Friday - April 13, 2007 by Anthony Roberts
After causing a firestorm of controversy concerning his nappy-headed hoes remark about the Rutgers University Women's Basketball team, radio personality Don Imus has been fired by CBS. According to the Associated Press, the firing comes only a day after MSNBC, the cable network that simulcasts Imus' radio show, decided to discontinue broadcasting the popular show, which aired on 61 stations across the nation. Initially, Imus only received a two-week suspension from both MSNBC as well as CBS after referring to the women's team as nappy-headed hos, but in the midst of continued pressure from various social and civic organizations, as well as presidential hopeful Sen.Barak Obama and Rev. Al Sharpton calling for his removal, CBS also announced that it would be ending it's relationship with Imus. CBS announced that Imus' wife, author Deirdre Imus, and his longtime newsman, Charles McCord, will host Friday's show.
There has been much discussion of the affect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color, trying to make their way in this society, said CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves. That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision. Several major sponsors also pulled their ads on the show in light of Imus' comments, including companies like American Express Co.
, Sprint Nextel Corp., Staples Inc., Procter Gamble Co.
and General Motors Corp. Guests who were scheduled to appear on the show, including former baseball player Cal Ripken, Jr. also cancelled their appearances.
Imus, who has long been a controversial figure even before this latest incident, appeared on Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show earlier in the week where he continued to apologize for his inflammatory comments, but many, including Rev. Sharpton, did not feel that an apology was sufficient.
He says he wants to be forgiven. I hope he continues in that process, Sharpton said in a statement. But we cannot afford a precedent established that the airways can commercialize and mainstream sexism and racism.
Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, of The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, also issued statements. Their focus, however was on the connection Imus has made between his own controversial remarks and the language used in hip-hop music.
Hip-Hop is a worldwide cultural phenomena that transcends race and doesn't engage in racial slurs. Don Imus' racially-motivated diatribe toward the Rutgers' women's basketball team was in no way connected to hip-hop culture. As Chairman and President of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), respectively, we are concerned by the false comparisons some in the media are making between Don Imus and hip-hop.
We want to clarify what we feel very strongly is an obvious difference between the two. HSAN believes in freedom of artistic expression. We also believe, with that freedom, comes responsibility.
Don Imus is not a hip-hop artist or a poet. Hip-hop artists rap about what they see, hear and feel around them, their experience of the world. Like the artists throughout history, their messages are a mirror of what is right and wrong with society.
Sometimes their observations or the way in which they choose to express their art may be uncomfortable for some to hear, but our job is not to silence or censor that expression. Our job is to be an inclusive voice for the hip-hop community and to help create an environment that encourages the positive growth of hip-hop. Language can be a powerful tool.
That is why one's intention, when using the power of language, should be made clear. Comparing Don Imus' language with hip-hop artists' poetic expression is misguided and inaccurate and feeds into a mindset that can be a catalyst for unwarranted, rampant censorship.
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