Bravo Evita. Bravo!
And that goes for everything else that you wrote as well.
It is our time and I think that we know it.

From the beginning of the “IMUS issue”, my thought was that he should not be fired. All my peers thought that I was crazy.
But my point is that if he has an audience of 10 – 20 million people that think that referring to our young sisters as, “nappy headed hoes” is funny, then someone needs to reach out to them and explain why it might not be so funny.
Shutting down the communication will not help to move the conversation forward. It will only serve to further alienate those that don’t understand/respect most black people.
I know that other groups will boycott and protest and “win”. But black people have a unique relationship with this country. We can apply the same actions, and get very different and oft times little Productive results.

I suggest everyone read “Racial Paranoia: The Unintended Consequences of Political Correctness” by, John Jackson, Jr.
Being reactionary won’t move our causes forward. Having an open an honest discussion will be a good start. But not a discussion where we think that we are going to do ALL of the educating and none of the listening. It is time for a new model.
Thank you brother, for your comments! They were like weight being lifted off my shoulder.

I knew it was only a matter of time before he got caught with his drawers showing – the fact he ran to Al Sharpton after the “nappy-headed hoes” comment demonstrated that whenever a white celebrity screws up, they got Al Sharpton on speed-dial, hope they can give him payola for Al to provide cover and absolution, and everyone’s happy.

They didn’t expect the sponsors to get hit, though, and in the end, the sponsors slung Imus under the bus and waited for the storm to blow over before digging him back up and putting him back on the air.

Just a matter of time. The fact that despite our protests about O’Reilly, Hannity and Limbaugh have gone ignored, says only one bigot at a time can they afford to sling under a bus in the hopes it shuts us up. We need to keep making noise until the airwaves are cleaned of their asses, and the way we do that is to take back a portion of the airwaves that got stolen from us.

Very well said sista!

I’m feelin’ your comments, evita. Well said. We seem to be on the same wavelength.

What the Civil Rights Laws did was make discrimination based race, color gender, and religion illegal. It did not and could not make bigotry illegal. What the Civil Rights could not do is legislate the minds and hearts of Americans. It’s time to have the conversation that the Civil Right movement didn’t have.

I suggest a CYBER town hall! This site talk with a white site… about this.

Are we missing a larger opportunity whenever we’re confronted with a situation like this? How much can we expect to gain by trying to shame white corporate institutions into taking action on behalf of black interests?

______________________

Yes, we are missing a larger opportunity and that opportunity is the one to discuss the issue. As soon as Jesse and Rev Al got in the mix the last time I knew they were going to move in to shut him down, show some false sense of power. Power is not pulling his sponsors, power is leading a thoughtful discussion.

Common sense is no common and there are a number of perspective that are viewed as correct, pumping up political correctness takes a way from the REAL POINT that there are racist assumptions embedded in his statement. Address the issue of black male incarceration rates, stereotyping, racial profiling and how Imus lends credence to a society that continues to declare open season on black men. He will say til the cows come home how he not racist, like many liberals do.

I love an openly racist conservative… makes for a real discussion every time. Racist liberals dance around the words so much you can never get to their beliefs which are clearly reflected in their words…

The time is now to STOP letting Rev AL and Jesse Jacskon take the lead on these issues. We need to ask people of a different generation to voice our thoughts. We need to light up the blogosphere with this stuff. Makes me think of Jay Z when he said, “I’m not looking at you, I’m looking past you.” Let’s stop talking TO Imus and start talking ABOUT him in a way that highlights his ignorance (misinformation about the role he plays in perpetuating racism.)

So can we shame white America? No. Can we elevate the issue to a discussion, yes. Political Correctness takes place when we assume that everyone knows what was said was wrong… except in most cases white people don’t know or don’t believe it (this is where data comes in.) Shaming is the reason we’re in this mess still.

And as an aside, I’m still pissed they wanted to bury the “N word.” Are you kidding me? Its a word that means a lot to a lot of different people… so bury it without a real cross cultural discussion? Without a real cross generational discussion? Que estupido.

We need to be more concerned about the pundits who mascarade as journalists (see Fox news at anytime) as well as those radio broadcasters such as Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. They have have far more influence and they cause more destruction than Imus who most people ignore and think he is just a mean old drunkard.

Rush Limbaugh just called Black Americans (and gays) the “wacko fringe kook” base of the democratic party. Check out media matters website and listen to Mr. Limbaugh’s diatribe. This along with ED Hill’s characterization of the dap or fist bump is a “terrorist fist jab” or Fox implying Michelle Obama is Sen Obama’s “baby mama” are worth protesting.

The most dangerous form of racism nowadays is not the overt form purported by Imus, it is the subtle, codeword-laden insinuations promoted by the Fox News, the Limbaughs and Hannitys of this world. They are the ones that sustain racism and make its practice still fashionable and permissible in polite society.

The moment I heard his name back in the news, I sighed.

He just doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt.

I wasn’t surprised. After all, it IS Imus.

I’m referring to the tactic that seeks to shame racism as a means towards reform. The “interest” may vary. For some it’s more diversity in the media, for others its influencing choice of topic or the policy/format in which the news is reported.

Are we doing enough to invest in proactive means of leadership . . . to create avenues for black empowerment? Or do we rely too heavily on the charity/altuism/guilt of others to fight our battles for us?

What interest?
Are you kidding?

Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson helped him return to radio, and now this…shortly after his return. If Imus had been a Conservative, he would’ve been tossed a long time ago, and never allowed to return.