Funny, the dog doesn’t look Hispanic.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Essay 2022
One lead story on AdAge.com presented a headline that read, “Key Issue at 4A’s Conference: Integration.”
Of course, the article focused on integrated marketing. After all, the 4A’s is steadfastly committed to keeping agency people segregated, not integrated.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Essay 2021
Getting a bad rap with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…
• The National Action Network conference, held annually by the Rev. Al Sharpton, kicked off yesterday with a few hiccups. First, Universal Music Group allegedly demanded its $15,000 event donation be returned in protest over Sharpton’s decision to withdraw an award that would have gone to Def Jam’s L.A. Reid (see Essay 2016). Also, Def Jam founder Russell Simmons allegedly reneged on buying two tables — estimated at $10,000 each — to a dinner at the summit, which Sharpton interpreted as another protest over the activist’s criticism of rap lyrics. “Oh, you only bought tickets if he would agree with us on lyrics?” remarked Sharpton. “You weren’t supporting the civil-rights cause, you weren’t supporting the fight against police brutality? I’ve been against the lyrics all along.” Simmons insisted it was a misunderstanding, and he planned to pay for the tables. Additionally, a spokesperson for Universal Music Group later denied asking for a refund. The National Action Network needs to work on its communications.
• Also at the National Action Network conference, former New York Mayor Ed Koch dissed Sharpton over the Tawana Brawley incident. “If you would have apologized for the Tawana Brawley hoax, you’d be a crossover leader,” said Koch. At this point, Sharpton must be reevaluating the National Action Network conference invitation list.
• A group of lesbians were found guilty of assaulting a filmmaker in Greenwich Village last summer (see Essay 953). The women charged that the filmmaker became abusive after they rebuffed his advances, and he initiated the brawl. But a jury didn’t believe them, so the group is now headed for jail. The filmmaker will probably turn the incident into a twisted Girls Gone Wild video.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Essay 2018
TBWA\Chiat\Day in Playa Del Rey rejiggered Uncle Ben. TBWA London unveiled the Goodbye Cellulite Choir for Nivea. What’s next — Don Imus named Global Creative Director?
[Click on the essay title above to check it out. And thanks to MakeTheLogoBigger for spotting this gem.]
Essay 2017
Adweek published a story detailing how advertisers responded to the Don Imus incident. Here’s an outrageous excerpt:
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One sponsor, General Motors, said the company wouldn’t rule out advertising on Imus if he returned to the airwaves on another station. After GM initially pulled its ads last Wednesday, the automaker noted that because Imus had apologized and promised to make changes in his program, it was “monitoring” the situation. Asked for clarification, company spokeswoman Ryndee Carney said, “I think that would indicate that we were open to revisiting at some point down the road” returning to the broadcast.
Carney said that if Imus does land somewhere else in radio land, and “if an opportunity is presented to us [to advertise], we would assess it just like we do all the other opportunities that come our way.”
“We obviously don’t condone his statements, but we have found value advertising on Imus in the past,” said Carney. “Up to this point, the good has outweighed the bad.” She said GM would continue to support Imus’ charitable causes.
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Damn.
So many folks have blasted the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton for alleged hypocrisy during the Imus debacle. But General Motors clearly deserves to have its nameplate placed at the top of the official Hypocrites List.
After all, here’s a corporation that employs multicultural agencies to reach minority audiences. General Motors runs diversity advertisements and programs that claim to recognize and respect minorities.
It’s clear that General Motors loves minorities — but only when doing so meets profit objectives.
General Motors ultimately shows why the efforts of Jackson and Sharpton are more necessary than ever.
[Click on the essay title above to view an example of GM’s pandering and hypocrisy.]
Essay 2016
A miniature midweek MultiCultClassics Monologue…
• The Rev. Al Sharpton was backpedaling over plans to honor the boss of Island Def Jam Music Group, whose roster of artists includes controversial rappers. “We don’t want to be inconsistent,” said Sharpton, sensitive to the potential hypocrisy of supporting rappers after blasting Don Imus. Sharpton was scheduled to present L.A. Reid with the James Brown Memorial Cultural Impact Award at the National Action Network, a four-day convention that starts today in New York. “We have withdrawn the award for L.A. Reid,” announced Sharpton. “We put the awards on hold…We have suspended those awards.” Wonder what the rappers are calling Sharpton now.
• J. Lo and Marc Anthony are suing the National Enquirer for the paper’s claim that the couple was tied to a heroin scandal. Sources claim the two are seeking a six-figure settlement. Which they’ll probably use to buy drugs.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Essay 2013
Two more comments — apparently from the same ticked-off Tennessean — responding to Advertising Age stories inspired by Don Imus…
> It is time for We The People to run this Country again — not Advertisers! I bet they will not even put this up! — McMinville, TN
> Advertisers should not be able to say what I watch on my TV. I pay a Lot of money to the Cable Company to watch what I want. Not ads every 5 minutes. An hour show is half ads. Imus should be reinstated if they do not get rid of the Al Sharpton Show too. He is so Racist — there should be no double standards for him. — McMinville, TN
Essay 2012
From The Chicago Sun-Times…
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In the end, right message on Imus was aired
BY JESSE JACKSON
Don Imus has been taken down. His foul insult of the Rutgers women’s basketball team was the last straw for his employers. Hopefully, his fall will make other entertainers and the corporations that profit from peddling hateful insults take a good look at themselves -- from Ann Coulter with her foul-mouthed, homophobic gibes to Warner Brothers and others who profit from peddling the degradation of women in modern rap culture. If Imus' fall contributes even a bit to a less coarse, less racist and sexist culture, that would be an unalloyed good.
Now Imus’ enablers over the years -- the politicians like Joe Lieberman, the media voices like Tim Russert and Frank Rich -- must explain why they embraced Imus for so many years. Rich writes that he thought Imus an “authentic conversationalist,” while admitting his books could “always use the publicity.” He “gave Imus a pass” because the insults were “almost always aimed at people in the public eye … with the forums to defend themselves.”
Rich is blinded by his own privilege. How many African Americans host a network talk show? From 3 to 11 p.m. daily, there’s not a single show hosted by a black, Latino or Asian, except for Tavis Smiley on PBS. From 10 p.m. to 12 a.m., where Arsenio Hall was 15 years ago, there are now zero. The list of guests on the Sunday morning political talk shows is referred to as the “apartheid hour” because it is so devoid of women and people of color.
Now of course the reaction will set in against those who upset the established order. The Washington Post coughs up two commentators to attack those of us who challenged Imus’ bigotry. Joe Hicks calls Imus’ insult of the young women “a bad idea,” then bizarrely prates that removing Imus did nothing to solve the “plight of black urban communities.”
Look in the mirror, says Jonetta Rose Barras, “it was black rap artists” who opened the door to denigrating black women, erasing three centuries of loaded racial prejudices. Rich scorns those who assail Imus, suggesting that if we want to have a “conversation” about race, it had better include “hip-hop lyrics, ‘Borat,’ ‘South Park’ and maybe Larry David.” Any list should also include Mick Jagger’s “Brown Sugar” and “Some Girls” -- scornful descriptions of black women that predate rap.
The degradation of black women by powerful white men is as old as the culture. And while rap artists did not start the degradation, they ought to use their power to help stop it. Cleaning up the culture should not be so unimaginable. Just enforce obscenity laws. Do not use the public airways for gender, racial or religious degradation.
Global corporations make literally billions peddling trash. Let’s talk about that. Do we want no standards? Is profiting from bigotry, anti-Semitism, hate words and sexist tripe simply to be celebrated as somehow central to free speech or artistic expression? The First Amendment was designed to prohibit the government from censoring political speech, not to stop society from holding itself to standards beyond the gutter. If customers spurn companies or networks that profit from peddling racism, or employees are ashamed of their own companies’ complicity in hateful garbage, why isnt the Washington Post applauding that rather than scorning it?
Imus’ racist and sexist insult of these young women was not “a bad idea,” it was disgusting and mean. It wasn’t an aberration; it was part of his normal patter; he made big bucks peddling it. Let’s hope his departure leads to a broader look at what our corporate culture is selling. Let the complacent and the complicitous kick the messengers. I have no doubt this was a message that needed to be delivered.
Essay 2010
Minor misunderstandings and misspeaking in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…
• Original Village People policeman Victor Willis found himself in more trouble with real policemen. The disco star was arrested last month for allegedly choking and threatening his girlfriend. But on Friday, the case was dropped. “There was simply a minor disagreement between Victor and his fiancée who are residing together in a penthouse apartment in San Diego’s La Jolla area,” said Willis’ publicist. “Victor loves her very much and she loves Victor.” Um, don’t mean to start another minor disagreement, but aren’t the Village People gay?
• British singer Bryan Ferry apologized for praising Nazis during an interview. Ferry’s remarks included, “The way that the Nazis staged themselves and presented themselves, my Lord! … I’m talking about the films of Leni Riefenstahl and the buildings of Albert Speer and the mass marches and the flags — just fantastic. Really beautiful.” But protests had the singer backpedaling and saying, “I apologize unreservedly for any offense caused by my comments on Nazi iconography, which were solely made from an art history perspective. … I, like every right-minded individual, find the Nazi regime, and all it stood for, evil and abhorrent.” But in a fantastic and really beautiful kind of way.
Essay 2009
From The Chicago Tribune…
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Racism can be unequal offender
By Ahmed M. Rehab, Executive director, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago)
Here is an interesting point to ponder: What if Don Imus had referred to a mostly white women’s basketball team as “dumb blond hos.” Would it have been any less racist or sexist than the comment he used against a mostly black team?
Not in my book; by all accounts, it would be just as sexist and, given that blond hair is a racial feature no less than coarse hair is, it would be just as racist.
Would it have caused the same uproar culminating in his termination after 30 years on the job?
Probably not.
Is there a double standard going on here?
Yes there is.
Is it warranted?
Yes it is.
Here’s why: Though both slurs are comparable in theory, the practical repercussions they have on the lives of the women they target are in no way comparable, a factor that seems to be missed by many commentators.
In other words, the “dumb blond” stereotype does not bear the same impediment against the social normalization of blond women that the vile stereotype of black women perpetrated by Imus does.
It would be foolish to deny that in terms of opportunity, America remains a place where black women are among the most disadvantaged and blond women among the relatively privileged. Black women walking into job interviews still face a very real concern that they should never have to face: “Do I intimidate you?”
Blond women don’t.
This does not mean that it is OK to stereotype blond women by any means.
What it does suggest is that racist statements against minorities who suffer vulnerabilities go beyond the tasteless and into the dangerous because they have a direct negative impact on how they are perceived and dealt with.
It is more so spineless than it is tasteless to jokingly cast black women, who are already the single most socially disadvantaged demographic group in this country, as inner-city good-for-nothing crack heads, prostitutes or gangsters, given the reality of the everyday racism they face on the ground.
It is particularly remarkable when you have a group of black women, who have done everything right, worked hard, gone to college and excelled academically and athletically, that can still be slapped down with that stereotype.
Many apologists for Don Imus have thrown around the “he is an equal opportunity offender” argument.
No he is not; he couldn’t be even if he tried for the simple reason that victims of racial offense themselves face unequal opportunity in our society.
Let’s not factor that out of the equation.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Essay 2007
Advertising Age presented a few more articles inspired by the Don Imus debacle. Below are random selections from reader responses posted online…
> Forget Imus — I’m sure he could have retired by now if he wanted to. And if he doesn’t, he’ll still have a career. But what about the people who had jobs only because his show existed? They don’t have the bounce back or the retirement account that Imus has. Those are the people who have been punished. — DALLAS, TX
> I don’t listen to Imus. Never have except by accident. Still, he did have a following and now those listeners have lost. If we are going to move in this direction, can I present my list of others that need to go as well? I have a bunch that offend me, but I have always handled that the way I handled Imus — I didn’t listen to them. The strange thing about all of this is the fact that I do have a respect for freedom of speech the Constitution provides. This incident certainly wasn’t controlled by the FCC’s vulgar language doctrine. I didn’t hear any expletives in his remarks. I certainly thought his comments about those women were in poor, poor taste, but I can name a lot of folks that make comments in that category including some radio talk show personalities who screamed the loudest about Imus’ remarks. I deal with those folks the same way I deal with Imus, I don’t listen to them either. I’m not sure I put Imus’ comments in the “Hate Speech” category. I never attribute to malice that which can easier be explained by ignorance. I’m also willing to bet Imus may not be out for the count. There is always satellite radio for him to move to [in order] to reach his listeners...or maybe the Internet. I’m sure there is a struggling radio station out there that would like an instant audience. — Gainesville, GA
> Old rules of mass-media free speech:
1) I have a right to say it.
2) If you don’t like what I say, don’t listen.
New rules of mass media free speech:
1) I have a right to say it.
2) If Procter & Gamble doesn’t like what I’m saying, you can’t listen.
While it’s impossible to condone Imus’ speech, it’s also impossible to condone other hateful comments that fly unfettered from various ethnic radio stations in the country, some of which, in NY at least, boast Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson as frequent visitors. Apparently both men have been forgiven for their own transgressions, so perhaps there’s hope for Imus. It just seems to me that nice has to apply on all sides, or it’s just hypocrisy, and corporate censorship.
Don't get me wrong. I prefer nice. And Mr. Deutsch is probably right…we’re seeing the end of an era, at least in mainstream media. But hate is a highly sought after product, and like any product in a fragmented new media world, invidiously to the rest of us, hate will find ways to better engage its audience. I’d rather have it out in the open where I can see it (if I choose to) and check its pulse. — David Langan, grandcentralgames.com, NY, NY
> This and many other industry forums I’ve read in the past week continue to amaze me. People seem to be unable to focus on one point at a time. Separate freedom of speech from support of hate media. Don’t confuse the artist with the art, and don’t label art as “media.” All Donny is saying is, as industry players, we do our part. Go ahead and listen to gangsta rap if you want tonite. Just don’t come into work tomorrow and be surprised if your colleagues and clients don’t feel like using the music as a way to reach the marketplace. It’s a free country, all the way around. — Kevin Horne, NYC, New York, NY
> Whatever! — Atlanta, GA
> Great theory. However, until media buyers are allowed to think conceptually and think for themselves — beyond unreasonably low CPPs — radio and TV stations will continue to program what listeners and viewers listen and view most. Controversial programming drives ratings. O’Reilly fighting with Geraldo moves the needle. Ratings rule the roost. Sure, in the short term firms such as P&G will publicly state that they will “do their darnedest” to avoid controversial programming. Now, let’s be careful. There is a great difference between controversial and objectionable or controversial and obscene or controversial and endangering society. You personally may not like what certain personalities say, but these mainstream hosts generally aren’t touting “hate speak” (what is that, anyway?) and these hosts have millions of loyal listeners and viewers who need soap and toothpaste and laundry detergent (and cars, etc.). In fact, I would make the case that now is the time for advertisers to jump on board with the O’Reillys of the world — as these shows’ listeners and viewers become more dedicated to their convictions in the cause of protecting America’s great freedoms, beginning with the First Amendment. As I sit here in the heart of Flyoverland, the Tipping Point that I see developing is moderate, reasonable Americans being fed up with individual New Yorkers and Hollywood celebrities (who call themselves liberal-thinkers and are anything but) dictating how we ALL should think and behave. — Saint Paul, MN
> No love lost here, but…Who do we get next? All of Fox, ABC, Sharpton, Jackson, Satuday Night Live, Tonight show, Moveon dot org? I guess freedom of speech is fiction not fact. If we are to think this action is correct, then almost every music cd, book and newspaper in America is ready for the fire. — Akron, OH
> I wonder if Mr. Deutsch had called on the carpet his friend Donald Trump for making the ‘prize’ for winning on an Apprentice episode a studio session with Snoop Dog…one of the leaders of race-based “hate music.” — Macungie, PA
> There’s no argument Imus said some things he shouldn’t have said. But if Chris Rock, Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy stands up and says “nappy-headed hos” at a comedy club, a TV show, no one ever cries foul. Blacks can say crude and rude things about their own race and get away with it. Can we have a Miss White America Beauty Pageant? Nope. But we DO have a Miss Black America Beauty pageant. Television has BET -- the Black Entertainment Television network. But can we launch something similar like: WET (White Entertainment Television Network)? Oops. You’d have African Americans picketing the streets outside WET’s TV studios, CNN would be filled with Rev. Jackson and Sharpton denouncing the new TV network. The NAACP would be filing lawsuits…I think you get the idea here. There’s no argument a double standard clearly exists in America -- you just have to know the rules so you don’t stick your foot in your mouth. Imus got nailed to the cross for a stupid remark, he inserted both feet into his mouth and he got fired for it. Nuff said. Let’s move on. — SANTA FE, NM
> You know what? Donny’s right. Enough nasty, mean spirited yelling and screaming. Talking heads, celebrity fights, reality fighting scenes, fear-oriented newscasts and then violence-oriented shows. It’s no wonder today’s consumer would rather sit at the computer. At least then, they control the content. Trying to watch TV for enjoyment and relaxation is a thing of the past. So, advertisers are moving their money to where it should be: online. — Karen Tripi President, Karen Tripi Associates, NEW YORK, NY
> I agree with the advertisers — why should we have to listen to garbage? I would worry about the extremism of allowing everything and then controlling it all — isn’t there a middle ground? Maybe something called intelligent criteria is missing from all of this mess. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Next time we hear this garbage, no matter if the originator is black or white, we should be just as strict, including the music we listen to. — MIAMI, FL
> First off…never a big fan of Imus and I don’t care much if he’s on the air or not. But, I hate to see the likes of Sharpton & Jackson looking triumphant over something that really was not that offensive given the nature of today’s pop culture. Sharpton & Jackson have made a business out of fabricated race issues. And neither of them have always been shining examples (Tawana Brawley, Hymietown). In a media culture swimming in hip-hop lingo and gangsta types being celebrated, the use of the term “nappy headed hos” could easily be seen as a white guy trying to sound hip or spoofing his own race (maybe not in Imus’ case). But one of the best ways to get a laugh these days, if you are a white man, is to parody your whiteness by purposely delivering hip-hop phrases with overwhelming “white-bread” tones in your delivery. I think sometimes as we gain diversity in this country, we also gain oversensitivity and misinterpretations of intent. I would like to have seen Imus dismissed over declining ratings, not a poor choice of words. — Springfield, MO
> Donny, I couldn’t agree with you more. Whether nice may or may not be becoming the new black, I think most of us are just plain weary of “celebrities” being given a forum to spew forth whatever pops into their minimally sized brains. Imus, Rush, Stern, Pryor, Murphy, “gangsta” rappers and the rest of this classless class of juvenile delinquents we’ve had to endure in recent years -- I hope you’re right that Imus’ demise means the beginning of the end of these assaults on society. Of course, we’ll always have the ACLU to contend with…since when did “freedom of speech” morph into “freedom to deliberately and pointedly denigrate others for the sake of entertainment and self-promotion?” Speaking of the latter, I’ve long considered that the only reason the shock jocks do what they do is some pathetic need to be in the spotlight, at any cost. Why do children act up? One reason: To get attention. — Elgin, IL
> I think that if advertisers really wanted to be positive, they would have forced IMUS to do community service or donate to a scholarship fund for African American women at Rutgers or something that would affect positive change. Let’s face it, many advertisers don’t buy advertising for programming content, they buy advertising for the listeners, readers or viewers that the program attracts. This is just another way to squelch our First Amendment rights — turn it off if you’re turned off! And, trust me, I hate what he said, but make him do something positive to offset it! — Needham, MA
> I watched with great interest the recent trial of a very popular talk radio host on MSNBC and WFAN ! Mr. Don Imus insulted a University Women’s Basketball Team! Mr. Imus used a very Vulgar Term to describe the women as Prostitutes! The term was created by the Rap Music Community and is Broadcast hourly as accepted content to the Rap Audience! Rap music producers have developed their own semantic jazz and it has been adopted by many African American as well as white Teens as acceptable speech! Mr. Imus has apologized to his audience as well as the Women’s Championship basketball team of African American and White Students! Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, the acknowledged worldwide Watchdogs for the African American Community lit a fire as they usually do and have claimed victory since Don Imus was fired from both Networks! One African American reporter described Jackson and Sharpton as fire fighters who, after the fire is over, then pick the victims’ pockets! To be honest, I think that what got Mr. Imus fired was Advertisers pulling out of the show! Not the flame kindled by Sharpton’s and Jackson’s Diarrhea of the Mouth! Imus was of course wrong since what lives in the gutter should stay in the gutter! Until what walks in the street decides to clean up stand up and walk proudly on the sidewalk! The Team from Rutgers have chosen to walk as the best of our American Youth and commented on the incident as Adults! The Coaches whined, the School Officials whined, but the students exhibited adult behavior. I am sure that in the future, Mr. Imus will Pop up on the WWW, as the Imus in The Morning Video Cast, supported by a fantastic Blog and Social Network Site and we can all enjoy him for 99 Cents! This will restore his freedom of speech and give some great content to IPodders ! — Royal Oak, MI
Essay 2005
The collateral damage generated by radio personality Don Imus is pretty extensive, exposing issues that continue to fester in society.
Unfortunately, Madison Avenue — that bastion of biased behavior — was also drawn into the I-mess. Besides the obvious media and advertiser connections, a handful of advertising-related blogs touched on the topic, as well as the multicultural marketing news sources.
And once again, Advertising Age unwittingly managed to stir up controversy. The trade publication’s website presented a story detailing the CBS decision to ax Imus, which led to online comments that showed our business has a long way to go with its delusions of diversity (see Essay 1994 and Essay 2002).
Granted, AdAge.com visitors do not fully represent the advertising collective. Indeed, the online remarks mirror statements made nationwide by the general citizenry. But for a professional community labeled as minimally exclusive and probably racist, the responses clearly justify the charges of our critics.
In the event that the AdAge.com postings accurately reflect the views of most adpeople, MultiCultClassics humbly counters the stereotypical comments with stereotypical rebuttals.
First, it’s always peculiar to witness the paranoia and resentment targeting the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Like it or not, there’s indisputable evidence that both of these men have performed far more positive deeds than anyone dissing them — and definitely more than Imus. Do a Google search and prove it. And for the haters who think the two are race-baiters, hypocrites, cultural coercionists or worse, there really is a simple solution to silence the pontifications of Jackson and Sharpton: Stop being evil bigots.
Numerous uninformed individuals accuse Jackson and Sharpton of pushing a double standard; that is, people like Imus and Michael Richards get ripped for using racial slurs while rappers get a free pass. Sorry, but Jackson and Sharpton — along with Oprah, Bill Cosby, Stanley Crouch, countless community activists, spiritual leaders, local and national politicians and others — have been quite vocal and forceful in their protests against the ugly side of hip hop. Too bad the media moguls responsible for rap music aren’t as easily persuaded to do the right thing as the media moguls behind Imus. Additionally, those who cry about double standards ought to consider that White youth account for a sizeable chunk of rap sales. If you want to affect change, start in your own house.
FYI, the preceding rebuttal point may also cover the confused souls whining, “How come Blacks can spew specific epithets but non-Blacks can’t?” Many of the folks previously mentioned have gone so far as to attempt to legally banish the N-word, plus condemn artists who peddle entertainment rooted in negativity and hate.
Samuel Johnson said, “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” Racism sure does bring out the patriotic spirit in Americans. The First Amendment and freedom of speech are routinely displayed to defend boorish spectacles. But let’s be straight regarding the Imus incident. No one deprived the man of his constitutional rights. He’s virtually free to say whatever he desires. MSNBC and CBS merely exercised their right to fire him. This should not have been surprising to people in the advertising business. If any of us regularly spoke in the office like Imus regularly spoke on the air, we would face termination too. Hell, we’d even be making potential lawsuit troubles for our bosses, since such words would create hostile and discriminatory work environments. Funny how the freedom fighters pooh-pooh the reality that Imus and his crew have been running an enterprise that the EEOC would never approve.
Another perspective contends that anyone offended by Imus should just not listen. Did the Rutgers women’s basketball team have the option to just not listen? Ultimately, the entire country was unable to close its ears to Imus’ statements. This weird position is like declaring the victims of drunk drivers should just not venture onto streets where the intoxicated might cruise. Or shooting victims should just not allow bullets to strike them. Imus was not broadcasting in a private fashion; rather, he was using public airwaves. Adpeople know the messages we devise are subject to network, legal and public scrutiny. So please don’t express shock and dismay that someone pulled the plug on Imus.
Perhaps the most pathetic perspective involves reprimanding people for being too politically correct. Phrases like “PC Police” and “You’re too sensitive” fortify this goofy platform. When did the insensitive types win the authority to dictate sensitivity levels for the rest of us? Oh, wait a minute. They didn’t. Let’s not dissect the reactions of the sensitive in our ranks. We should examine the actions of the insensitive instead. Why are you people so uncaring and ignorant about the diversity of attitudes, opinions and beliefs in today’s global village? The last sentence is a rhetorical question, in case you didn’t notice.
Imus is damned lucky in lots of ways. He’s now no longer obligated to make good on his latest promises to reform. Also, he’s spared from undergoing the obligatory sensitivity training that would have been a requirement for staying on the job. No one doubts the man will find another corporation eager to sponsor his brand of garbage. He could even retire a millionaire immediately. If Imus is a casualty deserving pity, we should all wish for a similar fate. Or pray for the future of civilization.
Contrary to popular perception, CBS, MSNBC, Procter & Gamble, Staples, American Express, Sprint Nextel, General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton et al did not reject Imus. The new majority public did — by flexing its multilayered, consumer-based influence.
In the end, Don Imus may symbolize the challenges ahead for Madison Avenue. Will we cling to outdated notions, acting like old men forever recycling the same tired shit? Will we demonstrate arrogance, failing to recognize and respect anyone who doesn’t share our physical and emotional characteristics? Will we remain oblivious to the fact that control of communications has completely shifted into evolved consumers’ hands?
Stay tuned.
Essay 2004
The kid’s calculating how Mickey D’s trans-fat-laden offerings will quadruple his weight and subtract years from his life.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Essay 2002
Two more online comments responding to the Advertising Age story on Don Imus (see Essay 1994)…
> Imagine if an ad for Procter & Gamble Pampers “nappies” had come right after Imus’ comment — would you have brought any on your next shopping? That unconscious thought is worth millions for the P&G, GM or Staples who sell their product through airwaves, so their decision makes sense. Furthermore, if these companies really hold values, it is their duty to “walk the talk” and not sponsor Imus. After all, advertisers are the ones to fund radios, so they can make a difference. All in all, I think that firing Imus sends the right message to radio commentators across the country: neither advertisers nor the public will tolerate racist remarks on their airwaves, clear! — Geneva
> People are fired from their jobs for even less infractions. Imus was an employee, and the airwaves belong to the public. Advertisers pulled out when the public started to complain. The marketplace, in the end, decided it was time for him to go. Issues about Sharpton, Freedom of Speech and Rap music are misdirection and have no place in this context. — Mercerville, NJ
Essay 2001
Boys and Good Ol’ Boys in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…
• Latino boys congregated in Miami to audition for the latest incarnation of Menudo, the Puerto Rican boy band whose past members include Ricky Martin. “We’re going to make it a little different than it was before,” said Johnny Wright, the promotional wizard responsible for New Kids on the Block, ‘NSync and the Backstreet Boys. “The beat is going to be the beats of the street now — club, hip-hop and rock. It’s not going to be something that’s pigeon-holed.” In other words, it’s going to be Black.
• The Rev. Al Sharpton is getting police protection after receiving death threats over his involvement with Don Imus’ firing. Someone called Sharpton’s radio program and announced, “I’m going to hunt Reverend Sharpton down and shoot him like an animal.” Meanwhile, the Rev. Jesse Jackson received bomb threats at his Rainbow/PUSH headquarters in Chicago. When Imus was defending himself, he insisted his remarks were no different than those of rappers. Looks like Imus’ posse is pretty similar too.
• A German Army instruction video has stirred controversy, especially among Blacks in the Bronx. The video depicts an instructor telling recruits to imagine they’re shooting Blacks in the borough. “You are in the Bronx,” yelled the leader. “A black van is stopping in front of you. Three African-Americans are getting out and they are insulting your mother in the worst way. … Act.” Don Imus’ posse is probably trying to secure copies of the video for their training maneuvers.
• Radio station KCAA in San Bernardino is scheduled to air “Best of Imus” reruns, starting with the broadcast that got the shock jock fired. “I believe this is an important enough issue with regards to free speech, free expression,” declared owner Fred Lundgren. The station manager added, “I’m glad we’re standing up and playing Imus. … And not kowtowing to [the Rev. Al Sharpton] and those people.” Heaven forbid those people should have the same right to present their opinions via free speech and freedom of expression.
• Hawaiian singing legend Don Ho — famous for crooning “Tiny Bubbles” — passed away at age 76. Don Imus refuses to comment on the story.
Essay 2000
From The Chicago Sun-Times…
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Imus shouldn’t have been fired
BY MONROE ANDERSON
I know I’m plunging into dangerous waters, but I’ve got to go against the raging Don Imus tide. I think he could have been given much more time off for bad behavior but should not have received from MSNBC and CBS Radio what amounts to corporate capital punishment.
Before I go any further, let me confirm what I believe is obvious: Imus is a grumpy-butt, foul mouth, ol’ coot. Pardon the name calling, but I’m just trying to get in the “Imus in the Morning” spirit that spawned the “nappy-headed hos” riffing between Imus and Bernard McGuirk, the show’s on-air executive producer.
Imus has a three-decades-old history of spewing hateful and hurtful remarks on the air. The daddy of all shock jocks hasn’t limited his nasty remarks solely to teenage girls attending Rutgers University. He has intentionally insulted blacks, women, Jews, Arabs, Catholics and gays. A litany of his “errant comments,” as Fox Cable Network’s Neil Cavuto would describe them, is listed on Media Matters for America, the watchdog Web site that first posted Imus’ comments online. He has referred to black athletes as simians and Arabs as “towel heads.”
But there is more than sexist and racist ranting to the man Time magazine once named one of the 25 Most Influential People in America. Sometimes bad Imus lets good Imus out to do good work. For the past nine years, his Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer has brought some measure of comfort and joy to seriously ill children regardless of race, creed or national origin. On his last day on the air, Imus was fund-raising for three charities -- two for children with cancer, one for families who have lost babies to SIDS, bringing in more than $2 million in contributions.
There’s no charitable thinking in my belief that the Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Sen. Barack Obama and almost every group and individual who demanded that Imus be canned was wrong. I believe this despite similar demands from NBC heavyweight Al Roker and Bruce Gordon, a CBS director.
Imus would serve us better on the air than off. During his era of contrition last week, when he was broadcasting his mea culpas and heartfelt apologies, Imus pledged to make amends. With his head bowed and his Stetson hat in hand, he promised to trash his sexist and racial incendiary insults. He promised to have a black presence on his show daily. I saw it as a bad old dog ready to learn some new good tricks. The firing converted that opportunity to DOA. After four to six weeks off for moral reflection and rehabilitation, a new, improved “Imus in the Morning” featuring a strong-willed, sharp-tongued black woman would have worked wonders on the strait-jacketed thinking of the show’s mostly white male, mainly conservative network of listeners. Instead of McGuirk and the I-Man one-upping each other’s racist and sexist jokes, imagine “CBS Sunday Morning’s” commentator Nancy Giles, Louisville Courier Journal columnist Betty Baye or Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell present and ready for repartee.
We now may end up with Imus, the devil we don’t know, instead of Imus, the devil we knew. Banished from terrestrial radio, Imus is bound to end up on satellite or off in cyberspace. Like that other race-baiting shock jock, Howard Stern, Imus is a longtime friend to Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio. There are 2.3 million I-Man listeners still out, whose appetite for his shock shtick is undiminished. Imagine what new depths the I-Man and McQuirk duo might go to on pay radio, uncensored and unchecked. Or imagine them on the Internet, where pornography is predatory. Next year, Wi-Max -- wide-area wireless access -- will make the Internet available everywhere, including in automobiles. In a new medium with a possible 100,000 streams, Imus would be a definite destination.
We could have kept an eye on Imus in mainstream media. Out there on the World Wide Web, he’s on his own.
Essay 1999
Let’s see how many germ-filled items we can have the kid play with. It’s a wonder he isn’t performing in a garbage dumpster, banging a crumbling Roach Motel® and used mousetrap with a dripping toilet brush.
Essay 1998
From The New York Times…
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For Some Hispanics, Coming to U.S. Means Abandoning Religion
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
RICHMOND, Va. — On Sunday afternoons, when the local Roman Catholic church holds Mass for Spanish-speaking Catholics, Edgar ChilÃn is playing soccer in a league with hundreds of Hispanic players.
As a child in Guatemala, Mr. ChilÃn attended Mass every Sunday. But after immigrating to the United States 25 years ago, he and his family lost the churchgoing habit. “We pray to God when we feel the need to,” he said, “but when we come here to America we don’t feel the need.”
A wave of research shows that increasing percentages of Hispanics are abandoning church, suggesting to researchers that along with assimilation comes a measure of secularization.
Several studies show that Hispanics are just as likely as other Americans to identify themselves as having “no religion,” and to not affiliate with a church. Those who describe themselves as secular are, without question, a small minority among Hispanics — as they are among Americans at large. But, in contrast to many of the non-Hispanic Americans who identify themselves as secular, most of the Hispanics say they were once religious.
The Roman Catholic Church, the religious home for most Hispanics, is experiencing the greatest exodus. While many former Catholics join evangelical or Pentecostal churches, the recent research shows that many of them leave church altogether.
“Migrating to the U.S. means you have the freedom to create your own identity,” said Keo Cavalcanti, a sociologist at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., and a co-author of a recent study that found a trend toward secularization among Hispanics in Richmond. “When people get here they realize that maintaining that pro forma display of religiosity is not essential to doing well.”
[Click on the essay title above to read the full story.]
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Essay 1997
Scores and highlights in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…
• Forbes.com listed “The 10 Most Expensive Celebrity Divorces” — and Michael Jordan’s breakup topped the rest. According to the story, Juanita Jordan could net “more than $150 million in a settlement, making the Jordan divorce the most expensive in entertainment history.” The hoops star has six championship rings, but Mrs. Jordan’s wedding ring could be worth much more.
• Add Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the list of people happy to see Don Imus fired. “I’m very glad that there was, in fact, a consequence. I think that this kind of coarse language doesn’t belong anywhere in reasonable dialogue between reasonable people,” said Rice. “It gets ruined by this disgusting — and I’ll use the word ‘disgusting’ — comment which doesn’t belong in any polite company and certainly doesn’t belong on any radio station that I would listen to.” It’s probably safe to say Rice isn’t rocking to any hip-hop broadcasts.
• The rights to O.J. Simpson’s cancelled book, “If I Did It,” will not go on auction yet, as Simpson’s lawyers filed for bankruptcy for the corporation behind the failed book deal with publisher HarperCollins. In other words, O.J. killed the latest effort by Ron Goldman’s family to collect the loot they’re owed.
• In Largo, Florida, the ex-city manager allegedly fired for revealing his intentions to undergo a sex-change operation will not be suing in retaliation (see Essay 1901). “It is tempting to seek retribution in the courts, but after much reflection and soul searching, I just cannot find it within my heart to sue Largo — a city I have always and will always love. I do not want to punish the citizens of Largo,” said the man. He plans to begin living as a woman full-time within two months. He may have decided against a lawsuit, but maybe she’ll think differently.
Essay 1996
From The New York Times…
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Museum Honors Hispanic Culture
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL
SAN ANTONIO — With a hot pink carpet on the sidewalk and a 600-piece mariachi band in the wings, this city has swung into fiesta mode to welcome the nation’s largest Latino museum, a collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution.
Few American cities are more exuberantly tied to life south of the border than San Antonio, where tourists flock to shop its Mexican markets, meander its River Walk and sip margaritas. But despite the persistent efforts of residents, no museum here showcased Hispanic arts. The new museum — the Museo Alameda affiliated with the Smithsonian, or MAS — “more,” in Spanish — changes that.
“It’s making history,” said Rosa Rosales, national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a rights group with 150,000 members, who came home to San Antonio from Washington for the opening. “Words cannot express the need. Our history has been ignored.”
To many here, it goes beyond the art. “This is a piece of activism,” said Henry R. Muñoz III, 47, an architectural executive and son of a legendary Mexican-American labor organizer, the shrewd and combative Henry Muñoz, who was known as the Fox.
The younger Muñoz began badgering the Smithsonian for help a dozen years ago and raised much of the $12 million construction cost from corporate donors.
More than half of San Antonio’s 1.2 million residents are Hispanic, compared to about 14 percent nationwide, and the growth shows few signs of slowing. Indeed, San Antonio, now the nation’s seventh-largest city (after New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia and Phoenix) grew nearly 10 percent from 2000 to 2005, with some of the influx coming from immigrants from Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean.
“It’s la cuna — the crib, where the consciousness of the Mexican-American movement was born,” said Henry G. Cisneros, a former mayor and federal housing official.
[Click on the essay title above to read the full story.]
Friday, April 13, 2007
Essay 1995
Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer read the following statement:
“We, the Rutgers University Scarlet Knight basketball team, accept Mr. Imus’ apology, and we are in the process of forgiving.”
“We still find his statements to be unacceptable, and this is an experience that we will never forget.”
“These comments are indicative of greater ills in our culture. It is not just Mr. Imus, and we hope that this will be and serve as a catalyst for change. Let us continue to work hard together to make this world a better place.”
Essay 1994
Advertising Age ran a story announcing CBS’ decision to fire Don Imus (click on essay title above to view). Industry players responded in stereotypical fashion with the following online comments…
> There is no free speech issue here. There is no First Amendment right to an audience of millions, or to airwaves that belong to someone else, or to the support of advertisers. Imus is as free as he ever was to spout his bile to whomever he can find. — PORTLAND, OR
> What hypocrisy! It’s okay for Jackson and Sharpton to disparage the white lacrosse team from Duke, but not for Imus to make a mistake. Did Sharpton or Jackson apologize to the team for their remarks yet? The lacrosse team is actually innocent! Did Sharpton apologize for the Tawana Brawley case that ruined a man’s life and career? Yet somehow he has become the arbitrator of what is right and wrong. It’s a sad day in America and sadder even still if you’re a white male, the source of all evil… It’s gotten so crazy I’m afraid to call my garden shovel a spade! — Essex Junction, VT
> Say good-bye to the First Amendment. Anyone potentially offended by Don Imus was totally free to not listen to his program. Freedom to not listen is a little easier to take than the loss of freedom to talk. — Santa Fe Spring, CA
> CBS did Imus a favor. Give him a him month off and one of CBS’s competitors will put him on and pull huge ratings. — DALLAS, TX
> It’s disappointing to read Moonves chose to side with two demagogues, just to get some heat off his back. Miami, Florida — KEY BISCAYNE, FL
> Sharpton Won...And Whitey’s on the Run! What a bunch of wimps at MSNBC & CBS. A bunch of scared white guys listening to these Race-Baiters. And it’s just what Sharpton & Jackson want -- something to continue polarizing the races -- and keep them in business. And now, NBC will, of course, implement a uniformly applied ban on ALL Rappers and Comedians whose lyrics or routines have used racially exploitive, sexually demeaning or orientation insensitive...RIGHT? Chris Rock, Snoop Dog, Ludacris, Carlos Mencina, etc., and of course, the racist Radio-One Network, will all be no longer allowed on the air...Right? Then of course they’ll go after the “evil” Rush, Coulter, Hanity...et al. And let’s not for get the “Racist” new Halle Berry movie, “Nappily Ever After.” What...NO??? They aren’t going to do that...They’ll rather make an example of a 66 year old guy who made a dumb mistake...Of course that’s what they’ll do...because it’s simply the easiest thing to do. And it eases their liberal white guy guilt. — Kansas City, MO
> Fantastic. Racism is finally over. The President of CBS has made the decision to completely end this person’s career. The reason: “In our meetings with concerned groups, there has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society.” Ahhhh, that is soooo sweet to say. Now let’s get back to more coverage of the death, despair, destruction, and religious killing and hatred of war. Anna Nicole Smith’s DNA, John Mark Karr, and the fact that young women of color are still homeless from Katrina. CBS is now broadening the excuses…they now have men and women, “constituencies” or religious leaders, black and white, rich and poor, dogs and cats…all coming together to finally show how pathetic this company is regarding PR and how quickly this company will run from an issue. PS…watch out for the White House involvement. P&G also owns Iams, which has been playing up the pet food recall by orders of the White House. Verizon has all the spy phone connections that allow the Feds to listen to anyone without court orders. Verizon is the company that “plays ball” with the President and the State’s Attorney’s offices. These companies were ordered to take this response. This is the same tactic used against magazines and newspapers nationwide with this Administration to harm them from an advertiser point of view if they stop doing what it wants. Never forget who ran so quickly from an issue like these advertisers and networks. The phrase “women of color” is a racist statement. Why? It was made by a white male to describe “colored people” who are women. They are never of color…the color is of them. The CBS President is saying that a person’s color defines them and is of them. That is racist…especially coming from a white male. CBS must be punished for such a racist statement? — Brandon, FL
Essay 1993
Throwing tomatoes in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…
• Burger King is the next target for a coalition of Florida farmers seeking to raise the price of tomatoes. The group spent two years in negotiations before getting McDonald’s to agree to a penny per pound increase. Earlier talks with Burger King resulted in the fast feeder refusing to say, “Have it your way.” So for now, hold the pickle, hold the lettuce — and the tomato.
• Interracial marriages are soaring in the U.S., according to Census Bureau figures. For example, Black-White unions rose from 65,000 in 1970 to 422,000 in 2005. It’s all leading to the natural increase of interracial children. “The racial divide in the U.S. is a fundamental divide. … but when you have the ‘other’ in your own family, it’s hard to think of them as ‘other’ anymore,” said one sociologist. “We see a blurring of the old lines, and that has to be a good thing, because the lines were artificial in the first place.” Artificial? Society sure has made a lot of real judgments based on something artificial.
• The Rutgers women’s basketball team met with Don Imus for three hours on Thursday night for a “very productive” meeting. One participant called the powwow “very intense,” although Imus offered no public comments. Coach Vivian Stringer said, “Players, coaches, parents, administrators, our pastor as well as Mr. Imus were ready to dialogue. Hopefully, we can put all of this behind us.” Imus probably does not feel like he’s got much of a behind left, as his ass has been justifiably kicked over the past week.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Essay 1990
From The New York Times…
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Don Imus Loses Job in Stunning Fall
NEW YORK (AP) – Don Imus’ racist remarks got him fired by CBS on Thursday, the finale to a stunning fall for one of the nation’s most prominent broadcasters.
Imus was initially suspended for two weeks after he called the Rutgers women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos” on the air last week. But outrage kept growing and advertisers kept bolting from his CBS radio show and its MSNBC simulcast, which was canceled Wednesday.
“There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society,” CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves said in announcing the decision. “That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision.”
Imus had a long history of inflammatory remarks. But something struck a raw nerve when he targeted the Rutgers team -- which includes a class valedictorian, a future lawyer and a musical prodigy -- after they lost in the NCAA championship game.
A spokeswoman for the team said it did not have an immediate comment on Imus’ firing. But Imus was scheduled to meet with the team Thursday evening, according to the Rev. DeForest Soaries, the pastor of coach Vivian Stringer, who had been helping negotiate terms of the meeting.
The cantankerous Imus, once named one of the 25 Most Influential People in America by Time magazine and a member of the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame, issued repeated apologies as protests intensified. But it wasn’t enough as everyone from Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to Oprah Winfrey joined the criticism.
The Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson met with Moonves on Thursday to demand Imus’ removal, promising a rally outside CBS headquarters Saturday and an effort to persuade more advertisers to defect.
Jackson called the firing “a victory for public decency. No one should use the public airwaves to transmit racial or sexual degradation.”
Said Sharpton: “He says he wants to be forgiven. I hope he continues in that process. But we cannot afford a precedent established that the airways can commercialize and mainstream sexism and racism.”
Losing Imus will be a financial hit to CBS Radio, which also suffered when Howard Stern departed for satellite radio. The program earns about $15 million in annual revenue for CBS, which owns Imus’ home radio station WFAN-AM and manages Westwood One, the company that syndicates the show nationally.
The news came down in the middle of Imus’ Radiothon, which has raised more than $40 million since 1990. The Radiothon had raised more than $1.3 million Thursday before Imus learned that he lost his job.
“This may be our last Radiothon, so we need to raise about $100 million,” Imus cracked at the start of the event.
Volunteers were getting about 200 more pledges per hour than they did last year, with most callers expressing support for Imus, said phone bank supervisor Tony Gonzalez. The event benefited Tomorrows Children’s Fund, the CJ Foundation for SIDS and the Imus Ranch.
Imus, whose suspension was supposed to start next week, was in the awkward situation of broadcasting Thursday's radio program from the MSNBC studios in New Jersey, even though NBC News said the night before that MSNBC would no longer simulcast his program on television.
He didn’t attack MSNBC for its decision – “I understand the pressure they were under,” he said -- but complained the network was doing some unethical things during the broadcast. He didn’t elaborate.
Sponsors that pulled out of Imus’ show included American Express Co., Sprint Nextel Corp., Staples Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. and General Motors Corp. Imus made a point Thursday to thank one sponsor, Bigelow Tea, for sticking by him.
The list of his potential guests began to shrink, too.
Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham said the magazine’s staffers would no longer appear on Imus’ show. Meacham, Jonathan Alter, Evan Thomas, Howard Fineman and Michael Isikoff from Newsweek have been frequent guests.
Imus has complained bitterly about a lack of support from one black politician, Harold Ford Jr., even though he strongly backed Ford’s campaign for Senate in Tennessee last year. Ford, now head of the Democratic Leadership Council, said Thursday he’ll leave it to others to decide Imus’ future.
“I don’t want to be viewed as piling on right now because Don Imus is a good friend and a decent man,” Ford said. “However, he did a reprehensible thing.”
Imus’ troubles have also affected his wife, author Deirdre Imus, whose household cleaning guide, “Green This!” came out this week. Her promotional tour has been called off “because of the enormous pressure that Deirdre and her family are under,” said Simon & Schuster publicist Victoria Meyer.
People are buying it, though: An original printing of 45,000 was increased to 55,000.
Imus still has a lot of support among radio managers across the country, many of whom grew up listening to him, said Tom Taylor, editor of the trade publication Inside Radio.
Yet he’s clearly became a political liability for CBS. (General Electric Co. owns NBC Universal, of which MSNBC is a part.) NBC News said anger about Imus among some of its employees had as much to do with ending the MSNBC simulcast as the advertiser defection.
Bryan Monroe, president of the National Association of Black Journalists and vice president and editor director of Ebony and Jet magazines, met with Moonves on Wednesday. It seemed clear Moonves and his aides were struggling with a difficult decision, he said. He urged them to take advantage of an opportunity to take a stand against the coarsening of culture.
“Something happened in the last week around America,” Monroe said. “It’s not just what the radio host did. America said enough is enough. America said we don’t want this kind of conversation, we don’t want this kind of vitriol, especially with teenagers.”
Rutgers’ team, meanwhile, appeared Thursday on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” with their coach, C. Vivian Stringer.
At the end of their appearance, Winfrey said: “I want to borrow a line from Maya Angelou, who is a personal mentor of mine and I know you all also feel the same way about her. And she has said this many times, and I say this to you, on behalf of myself and every woman that I know, you make me proud to spell my name W-O-M-A-N.”
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Associated Press correspondents Karen Matthews, Warren Levinson, Seth Sutel, Tara Burghart, Colleen Long and Hillel Italie contributed to this report.
Essay 1989
Head games in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…
• Snoop Dogg will do community service as part of a plea deal stemming from gun-possession and drug-related charges (see Essay 1983). But the artist may be allowed to continue enjoying marijuana, as he has a medical certification to use it for treating migraine headaches. Guess Snoop won’t appear in Tylenol ads anytime soon.
• Singer Marc Anthony owes the IRS over $2.5 million for failing to file returns or pay taxes for five years straight. He probably feels a migraine coming on.
• A new study showed Los Angeles has the country’s highest concentration of minorities living close to hazardous waste sites. A lead author of the study explained, “The most potent predictor of where these facilities are sited is not how much income you have; it’s race…. You don’t have many of these facilities in West Los Angeles, and you don’t have many minorities in West Los Angeles either…. You’ve got both in Vernon and surrounding neighborhoods.” Another researcher said, “We think that we’ve gotten so far in civil rights and creating a more equal society…. But when it comes to the environment, to the most basic things — air and water — we have a long way to go still.” Talk about headache-inducing news.
Essay 1986
From The New York Daily News…
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Crock jock has burned thru too many chances
By ERROL LOUIS, DAILY NEWS COLUMNIST
Don Imus, now in free fall with yesterday’s cancellation of his lucrative MSNBC television deal, is a casualty — and he should not be the only one — of a culture war being fought by Americans who are sick of being asked to silently look the other way while vulgarity, obscenity and hate speech poison the public airwaves.
Big advertisers such as Procter & Gamble, Staples and General Motors spent a week taking the national temperature and yanked their support after concluding that a critical mass of Americans — not all of them black, by any means — would not forgive the sight of 10 talented college athletes being cruelly slandered on national television as “nappy-headed” prostitutes.
Imus didn’t help his case by insisting he’d slipped up this one time and deserved another chance. The man has burned through second, third and 10th chances over the course of his 30-year radio career.
MSNBC recently apologized to an Islamic group after an Imus segment referred to Iraqi “ragheads.” Around the same time, Imus allowed a staff member to tell disgusting jokes about singer Kylie Minogue’s battle with cancer, then fired him when a public uproar ensued.
But the Imus commitment to vulgar insults has never changed. He once admitted to hiring a staffer whose main job, according to a profile of Imus on “60Minutes,” was to concoct “N-word” jokes for the show.
While Imus was off plying his ugly trade, a little-noticed national movement has been forming — documented by my colleague Stanley Crouch and me in the Daily News — that repeatedly challenges the demeaning and offensive lyrics, images and real-world violence of gangsta rap.
Web sites have started that call for an end to use of the N-word. Women’s groups have formed to blast rappers for using sexist, degrading lyrics and images. And grassroots coalitions succeeded in getting deejays at Hot 97 and Power 105 suspended or fired in recent years for crossing lines of basic decency.
Imus was probably unaware that a small but determined army of people has been mobilizing every few months to push back against one form or another of gutter-level bile disguised as entertainment.
The same groups are about to turn their attention to CBS Radio, which produces the Imus show, and make clear that advertisers and their customers have just as much free speech as deejays do. And we’re using it to say we refuse to support disgusting and demeaning programming.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Essay 1985
From The New York Times…
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Analysis: No Winners in Duke Case
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A year stolen from the lives of the accused. An accuser humiliated and discredited as the world watched. A prosecutor’s career in tatters, an elite university’s reputation tarnished.
As word spread Wednesday that all remaining charges had been dropped against three Duke lacrosse players accused of sexually assaulting an exotic dancer, there was at least one point beyond dispute: This case was poison for everyone touched by it.
“There are no winners here,” said Larry Pozner, a defense attorney for 33 years and the former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “The landscape is littered with ruined reputations. Tell me who won. Certainly not the complaining witness. Not the school. Not the defendant. Not (District Attorney) Mike Nifong.”
The roster of potential winners is thin. The legal system -- eventually -- kept a flimsy case from going to trial, but not before much damage was done. The city of Durham kept calm, but still was portrayed as a place of sharp racial and class differences.
A long list of losers will be the legacy of the case.
-- THE PLAYERS. Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans no longer face the threat of prison time. But returning to their lives of 13 months ago, before the fateful off-campus party, is out of the question.
Evans has graduated while Finnerty and Seligmann, after temporary suspensions, have been invited back to Duke. Finnerty’s father told The Associated Press this week that the last year has been “horrific” for his son, who has been doing volunteer work. He is unlikely to return.
The three come from well-off suburbs -- a fact that played heavily into the class aspects of the case. But their families’ legal bills have been estimated as high as $3 million.
And though out of legal jeopardy, the players are unlikely ever to be viewed as entirely innocent victims. To some, they’ll remain the face of a distasteful jock culture at Duke that, at the very least, hired an exotic dancer for an alcohol-fueled off-campus party.
-- THE ACCUSER. A college student and single mother working as an exotic dancer, she initially attracted widespread sympathy. But her conflicting stories shattered her credibility. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said Wednesday she may believe the contradictory accounts she has given, and she will not face charges.
“If she can keep herself out of the limelight, she can probably over a period of time regain her ability to live in and among the community,” said Woody Vann, a Durham attorney who once represented the accuser. “People have done worse than this.”
-- DUKE. The elite university was blasted by some for failing to take the rape allegations seriously enough, then for not sticking up more for the players.
Students have moved on, and last year Duke enjoyed record donations and a near-record number of applications. But Duke President Richard Brodhead acknowledged to the AP last month that the university’s reputation with the general public has been harmed. On campus, there have been bitter faculty debates over its response to the incident. The case prompted a series of studies of big issues like the athletic culture on campus, but it’s unclear what will come of them given the faculty divisions.
-- FORMER LACROSSE COACH MIKE PRESSLER. After its 2006 season was canceled, Duke’s lacrosse team is back on the field and ranked No. 4 in the country. But former coach Mike Pressler isn’t with them. Pressler had a good reputation around campus for handling the team, and had expressly warned them before spring break last year to behave themselves. But as details of the party and a vulgar e-mail sent by one player after the party emerged, Pressler was forced out. Two goals away from the NCAA title in 2005, he now coaches Division II Bryant College in Rhode Island.
-- DISTRICT ATTORNEY MIKE NIFONG: Before the case, Nifong was a respected lawyer little known outside Durham. Now, he’s on the verge of being disbarred, facing ethics charges from the North Carolina State Bar that accuse him of withholding evidence, lying to a court and making inflammatory comments about the players. Cooper sharply criticized Nifong on Wednesday, indirectly referring to him as a “rogue prosecutor.”
“Why do we have all these ruined reputations?,” said Pozner, of the defense lawyers group. “Because a man with enormous power didn’t take his time and fairly look at the facts.”
-- THE MEDIA. The case had lots of hot-button issues -- sex, race, class, sports, an elite university. When it broke, a swarm of reporters and television trucks rushed to Durham and made the city the dateline for a string of sweeping stories about class, race and culture. The players and accuser were viewed less as individuals than as avatars of competing political and cultural agendas.
But the case itself proved far more complicated, and few of the stories grasped that Durham was a more complicated place, too.
There were racial divisions to be sure, but also a civic tradition that kept people there talking -- instead of shouting or fighting -- throughout.
Essay 1984
From The New York Daily News…
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He hit raw nerve in my nabe
By Errol Louis
In the black community, Imus’ sickening attack on a group of talented college women was seen as an attack on our daughters, cousins, wives and sisters.
Men and women of a certain age are conditioned to react to such attacks. When I was growing up, every boy I knew with sisters (I have three) heard the message loud and clear from their parents: If anybody hurts your sister, you put them on the ground. Period. It was neighborhood law, and one of the few excuses for street-fighting you would never get punished for.
There are a lot of us old-school types out there in newsrooms, civil rights organizations, corporations and churches. We have been fighting for years against the daily onslaught of cultural contempt aimed at our children, families and communities by Hollywood, Madison Avenue and the recording industry.
In this case, the college women slandered by Imus on national television and radio were the best of the best: high academic achievers at a school with tough standards, and hardworking, competitive athletes. Epiphanny Prince, a star freshman on the squad, is already a New York legend, scoring an unheard-of 113 points in a single high school game.
They did all anybody ever asked of them — they stayed out of trouble, got an education, worked hard and literally played by the rules. They deserved much more than to be dismissed as “nappy-headed ho’s” before a national audience.
Imus also hit a raw nerve with his sneering contempt for black achievement, playing out the worst fear of many black professionals: that in the end, everything you ever learned or accomplished might end up counting for nothing, dismissed with a racist epithet by a group of chuckling, middle-aged white guys with power.
That part of the Imus shtick started long before his latest outrage. Bill Rhoden, a talented author and sports columnist at The New York Times, was called a “quota hire” on the show. Gwen Ifill, who covered the White House for The Times and is now at PBS, was once lampooned as a “cleaning lady.” Sid Rosenberg, a former Imus sidekick who ultimately got fired from the show, once said that Venus and Serena Williams, the tennis champions, belonged in the pages of National Geographic.
This history of contempt comes from a man who got fired from NBC in the 1970s due to cocaine and alcohol abuse so severe that he missed 100 workdays in a single year, according to an article about him on the MSNBC Web site. Imus is the last man on Earth to be sneering at genuine achievement.
I happened to end up sitting about 6 feet away from Imus in the radio studio where he was mixing it up with the Rev. Al Sharpton two days ago. When I juggle the image of Imus — anxious, arrogant, desperate and ruined — against the bright, beautiful faces of the young Scarlet Knights and their ferocious, eloquent coach, C. Vivian Stringer, it’s not hard to choose sides.
“These young people continue to show us as adults what it means to have a moral fiber and how to conduct themselves,” Stringer said on CNN last night.
That was an understatement. These young women have a nation of fans cheering for them — and ready to fight long and hard for the removal of a vicious bully who tried to hurt them.
Essay 1983
Inflated figures in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…
• Janet Jackson is facing a $120 million lawsuit from a fan who claims he was beaten by the singer’s bodyguards. The man charges he tried to pass a note to Jackson at a club in 2004, and two burly bodyguards wound up assaulting him. Jackson counters that she only had one bodyguard at the time, and the bodyguard does not fit the description given by the accuser. According to Jackson, her bodyguard at the time was 5-foot-8 and weighed 180 pounds. Somebody needs to school Jackson on how to pick a bodyguard — hell, throughout her career, Janet has often been larger than that.
• Citigroup is poised to whack up to 17,000 employees. The cuts were deemed necessary after a review of expenses that started last December. Not a good sign when a financial and credit card company has budgetary problems.
• Snoop Dogg was charged with two felonies — gun possession and a drug charge — stemming from an arrest last October (see Essay 1379). Aren’t handguns and marijuana standard gear for rappers?
• Don Imus was dumped by a few advertisers, including Staples. That was easy.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Essay 1980
Changing times in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…
• In Ashburn, Georgia, high school students will break from tradition for the annual prom — by holding an integrated event. In the past, Black students and White students held separate festivities. “Everybody says that’s just how it’s always been. It’s just the way of this very small town,” said one student. “But it’s time for a change.” Hey, Don Imus is available to DJ the gala.
• Don Imus called his two-week suspension appropriate, but insisted, “I am not a racist.” During his daily broadcast, the radio personality declared, “What I did was make a stupid, idiotic mistake in a comedy context.” Well, if he’s stupid and idiotic, how can he be certain he’s not a racist?
• A new study showed a dramatic rise in Americans who are morbidly obese — at least 100 pounds overweight. In 2005, 6.8 million adults were morbidly obese (versus 4.2 million in 2000). “It is an emergency because the disability, the discrimination and the health care costs for this population are enormous,” said a researcher involved with the study. Don Imus probably remarked, “That’s a lot of fat, nappy-headed hos.”
Essay 1979
From The Chicago Sun-Times…
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It’s time to let air out of MSNBC’s shameful broadcasts
By JESSE JACKSON
Does MSNBC peddle bigotry for profit? It’s hard to imagine any other reason for keeping Don Imus and his “Imus in the Morning” on the air. Imus has good ratings, at least compared with MSNBC generally, so the network “simulcasts” his radio show.
On April 4, Imus’ foul show took up the women’s basketball championship game, which featured an underdog Rutgers team against favored Tennessee. The Rutgers team -- comprising eight African-American women and two whites -- which made it to the finals by playing suffocating team defense, in the end succumbed to the talented Tennessee squad.
Imus opened the bit by saying that he had watched the game. His sidekick Sid Rosenberg announced the score. Whereupon Imus took the conversation into the mud: “That’s some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos,” said Imus. His executive producer, Bernard McGuirk, interrupted: “Some hard-core hos.” Imus added insult: “That’s some nappy-headed hos there.”
McGuirk then compared the Rutgers team to Tennessee, suggesting it was a “Spike Lee thing.” “The Jigaboos vs. the Wannabes -- that movie that he had.” (In Spike Lee’s movie “School Daze,” there was a rivalry between the dark-skinned Jigaboos and the light-skinned Wannabes.)
This is vile bigotry. Imus doesn’t know these young women. He’s racially taunting young women who have worked tirelessly to succeed at the highest levels of college sport.
Just humor, Imus said, initially refusing to apologize; just some idiot comment meant to be amusing. After two days of furor, Imus apologized for “an insensitive and ill-conceived remark.” But it’s not an isolated instance. Only a month earlier, when Sen. Hillary Clinton gave a speech in Selma, Ala., on the anniversary of the 1965 march that produced “Bloody Sunday,” McGuirk said she was “trying to sound black in front of a black audience,” suggesting she’ll “have cornrows and gold teeth before this fight with Obama is over.”
Imus once scorned PBS anchor Gwen Ifill, one of the few African-American anchors on television, as “a cleaning lady.” McGuirk dismissed Sen. Barack Obama as that “young colored fella.”
Former New York media critic Philip Nobile has documented Imus’ repeat racist offenses. He reports that Imus admitted to “60 Minutes” that McGuirk was brought on “to do nigger jokes.” Imus or his cohorts have called Patrick Ewing “the missing link,” Shaquille O’Neal “a carjacker in shorts,” the New York Knicks “chest-bumping pimps,” the Williams sisters “two booma-chucka, big-butted women,” and the Indian men’s doubles team “Gunga Din and Sambo.”
The list can go on. Imus is protected by his cache of insiders in Washington.
On MSNBC, of course, African-American anchors can respond to Imus, and reply to his racist jibes, giving as well as they get. Not. In fact, there are no -- zero -- African-American hosts on MSNBC. The network practices the discrimination that Imus peddles.
It is a stark statement of our times that a national network airs this trash. MSNBC clearly has no sense of common decency. We should recognize them for what they are. There is no reason for any African American or any person of conscience to listen to MSNBC. There is no reason to purchase any goods from any advertiser that sponsors or appears alongside the Imus show. We can at least take the profit out of peddling garbage.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Essay 1976
The New York Times published transcripts of Monday’s conversations between Don Imus, the Rev. Al Sharpton and other guests who appeared on The Al Sharpton Show radio broadcast.
Much has already been discussed and written about this mess, so there’s not a lot to add. The interview presented the standard pathetic revelations.
Is Don Imus culturally clueless? Absolutely. From referring to Sharpton and others as “you people” to trotting out the stereotypical proclamations that he’s performed humanitarian acts for sick Black children to wondering why it’s okay for rappers to say the things he said, Imus displayed the classic symptoms of racial bias. Worst of all, he clearly doesn’t understand the wrongness of his remarks.
CBS and MSNBC have suspended Imus’ morning talk show for two weeks. If Imus isn’t fired before the end of April, the networks will have to introduce some breakthrough ideas for retaining the moron. For example, force his program to present culturally diverse content, with regular appearances from Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson — or publicly air Imus’ obligatory sensitivity training.
Then again, terminating Imus is the best solution for everyone.
[Click on the essay title above to read the transcripts. Plus, visit Racialicious.com for links to more commentary; additionally, Hadji Williams has a nice post at Knockthehustleblog.typepad.com.]
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