So they fired Don Imus. I never liked him anyway. But the double standard at work in the case is example #14,000,000 that the racial (and gender) system in America contains a sick double standard that chews up some people while rewarding others for the same actions or words.
If the black "community" is going to be treated as a collective entity, then let it be actually be treated as a collective. I'll provide an example. They should first remove the giant plank labeled "Hip Hop" from their eye before freaking out about the racist speck in the eye of Don Imus.
In the current racial discourse, American society is required to treat African-Americans as a collective capable of being hurt and angered. At the same time, blacks Americans are not considered to be a collective when it comes to any sort of collective responsibility. Thus it is that the "black community" spews forth hundreds of millions of dollars in rap music using the N-word, mocking whites, glorifying criminality and, oh yeah, reducing women to b!tches and hos.
Yet this in no way disqualifies their "leaders" from demanding the head of Don Imus?
Please no one try to argue that it's apples and oranges. Imus, just like rappers and black comedians, is an entertainer. He was using words with offensive racial and gender shadings to amuse his audience -- just like black entertainers. Pot, meet kettle.
Maybe I'll give a tinker's damn about the grievances of soi-disant "community" leaders like Sharpton or Jackson once they get their collective house in order.
Posted by Discoshaman at avril 12, 2007 06:50 PM | TrackBack