I come away from the Imus affair with a number of thoughts.
The first thought one has to have, or one of the first, is how successful "black" culture is at leading mainstream culture. Black artists- dancers, singers, comics- often lead mainstream culture (for better or worse, depending on how you feel about where the culture is being led), and the black styles of dress and speech make it in to the white community at surprising speed.
Secondly, it's clear that there is a double standard for what can be said in this country, and by whom, and it is race based. Not surprising, as life has always been full of double standards and probably always will be. Black political figures and comics can obviously get away with speech which a white man cannot, and not just about blacks, but about whites and other minorities. There's nothing per se wrong with hypocrisy, or a double standard, but it would be nice if people realized just how large the double standard is. Any real dialog about race in America, or race language, needs to include a discussion about the racism we don't always acknowledge- namely the racism of minorities about the majority, or about other minorities.
Thirdly, this is also a woman's issue- and in that sense should be part of a larger debate about the reasonableness of encouraging or supporting any part of our society when they call women ho's. While Imus may have been successful, his base was tiny when compared to the rappers's base (and ironically it is because of rappers that the words Imus uttered have entered the mainstream linguistic current). While I don't believe the government should be involved in this, boycotts and pressuer on advertisers by consumers is a legitimate way to express one's views- but it would be nice to see some of that expression aimed at the folks who created the climate which in turn created Imus's exchange. That speech didn't come out of nowhere, and to sweep this under the carpet with the excuse that Imus is some sort of racist is ridiculous, and stupid. The real problem is much larger, involves the black AND white community, and the concentration on Imus is simply exploitive spotlight grabbing by some folks who are themselves pretty racist in their speech- and not just in a "rap style" way. I don't think I'll ever forget Mr. Jackson's Hymie Town remark. It is unfortunate that Sharpton led this thing, since he is such a race baiter, and his history of racial fairness is pretty abysmal. Though Imus's remark was stupid, Shaprton's response has been more so- but unfortunately his stupidity paid off for him, which means we will see more of it. |
