The Imus Awakening

Real progress is not only the removal of barriers that prevent a people from upward mobility. Real progress is that, even in spite of such barriers, a group of people’s dreams and goals can not be thwarted by such barriers and complications. The public firestorm over the repugnant and stupid comments by Don Imus is a stark reminder that real progress in the black community has not yet been realized. I admit that his comments were over the line and offensive to some, possibly many, but the result of his comments and the fallout that has followed has been equally over the line and offensive. These protests, rants, and selective calls for reform display three glaring issues of either hypocrisy or contradiction with in the black community and America.
One, for me personally, there is not one 65 year old man, in America from the president down to the bus driver, to my professors to the guy on the corner; that has enough power to steal my joy! Sure I am offended from time to time by the comments by Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, and others, but I recognize that whether their comments are a result of ignorance or bigotry, what they say or have said cannot hurt me. They do not have and will never have the power to slow me from my personal goals and dreams. This was the hope of the civil rights moment. To yes, removal the mainstream uses of racial slurs, but primarily to stop the idea that blacks are not intrinsically equal to whites; and to remove power of the majority over the minority, to power for every individual person regardless of color. Because of the historical subjugation of blacks, blacks, argued by many African-American leaders, are easily led to a feeling of victimization and the like. Blacks need to be reminded that we, because of the sacrifices of our fore fathers and ancestors, have the power to do whatever we want. And that if people are going to condemn you, or demean you; so what….succeed anyway!
Two, the hypocrisy of those calling for the firing of Don Imus and the presupposed moral high-ground they yell stentorian from about the racism and sexism in his comments is outrageous. Let me say that we are all humans and as such, we are all prone to making mistakes. Our mistakes never render us impotent from deciphering what is moral or not, but hopefully provide valuable experience for future judgment(s) in similar situations. As much as Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton have done for the black community, their records in malicious discourse or insensitive comments are not clean. Rev. Jesse Jackson has been noted several times for making slurs against the Jewish community in New York. And Rev. Al Sharpton has a laundry list of political incorrectness, from calling a central park runner a whore to offending the Jewish Community. I am not mentioning these prominent figures past to deflate their message about the Imus situation, but merely to reference that those who are calling for the firing of Imus have to be cognizant of their own mistakes. And recognize the possibly that Imus just made a mistake and thus, should apology and be forgiven. But the main glaring difference between Imus and Rev. Sharpton and Jackson, is that Imus apologized immediately and submitted various mea culpa for the implications, insensitivity, and ignorance of his remarks. And, despite the countless transcripts and even recordings of their (Rev. Al and Jackson) comments, they either deny their utterance or simply detract from addressing those issues. I find it hard, morally, to call for something by someone in which, you personally have fallen short in doing. Similarly, some in the black community either partake, live, or celebrate ‘hip-hop’ culture. A culture, which in some aspects, at least at prima facie demeans and denigrates women, and in some instances, uses the very words that blacks deem out-of-bounds for the mainstream in common vernacular. One cannot say on one hand that a word or phrase is racist and should not be spoken, but on the other hand celebrate the sells that that word or phrase, or possibly even what it represents, generates or gathers in revenue. Simply put, you cannot, morally I think, say something is wrong and then say it!
Finally, what is most disappointing is that this situation, along with others I am sure, might have been an explosion for the wrong causes and reasons. First, as I have pointed out to those close to me in the past days that there seems to be two reasons for communication. To use language, being apart of one’s culture, to articulate a certain idea or perspective. And when one is offended by one’s communication, whether that is words, phrases, music, art, etc, I think one must ponder this distinction. Insofar as if one is offended by the language that some used as a medium to communicate an idea, one should address that person and inform them of the offensive language. However, it is quite another thing if the idea of what one says is offensive. Namely, if what one says, in context and with purpose, was meant to hurt or demean others. If this is the case, that person, who uttered such abhorrence should be removed and seek redress of such ideologies. Conflating what people say in context to what they might mean or think, in your opinion, out of context, in the long run does no one justice. Second, there are those who are argue that this situation was just a battle cry, an ignition to the racial and gender discussions that need to come about it America. I say in response, especially from the racial perspective, that there are much better racial issues and instances of deliberate racism to be better battle cries. When some one like Ann Coulter calls the widows of 9/11 ‘opportunistic gold-diggers’, or the racial rants of Michael Richards, or the drunken religious–slamming rages of Mel Gibson, or the Rush Limbaugh public mocking of those with Multiple Sclerosis, etc. These situations much deeper in sentiment, much more particular in scope, and meant with much more malice of forethought go practically overlooked and the authors of such go practically unscathed. I am merely suggesting choosing your battles carefully. Don’t choose this situation, like the Imus comments, to ignite a rite. Why? Because next week this will be a non-story, a non-issue, and forgotten into the history of the radio waves. Choose an issue (high school graduation, farther-less homes, college dropout rates, racial poverty, medical care, Katrina, etc.) that will transcend the times and that crosses the lines in which all rational people, regardless of color, can get behind. This situation is not that issue and all the hollering, all the protest, and all the cries of racism will go into the ‘books’ as another instance of Rev. Jackson and Rev. Sharpton inflating an issue that has no hope of expansion.
But as I say in the opening, what is most displeasing about this situation is what it shows, at least to me, as a result of the public uproar. That the lessons and goals of the civil rights movement have not been truly realized and real progress has been limited. I hope, in my lifetime, that there will be a day when no word(s), including the ‘N-word’, are so deeply entrenched with hated. Needless to say, I would hope people would always keep in mind its historical references and use the word with caution and rarity. But in a society where we celebrate and gloat about our freedom of speech and expression, in an age where we claim that we want to know more about our different cultures and sects and in a day that we have had two black Secretary of States consecutively, a serious African-American and women candidate for president and the likes of media sports giants like Tiger Woods; its time for the black community and America to grow up! Its time for us to stop retreating to being victims, to stop crying wolf at the appearance of a comment derived for yesteryear, to stop using the same slurs and pejoratives that we deem racist, and to stop conflating the use of language with the communication of an idea. When the day arises when ‘nappy headed hoes’ can be used in a jokingly manner (which it was the context it was meant, even though distastefully done), then and only then will those dreams of the civil rights movement and those dreamers of a better day, hopes and wishes come to full fruition. However, the Don Imus situation is a stark, palpable and unfortunate reminder of how far we are from such!