Firing Don Imus
Radio "shock jock" Don Imus was fired by CBS and NBC after he called the Rutger's women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" in a broadcast last week. He made a public apology Thrsday evening to the team, and while the team accepted him apology, they still considered his statements to be unacceptable. Imus did not want to make any further comments to any other press but the women on the basketball team, even though there were many other members of the media who wanted to hear from him. (cnn.com AP)
I have been watching a lot of news coverage lately about this incident, hearing a lot of different perspectives. Some people have been angry about the fact that Don Imus lost his job over one monent of uncensorship, other people simply appalled at his racist and sexist remark. It is interesting to think about this remark in the context of free speech, because really it is just an opinion that is technically free to make. But it is a misuse of his power of speech on public television and radio. By being racist and sexist in his comment on public airwaves, he is representing himself and his career very poorly, and he is also representing the companies that advertise on his broadcast stations poorly. Some argue that firing him after the duration of his career is being too harsh and controlling of public free speech, however I think that Don Imus took his power too far and clearly offended a group of people that were targeted by being female and being black. I don't think that it was a bad idea to end Don Imus' career after making that statement because he didn't think before he made it, and he should have been.
Comments
I found this incident very unprofessional and I was very surprised that a person such as Imus was working for such a respectful radio station. It is clear that he has some issues to deal with and obviously he found the wrong place to deal with his problems. The sad thing is that the radio station did not fire Imus till later on; it either shows that they didn’t really care, or that they wanted to cover up and pretend like nothing has happened.
Posted by: Fahrudin | April 19, 2007 8:33 AM
I wasn’t surprised by Don Imus’s racist comment about the Rutger’s Women Basketball Team because racism is something that isn’t new or surprising to people of color. I was upset by the fact that he disrespected these female athletes as if they were nothing, and calling them “nappy-headed hoes�. Moreover, racism is something that colored people experience in their daily bases and it doesn’t make a difference whether the comments are covert or overt racism, but they still are discrimination. Black people face discrimination in many different ways such as work place, housing sector, banking, and in the education system. So, when Don Imus made that comment it just shows how racism is still embedded in our society. I think that his comment was personal one because if he wasn’t in any way shape or form a racist than he wouldn’t just be so comfortable saying such comments like that on a national television. They only fired him because they want to make their audience happy, and to show that they wouldn’t accept such racist remarks. Overall, I think that firing him didn’t solve anything because that would not change his perspective on race.
Posted by: Amal Mohamud | May 1, 2007 3:39 PM