Outrage shouldn't be directed at Imus alone

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

Where is C. Delores Tucker, the feisty civil rights leader, when you need her? No doubt, the late president of the National Congress of Black Women, might be loudest among the critics calling for the ouster of radio talk-show host Don Imus for the racist and sexist comments he made about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

But Mrs. Tucker's tirade would not stop, as it shouldn't, with the race-baiting-for-ratings ploy of an aging, white radio shock jock. After all, Mr. Imus is not the first person to call black women disparaging and disrespectful names. Just tune in to any urban radio station.

On April 4, during the "Imus in the Morning" show on radio, which is simulcast on cable-TV's MSNBC, Mr. Imus referred to the Rutgers team -- with a black coach, eight black players and two white players -- as "nappy-headed hos." His producer, Bernard McGuirk, also referred to the championship game between Rutgers and the University of Tennessee as "a Spike Lee thing," adding, "the Jigaboos versus the Wannabes" from the movie "School Daze." Lukewarm apologies were issued from the host and disclaimers from the network that carries the show, WFAN-AM in New York and MSNBC. Last night, MSNBC announced that it would suspend Mr. Imus' program for two weeks.

Dazed and incensed black activists nationwide, with the furor of a renewed mission, are livid and will accept no less than Mr. Imus' hide. And, well they should. But some of that righteous indignation should be directed at the celebrities who look like us and call us out of our given names, our beautiful blackness, on a daily basis.

The Rev. Al Sharpton is about to sweat his hair back he's so angry. Yesterday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson led a protest outside Chicago's NBC tower.

The National Association of Black Journalists issued statements saying Mr. Imus' apology was "too little, too late." Free speech aside, these organizations are asking other journalists, celebrities and politicians to decline invitations to appear on the lucrative show that has been around since 1971.

Outraged bloggers are calling for his resignation and even boycotts of some of the show's sponsors. Not one, however, I noted after skimming several Web sites, chastised a single rap musician, in pure C. Delores style, for their liberal perpetuation of denigrating misogynistic labels. In fact, to my dismay, defenses and dismissals of gangsta-rap lyrics appeared.

Calling yourself a "dawg," a "NWA" or worse, gives others license to follow your slurs.

Not to excuse them in the least, but where might Mr. Imus and his has-been cohorts have heard that "nappy-headed ho" moniker more frequently? Who boldly introduced the terms "jigaboos and wannabes" into the mainstream American lexicon? A celebrated black filmmaker, Spike Lee.

Quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday, Mr. Lee said: "This is not the first time Imus has said stuff like this. Then to hide behind free speech, taking jigaboos and wannabes out of context, is ridiculous.