Leave Imus alone.

16x,

I was giving but one anecdote. And how was my experience, to be personally indicted, less severe than someone who has to but live with "scars" of things that happened long ago? How was my situation any different than Poitier's? I have lived abroad in several countries, and there is certainly discrimination against whites I have felt especially in certain districts. If you really believe slavery hundreds of years ago is something that needs to be weighing on our consciences today, then you shouldn't turn a blind eye to the fact that many whites were slaves in not too ancient history (the Vikings took many anglo-saxons as slaves). But keep living in your little fantasy world where whites are the only racists and they are the only ones never unfairly disciminated against. Me I'll keep judging people on their character as an individual and won't stereotype based on group characteristics, whether or not people give me that same benefit.

you sure are wordly kartelite and you got it all over the rest of us (thus the name I'm sure). I'm sure you are scarred for life with the white boy incident, I equate your experience to slavery or even genocide.

I gotta git back to my moonshine and cornpipe now. I sure does think you are smart.

wordly? So which one of your friends was enslaved exactly?

16x wrote:

I'm sure you are scarred for life with the white boy incident

You can't say that. One of the nappy headed ho's on Rutgers team said yesterday that the whole Imus incident had "scarred her for life". I'll turn you in for mocking her if you don't watch it!

16x you are a f***in tool miss (or sir).

this is a sad, very sad, day in America.

a poster said the Political Correctness police were on the prowl.

that poster was correct.

what a shame.

if Imus goes to XM or Sirius I will buy the package.

Why is it a sad day?

OK, I'll bite: Because the PC police started some shit and it went this far. Absolute hysteria.

On my run today and black guy yelled at me "put on some clothes white boy"

I just ignored him and kept on going, but it sure got me thinking about this topic. Most will just dismiss the comment as no big deal, which is what I did. But what if I were to say something to him that addressed his blackness? I'm sure it would be totally cool, right?

I thought it was Imus and his executive producer who started this sordid affair with their comments.

ask Jesse or Al...they seem to be in control

The comments were less sordid than what you hear in lots of rap and hip-hop samples.

Apparently it's all a question of perspective.

This was hysterical over reaction.

Leave Imus alone he is my hero!

So Imus played a rap or hip hop sample containing derogatory comments while he was covering the Rutgers game? I thought the comments that got him fired came from his mouth and the mouth of the man he was talking too.

Personally I think he was talkin about the arapaho indian tribe

16x wrote:

absolutely, your one incident of "white boy" does not qualify you to understand centuries of racism and insults made to a group of people - so no, it has never kept you from a job, or getting an apartment or a credit card. Cry all you want - your story isn't that sad.

16x, this is such a tired excuse.

As a white man I am not going around and crying about how my grandparents - that's right my GRANDPARENTS - were slaves 60 years ago in Russia after WWII. And none of my relatives complained even though my great-grandparents starved to death because of persecution in their home country. And at that time they were lucky not to be Jewish because we know what happened to that race.

Pain, suffering, racism, ugly words, etc are not limited to black people. Every single day I read an anti-semetic comment in the news and not a word is said about any of this ugliness. Quietly forgotten is the fact that 99% of people came to America because they were running away from horrific persecution somewhere else. We're supposed to feel bad for the blacks because they were slaves 150 years ago? Among people who emigrated to America, how many were NOT slaves 150 years ago?

I'm not arguing that it is cool to call hard working young ladies "nappy headed ho's". But if we're going to make a big deal about this people should start apologizing to the jews every time they're referred to as "greedy bankers" or "a cult of world domination" or anything else like that.

And my own heritage is German although my relatives were from Yugoslavia and they had nothing to do with WWII and wanted nothing to do with WWII. When the war was over and reparations had to be paid, guess who was sent to Russia to work off the war debt?

Do you think it is not offensive to me every time someone refers to a German as a Nazi? Thanks to the Nazis my great grandparents were killed, my grandparents were slaves, and my family lost everything they had. 60 years ago...

rfvrfv wrote:

Every single day I read an anti-semetic comment in the news and not a word is said about any of this ugliness.

Really? I'm sorry, I have to plead ignorance here. Anti-semitism is an outdated concept to me. Just like how there is a big deal made out of JFK being the first Catholic president. Really? Anyone gives a crap?

How is Catholism that different than any other branch of Christianity? How is being Jewish THAT different than being Christian? Does anyone really care any more when it comes to Jews vs. Christians?

It's not WWII any more. At this point most of us are 2nd or 3rd or 4th generation Americans. I haven't heard anti-Irish, anti-Italian, anti-Jewish sentiments...where exactly are these things being said or done?

OK, as for Imus - I haven't read through all 12 pages here, but from what I skimmed, I don't know if this has been said.

Imus was making humor as a white guy by using a black term. Simple as that. He just happened to strike a nerve.

For example, I am white, and I work at a site that has employees of several races. I am one of the managers and so usually I have to be super professional at all times. At the same time, I'm only 26, and so I still go out to clubs, listen to popular music, etc.

Occasionally I'll BS with some of the employees and I'll tease of our employees that he should "ghost ride the whip". This usually makes everyone die laughing, because the uptight guy in the jacket and tie is using hip hop slang. That's fine, I don't mind, and I say it on purpose. They don't know my preference in music, so for all they know, I'm just repeating a phrase I heard off hand. I'm trying to be funny.

I'm positive that's what Imus was trying to do. He was trying to be amusing by saying "nappy-headed ho's" because it's funny to hear a white guy talk black. The same way that Chris Rock can say "You'll never hear Rush Limbaugh say, 'I wish these hos would back up off me'" - that's why it's funny. White people trying to be "hip" (and often black slang is synonomous with hip) is funny. Imus's comment was poorly executed, but he was just trying to be funny.

By far, this has been the most disheartening, disturbing thread I've yet followed on this forum. All attempts to defend what Imus said leave me a bit sick inside. Some wonder what was racist about his comment: I have a simple analogy- like porn, I know racism when I see it.

Imus got what was coming to him. It was a reprehensible attempt at humor.