Don Imus

I have waited to post on this, while the situation "played itself out" a little bit. As I am sure that all of you are aware, syndicated radio talking head Don Imus, on his show last Wednesday (April 4) was discussing the NCAA Women's Basketball Final, and referred to the Rutgers Women's team as a "nappy-headed ho's". Now, I will be the first to admit that I have no idea what "nappy-headed" means, but it is obviously nothing good. So, a huge kerfuffle has erupted, with both CBS Radio and MSNBC suspending the show for two weeks and all manner of talking heads screaming that Imus should be fired, which is run out of WFAN in New York City.

First of all, Don Imus has made a career out of being an insulting boor, so why would his comments be surprising to anyone? Over his career, he has made it his life's calling out of offending everyone, be they Jews, Women, Hispanics, you name it. Why now is there is such an outcry? Second, the screaming about the language he used seems more than a little hypocritical, considering the fact that you can and will hear much, much worse when you listen to your average rap song. Yet, rappers such as 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and others have made themselves millionaires. Why is it okay (or at the very least, the criticism is fairly muted) for the so-called "rap community" to use language that puts what Don Imus said to shame, but when he says something that is admittedly stupid, his job is on the line? Where are the calls for boycotts of rap artists? I'm just asking............