Political Communication blog

Hello Samuel,

Don't feel bad about not having seen enough of the girls to determine if their hair is actually nappy, and do not know if they are as ho-ish as to warrant being called hoes. I would venture to say neither has Don Imus seen enough of the girls to determine if their hair is actually nappy, and their sexual behavior warrants calling them hoes (Whores). Personally, I don't know anything about Don Imus. Previously, I had heard his name mentioned, and acknowledged he hosted a radio show. My assumption is that Mr. Imus didn't mean any harm by making the statement that he made. He was just being himself and publicly expressed his harbored thoughts and feelings; the thoughts that Mr. Imus expressed probably correlates with the same thoughts that many other people from America's society contain within their mind, hearts, body, soul, and spirit. Of course, these thoughts are improper because they entail feelings of hatred for fellow citizens (human beings). Now, if Mr. Imus desire to submit himself to such perceived hatred for his fellow citizen that’s between him and God. In a sense, you're correct; freedom of speech should let Mr. Imus off the hook. But the concern here is that Mr. Imus has the reputation and responsibility of being in the public eye by providing a service to the general public. Thereby, lays the problem. A public figure shouldn't be given the liberty to make remarks that questions whether or not the validity of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution (Equal Protection for all citizens under the law) is being overtly or covertly challenged. Once again, as previously stated, I don't think Mr. Imus meant any harm upon making his remarks. Nevertheless, Mr. Imus has made a mistake that he will surely learn from regardless of the outcome of the situation. The main concern should be for other U.S. citizens who may harbor the same perceived hatred thoughts that will never have their hearts purified to learn better than to hate another human being for any reason. These team members should accept Mr. Imus's apology for publicly displaying his ignorance and press on with their lives. This was child's play. The larger concern of society should be incidents where unarmed citizens are shot multiple times by police officers sworn to protect them from unlawful acts. That is what society needs to save their energies to combat; the wrongful killings of unarmed people by law enforcement personnel.

Thomas
 

Here is the deal with this...yes he was wrong for saying this but his whole show is somewhat based on poking fun of people. He has said things about many other people that are far more famous than those girls and nothing has happened. The thing that I think is even more crazy is that they want President Bush to get involved. Sorry but if this does go to court, then the court will handle this and not our president! He has so many other MORE IMPORTANT things to deal with than dealing with slanderous or derogatory words. He said it, it was bad, and now he is paying for it! Also, if anyone needs to take action, it should be his bosses.
 

I forgot to note that the girls did look rough and had several visible tattoos, so nappy might have been correct but the ho part could possibly be viewed as slander. It probably will depend on 1.) if they take it to court and 2.) one must define what nappy and ho means and if Mr. Imus' lawyer can prove that they were correctly defined then he probably will win the case.
 

I saw an interview on Hannity and Colmes where the comedian Patrice O'Neal said that he didn't see where the outrage was coming from. He is all about freedom of speech. He said he wants Imus to hae the right to say what he did because he wants the right to say straight haired hos (he's an African American comic). I thought it was great...you can't have it both ways with freedom of speech. Either your for banning something, or letting people have a soap box. I think people are smart enough to realize what's important and not...and the idiots of the world are just going to always be there.

I also agree with Thomas...this seems like such a non issue when you think about the MULTIPLE incidients you hear about every year with unarmed (most African American men) civilians getting shot 40 times...why isn't there more press about that?

Or about people who have been in prison for 30 years for something they had nothing to do with?
 

I think this issue is all about the girls not being famous and are inocent bystanders. When I first saw the story, I thought what is these people talking about. I realized this guy had said something about these girls inappropriate. Should he be fired, maybe. When people say that he talks about other famous people all the time. This is different, these are girls that their private lives whether hoish or not should not be stated on a simulcast show. He needs to decide whether he wants to be a comedian or a broadcaster. There is a difference between the two. I know if someone said something like that about me I would be really upset and disgusted. Sometimes you have to make examples out of people to show others the consequences of their actions and how words can harm and affect people. The guy was being racist.
 

I think that his suspension and being taken off the air is warranted. Yes his show is to poke fun and have a cheap laugh, but not at the expense of degrating other people and calling them hoes on nationally syndicated shows. By the way his hair isn't too pretty for him to be calling someone else nappy headed.
 

Jessica,

I'm definitely tracking with your comments,"...are inocent bystanders.....This is different, these are girls that their private lives whether hoish or not should not be stated on a simulcast show." A few days ago, I had the pleasure of viewing a picture of the team members on the front page of a national paper. I think the paper was "USA Today." Upon viewing the picture of the team members, I recognized a group of beautiful, innocent young women. My heart went out to all of them. Any young man that is fortunate enough to marry one of those lovely young ladies won't be able to count his blessing. If nothing else, Mr. Imus should be ashamed of himself for disrespecting those beautiful women. Ultimately, the thought I considered was, "How are their fathers reacting toward the comments directed at their daughters. In most cases, a young lady's father would probably be on the war path after such remarks directed toward his daughter desiring the perpetrator’s head on a silver platter. Personally, I don't have a daughter, or any children for that matter. But, I do have five younger bothers who I treasure. At one point in my life, I accepted the possibility that it was probably for the best I didn't have a sister because I would have been very protective of her. Recently, I heard from one of the media shows a remark quoting Mr. Imus as saying, "Those bastards came at me hard." Once again, I haven't followed Mr. Imus's tendencies, but I wonder about why at this point does anyone deserve to be characterized as a "bastard?"

Thomas
 

I think the whole thing got out of hand, he does have freedom of speech and he has said worse things before...what he said was innapropriate and he should be punished, but there are more important things going on in the world right now and people are making this a bigger deal than it ought to be