’m a staunch feminist. I’m as open-minded as the day is long, and I’m partial to ethic foods as well as foreign cultures. It’s what makes us Canadians who we are, after the floodgates opened in 1971 (thanks to P.E. Trudeau –R.I.P.– the same PM who spearheaded the policy to keep government out of the bedrooms of adults and made it legal to be homosexual) to your tired, your hungry, your poor — what the US has purported to be, we have become: the single-most multicultural nation in the world, one that believes in a “cultural mosaic” and not the proverbial “cultural melting-pot” of our neighbour to the south.

What’s that mean? It means we encourage our immigrants to keep their culture but also to celebrate those cultures of their neighbours. We are a nation of cultures — the plural, not the singular — and we’re pround of it.

Does it make us less likely to get loyalty and a pursuit of Canadiana from our immigrants? I don’t think so. In fact, I used to teach ESL (English as a Second Language) and I remember my eyes getting misty last summer when an 8-year-old boy I taught told me of his family gaining their Canadian citizenship the weekend prior. He looked at me, this tough little stoic manly-man boy, and in his broken English, told me that he cried when they became Canadians, and that it was “the most proud day of my whole life!”

By celebrating their cultures, we celebrate our own.

That said, I’ve made racist comments and racist jokes. A staunch feminist, I routinely scoff “women” when talking things over with others. I’m off-colour more often than I’m on, and it’s part of what makes me such fun to know. Thing is, the people around me know that these flippant comments I make are jokes, not seriousness, and they know I’m beyond tolerant — I’m the original “mosaic” Canadian, and always will be. Hell, it’s like George Carlin and my buddy GayBoy always joke, “I’m not racist — I own a colour TV.”

So, Don Imus fucked up. Clearly. But he kept arguing how he was a good person who said a bad thing, and I absolutely believe that. Did he deserve to get fired? I guess he did. Shit happens to us all, and it’s how we respond that makes us who we are. And because he’s a good person, as he claims, I’m certain he will better himself and improve his worldview as a result… should the world be willing to forgive and forget, which I would hope they will do.

But I guess that what bothers me about it all is that I’d like to not live in a world where we’re to be accountable for every word we utter. We live in an age where our thoughts and feelings are ushered out to our fellow man without a moment’s hesitation — be it by blogs, podcasts, letters to the editor, YouTube, and more — and the blowback can be legion. I always joke that what I love about blogging versus real life is simple: The Backspace Key.

Oh, to delete and forge on! What a thing of beauty! But radio, live, to boot, is an entirely different beast. We all sputter things daily without fully thinking them out, but because broadcasters are given the “dead air is death” mantra — fill, fill, fill!– they’re accountable for every syllable they muster. But stream-of-consciousness broadcasts sometimes lead to the very offense committed by Don Imus. And now he needs to pay the price.

He’s right, too. There’s a difference between his utterance and the vitriolic venom spewed by Michael Richards, who unleashed an angry tirade against African-Americans in the club he was performing in, who’ll probably never work in Hollywood again. Context and emotiveness are huge when it comes to uncivilised utterances. We need to respect that.

Granted, I’ve never heard the broadcast, thus I spew smoke from my ass, but still. I don’t think he should be on the air. I’m pleased the people have spoken and action has been taken. I wish the same venomous public opinion could be rallied behind the War in Iraq, but god forbid I should be asking so much.

For now, I’m quietly happy that blacks have spoken out in angst and exacted some change in society. The Million Man March may have been four and a half decades ago, but from this Canadian’s point of view, so much still needs to transpire in the US. One small victory for black rights, and an earful from big business, is something to be praised, even if someone who is a “good person” like Imus should be caught in the crossfire. Collateral damage is expected.

Your thoughts?

6 thoughts on “Imus: Wading Into the Waters of Rage

  1. Beth

    I’ve never listened to Imus either, but as I posted on my blog (note that I am not linking to it!), this scandal comes with a heaping dollop of stupid.

    His producer was the first one to utter “ho.” Don piled on. A simple, “Man, you shoudn’t say that” and a change of subject, and we wouldn’t be having this discussion. But it’s as though he thought, “Ooooh, that was funny. I should have said that!” And he tried to one-up Bernard.

    And the bigger issue is that these girls/women are the second-best women’s college basketball team in the nation. The last game might not have been much of stunner, but they deserve applause, not to be denigrated as “nappy-headed hos.”

    So should stupidity be grounds for termination? Yep, this time. The free speech argument doesn’t hold up in my book. Imus was paid millions of dollars to spew crap on the public airwaves, and the public said “Enough’s enough.”

  2. scribe called steff

    Yes, I wish “stupidity” was punishable more often. Ha. True dat.

    I didn’t bother looking for a transcript. I’d seen a snippet of Imus on the telly doing his “I’m a good guy who said a bad thing” bit, is all. A stupid thing too. Point taken.

  3. MrWriteNow

    Steff…..Imus? I’m holding my comment.

    I do want to let you know you showed up on my blog today BY NAME!

    You rock.

  4. Flying Angus

    I was a little surprised to hear you say you make (OK, made) racist comments. In the past tense, that applies to me too, and I guess you’re just being completely honest, but I’m feeling kind of righteous today.

    I once made a comment that refered to race that hurt someone that I cared about. It was a shock that eventually changed my appreciation for a lot of things I once thought were funny. Don’t get me wrong–I’m not perfect, and I’ll bet a lot of people would have had the insight to avoid my experience. It’s just something that came to mind as I was reading your post today.

  5. theAxe

    My perspective is that with free speech comes the fact that what you say has consequences, and Imus has found that out. What dissapoints me about this is that it seems like in today’s society, people with an axe to grind can grind it and whether they are right or wrong doesn’t seem to matter anymore. It seems like as a society too many people have forgotten that just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right. I’m not defending imus, he got what he deserved, the system worked; but it’s things like for example the duke lacrosse case, where it seems the sanctimonious “group of 88” won’t apologise for what they said and did.

  6. The Silent Male

    I just finished my own post about this issue “Where does Free Speech End”. My take on this issue is that some people got their feelings hurt, but otherwise were not injured in any other way, no visits to the ER, no lost wages, no need for counseling. While on the other side he lost his job, his paycheck, and maybe he won’t even be allowed to ever work the radio industry again. I don’t care how rich he is. Most mortals (like me) find that losing a job probably means a huge risk of also losing the house, or the car, the marriage, or who knows what else. Money is not the issue, fairness is, and he should be treated the same as everyone else. If he truly has free speech, then he should have been allowed to say whatever stupid crap would fall out of his mouth (I never listened to his show and if he gets a new one I still won’t listen) as long as he doesn’t physically or financially hurt anyone or incite others to physically or financially hurt others. I think everyone should enjoy the right to freedom of speech, the right to be intelligent, or the right to be stupid about what they say.

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