Have you seen the context when Imus called them Nappy Headed? He did not say in it a racial way. He was watching them on the tv. They were sweating and had nappy hair. He was commenting on their physical appearance. Anyways, if his buddy hadn't called them Hos first then he would never had said it. Hell, he calls his wife "the Green Ho". Where was Al and Jesse then?

 

Since I don't watch Imus I can only base my judgment on the clips that are shown and maybe that is why it sounds more racist to me. Also I have said before that I don't think he is a racist and that it was a joke but to me it still sounds racist. You are probably right that it was their physical appearance that he was referring to but without the clips showing him watching the game and based on just the sound clip it sounds racist. If I saw some of the clips that you seem to have I might share that feeling. As for Sharpton and Jackson I'm sure we both know the answer to that.

 

At least Sharpton and Jackson are standing up for what they believe in. Sharpton spoke at my university last year and even though many people spoke out against him he never spoke down to anyone and always allowed and encouraged EVERYONE (I attend a 95% white university; see my sig   ) to voice there opinion. Years ago these men would not have had the right to say anything about the state of race relations in America, and in my opinion they aren't money hungry, they're paranoid. They try to find every case of overt racism they can but its not the overt that's the problem. People will not champion their racism anymore b/c its not the "in" thing in America anymore. They'll just continue to randomly select me out of a group of 20 people (all others white) at EVERY SINGLE airport I go to, assume I'm a great dancer, and clench their purse when I walk by.

I'll be the first to admit that I am a hipocrite when it comes to using the n word. But most of that has to do with the fact that nearly every time its been used around me by a white person (and stuck up black people) it has been in a derogatory way. I can name numerous experiences (most from middle/high school), but it would still not validate my own usage of the word.


Getting older and traveling to different places greatly changed the way I view it.
I've had this link on my myspace/facebook page for a while. It made alot of my friends think twice about the way they speak.  
http://www.abolishthenword.com/

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF9BjB7Bzr0

 

Thanks for the link, I've never seen it. I initially didn't find anything racist about his comment but I'm curious to his referral to a Spike Lee movie. If I had seen that movie maybe I could make a connection but as it stands I'm still not sure  

 

I'm pretty sure it was a reference to Shool Daze.

 

That his co-hosts who references the Spike Lee movie, and calls them Hos first. Imus even says that the Tennessee girls are cute. Aren't they a mostly black team?

And speaking of double standards. I have direct information that whenever Jesse Jackson comes down here to visit with Cleo Fields, he makes all of Cleo's white employees leave the building.

 

Thanks for the link smkspy, it helped. After watching it I still can't see the players hair well but what was important about it was that he called the other team cute and they were mostly black too. Until today I hadn't heard that part. I still don't think he should have said it but it seems that the only issue here should be him calling them Hos.

Another good reason for me to dislike him. I had a professor who told my class that when he was in Alabama he was working on getting more black people to vote and they had asked Jackson to come and help. The day Jackson was supposed to arrive they had a big crowd but he did not arrive. When he did make it the next day the crowd was much smaller and they hardly got anyone to register. He said after that he lost respect for Jackson. There was probably a little more to the store but that is all I can remember.

 

Thought provoking video...For me Sharpton and Jackson are two faced when it comes to their reaction towards Imus. Jackson has been busted for saying racial slurs. Sharpton got the Duke coach fired, called the three Lacrosse players devils, and has never, will never apologize. I admit I say ****** (and I firmly believe you should say at all if you have to refer to the N word) alot. My best-friend was nicknamed "The Nigga" for awhile. My family is completely racist. My grandfather (he hates everybody though) and Uncle hate blacks except for athletes. I live in the South where the word is just used by everybody. You cannot escape it, and people here live a pretend life in public because they act like it does not exist. They don't want to talk about its use, and are afraid too. Behind closed doors it's open season.

 

Most of TN's team is in fact black, but they are lighter complextion than Rutgers' players. That is a problem many black people see b/c being lighter is "better" to some. It originated back in slave times with slave masters having favoritism towards the mixed children and later, just lighter skinned blacks in general. It was thus taught that being "dark-skinned with nappy hair" was a bad thing. I went to Africa this past summer and you'd be surprised how many people called me white and asked if both of my parents were black.

EDIT: just saw your response smkspy. I know what you're saying is true. I've heard some of the most racist things possible from older black men, ala the "calling out" that some have quoted Jackson of doing. On the other hand my cousin's mother is white-her brother and my dad will call each other ******/cracker and they're damn near best friends.

 

seriously.

The rule in the south:
" "They" can call each others names, but you better not."

I do have in support for a false reverend. He clames to be a man of God, but he will not forgive Imus for what he said. And God wants his people to "forgive and forget". "If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn and let them strike the other."

Well, i suppose we can all think what we want but:


  The Great Al.

 

I take what Jackson and Sharpton says with a grain of salt. Even moreso now.

But yeah, like what was debated already, I feel that Imus' nappy headed ho's comment could've applied to any woman of any race. It just so happened that it was the Rutgers team and became a racial slur. He should've chosen his words more wisely. But if he was truly smart then he should've said nothing at all.