Freedom of Speech and Hypocricy

Who knew the words “Nappy headed hos” could cause such an upheaval in America. A throw away comment (which may also go down as the biggest bomb of a joke in recorded history) by radio personality Don Imus has gotten him fired from CBS Radio. Leading the charge are the always righteous Reverands, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

With the speed of a rocket ship hell bent for Mars, Sharpton and Jackson have rushed to the side of the Rutgers Womans Basketball team, who were apparently “scarred for life” by Imus’s comment. With history repeating itself, Sharpton and Jackson have whipped this incident to an unbelievable level.

My problem is this: Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson should be the furthest people harping on about Imus being a racist, a bigot and in general, a horrible person. All of their claims and remarks can be turned right around and pointed back at themselves with their history of inflammatory remarks and clear cut racism. It’s ridiculous.

The crux of this is the “Nappy Headed Hos” line. Some believe Imus said this with hate, to be racist and to put the Rutgers team down based on their skin color (in the past week this has blown up to him being sexist as well). The level of disgust on this comment ranges greatly on where you look. Some wanting Imus’ head on a stick and the vast majority of people scratching their heads wondering what the big deal is (all the polls that I’ve seen from media outlets show that the majority of people don’t think Imus should have been fired). Everyone can agree that it was a stupid comment and he shouldn’t have said it. It was unnecessary and unfunny (he did say it as a joke. In the context of what he was saying and HOW he said it, it was clearly a joke. The intent is very important here). Many people don’t like Imus, he can be a bully, he speaks his mind, he’s old. He’s been doing this for 40 years people know what he’s like, respect him for it and thus, listen to his program.

So, following Imus’ comments the sea starts to churn as the Reverends cannon ball into the water and the stupid media goes into a frenzy like a shark sensing chum in the water. Imus apologized (and sincerely, I believe) on television (he even went on Sharptons radio show to address this) and it’s not enough. Sharpton still demanded that he be fired.

Imus is human and humans make mistakes. Just like our good Reverends here who have many events recorded in their pasts that are far beyond what Imus has ever said or done. One of the biggest being The Tawana Brawley case from 1987.

Take a look at that. Sharpton knowingly backed up a liar for his own personal agenda based on race. He made WILD accusations of people and was later sued for it. He lost that suit, never apologized and never paid up. One of the prosecutors (Maddox)that sided with Sharpton was even disbarred over this! He never showed up for a disciplinary hearing over his conduct on this case. And Tawana Brawley skipped out to Virgina with $300,000 that was from people who donated the money because they wanted to help a girl that was apparently brutalized. How’s that for honesty and morals?

This also mimics the recent Duke Lacrosse rape case. Last year a black prostitute accused some of the Duke lacrosse team that they raped her. They were found innocent this same week. Jesse Jackson sided with this lying whore (which she actually is, she lied and her profession is a prostitute) solely based on race. With NO PROOF whatsoever, Jackson was by her side condemning these innocent men of a heinous crime. There is video of Jackson on Hannity and Combs (if I remembering the correct show) saying that he was going to give the accuser money for a scholarship and that he was going to help her get through this ordeal. When asked about “being innocent until proven guilty” and what if the men are innocent, Jackson replied similar to, “The evidence shows that they are not innocent.” At that time there WAS NO EVIDENCE. She was constantly changing her story and now through the courts it’s proven that she lied and it never happened. This almost ruined these three young mens’ lives! These were serious accusations brought against them and it was all for a cash run and Jackson sits in the brief lime light with it. Since this happened the same week as Imus it’s been pretty much buried along with the deaths of more of our people and friends over seas in the Middle East (barely a mention of that suicide bomber that got into the Pakistani government building). Jackson has pretty much disappeared on this issue since it’s blown up in his face and he owes those kids an apology (the prosecutor is probably going to be investigated by the NC Bar Association for his conduct during the interrogation of the accused Duke players).

Since this is all about the so called racist remarks that Imus said, how about these gems from Jesse Jackson? He was “sick and tired of hearing about the Holocaust”; that there are “very few Jewish reporters that have the capacity to be objective about Arab affairs”. In January 1984 during a conversation with Washington Post reporter, Milton Coleman, he referred to Jews as “Hymies” and to New York City as “Hymietown.” Al Sharpton stuck his foot in his mouth with this line from the Freddie’s Fashion Mart incident where he said “We will not stand by and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business.” Be sure to check out the Crown Heights Riot fiasco where Sharpton helped to fan the flames and ended up with an innocent man being killed by a mob chanting “Kill the Jew”.

Another off color (and really insulting) remark that occurred more recently was from famous loudmouth Rosie O’Donnell. The “Ching-Chong” remark. After a well publicized appearance by an intoxicated Danny Devito on the View, she said, “”You know, you can imagine in China it’s like, ‘Ching-chong, ching-chong. Danny DeVito. Ching-chong, ching-chong-chong. Drunk. The View. Ching-chong.'” After some pathetic attempts at an apology, she was never fired. And what did her freaking publisist say for her? “”She’s a comedian in addition to being a talk show co-host. I certainly hope that one day they will be able to grasp her humor.” OH REALLY. It get’s better folks! A bit later, Rosie made this statement in her defense on The View, “To anyone who was offended at my Chinese, Asian, pseudo-Japanese, sounded a little Yiddish accent that I was doing, you know, it was never [my] intent to mock, and I’m sorry for those who felt hurt or were teased on the playground….But I’m also gonna give you a fair warning that there’s a good chance I’ll do something like that again, probably in the next week — not on purpose. Only ’cause it’s how my brain works.” Can you hear my eyes rolling? Because I can hear yours. And that’s just one instance of her insane comments since she started on The View less than a year ago. Looking at what’s happened to Imus, she still has her job because…?

In addition you have others piping up that just have no buisness doing so. Al Roker? Shut it, your claim to fame is standing underneath an umbrella. Snoop Dog? Has led a sordid past and he’s been allowed to say all sorts of stuff in his songs and profits from it everyday! He gets into legal trouble all of the time for guns, violence and drugs and he has endorsements for all sorts of stupid shit! I love ya Snoop, but how big was that check from Orbits gum? Or Boost Mobile? Imus says one stupid thing and gets raked across the coals for it? Why? And Whoopi Goldberg! Oh my lord. She’s a comedian herself, and backed Ted Danson when he did a bit at her roast in the mid 80’s that he did in black face. He even went so far as to do the watermelon stereotype! She stood by Danson for doing a MUCH worse joke (that’s what he said, that’s the context he said he did it in and she agreed with him).

See what I’m getting at here? It’s hypocrisy in it’s ugliest mask, parading around like he’s got all the right answers. How can Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson condemn Imus for a fraction of language that they have more than done themselves? Aren’t they reverends? I think if that word is said before your name, you are. Doesn’t that mean they follow Jesus teachings of love and (wait for it) forgiveness?

It’s unbelievable how this has snowballed out of control. The Rutgers girls are riding this publicity wave (I’m convinced they’ve been talked into being “offended” and to go along for the ride). I’d bet money that these same women have been called and teased worse by their siblings and peers more times than they can count. It’s safe to say that when they were told what Imus said, their first reaction was “Who’s Imus?” followed by, “Whatever”.

This is now leading us right into the hip hop industry. Imus’ demographic skews so high he’s not really relevant to most of the public. And even so, name another person who has the diversity of guests on his show talking about a wealth of topics and has done the charity work that Imus has done in last 20+ years (hint: it’s not Al or Jesse). Oh and I tip my hat at the scumbags at MSNBC for dropping his show the day before his annual fund raiser for helping kids with cancer. Touch of class cutting off a big source of donations. Thank god for the movement that radio show hosts Opie and Anthony started.

It comes down to a “We want to be able to say things that you can’t” based solely on if the person is black or not. That’s a fact echoed by recent comments by both Sharpton and Jackson. Look at what urban radio stations say on the air, they get away with murder (listen to Hot 97 in NY or Steve Harvey’s beyond awful program sometime). It’s a double standard that is complete bullshit. Equality means being equal for everyone, it doesn’t work any other way. Rap music is full of violence, drugs and misogyny. These musicians are looked up to by generations of people. They help shape popular culture and beliefs. Instead of going after a dope like Imus, real issues need to be addressed. Black on black crime is still a huge problem, education needs to be addressed (why are kids who are trying to get an education and make something of their lives being harassed? The whole “Uncle Tom” mentality is self destructing the black community). New black leaders need to be found and appointed, Sharpton and Jackson are only in it for themselves, relics of a time long gone by. They bully and threaten people to get their way.

In this country free speech should never be threatened. What Imus said wasn’t an FCC violation and threating someones lively hood because of what a person means there is no free speech. Let’s be perfectly clear on this: Everyone regardless of race, sex and creed has the right to say what they want. Who made the two biggest hypocrites the language police? They don’t and can’t determine what a person can say, especially due to the persons skin color. Rappers should have the right to write, say and use the language they want to. Just like Imus and the rest of America has. You can’t just cut out a group of people on some bullshit like this, there is no foundation for an argument. It’s racism and segregation, plain and simple. At this point in history, this country does not need anything else to divide us. We need to be able to communicate, get along and understand each other more than ever. Building walls between people is the worst thing to do. Watch how this rolls right up to hip hops doorstep and knocks it over.