Recently Don Imus was fired from his job for a racially insensitive comment. The comment that got him fire was calling the Rutger’s women’s basketball a group of “nappy -headed hos.”
OK, there is validity to the public outcry at that resulted from this comment one would have to take into account his job and what exactly it is. He is a shock jock. His job is to incite controversy. He was paid to piss people off with his opinions or his sarcasm and jokes.
As for the comment that got him fired he has acknowledged it was a stupid thing to do. In some interviews he also labeled it a joke that just wasn’t meant to go that far. This doesn’t excuse the fact that it did go that far. This is just calling it as he has openly called it.
One could always ask the reason why the topic was brought up on his show. Since it was in relation to a predominantly black team against a predominantly white team it could’ve been a ploy to point out that the race issues fought against through the civil rights movement haven’t left us. This is just one conclusion out of many possible ones.
While this is a pretty big thing to happen it isn’t the first time that it has happened. CBS news brought up two different cases that are similar to the one they were covering April 12, 2007. “Bob Grant, a popular New York radio host, was put off the air for calling the African-American mayor at the time a “washroom attendant.” And Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder lost his CBS job on NFL football pre-game telecasts by saying black athletes were superior to white athletes.”
It was right that he was punished. However firing him was excessive. Fines, sure. Suspension, that’s fine. He ended up bringing up a sensitive issue in a rough manner but the issue shouldn’t be swept under the rug under the disguise of a crusade for public decency. Race issues, much like any other issue, NEED to be addressed. How they are brought up is important since it is a very touchy area.
Bringing up an issue that was once and still is important to American society is a good thing. It allows people to talk things out. Part of improving society is confronting its demons, which for America one was and still is racism, though it mostly is not quite as blatant as in the Civil Rights Movement.
There will be those who say what people want them to say and then those who just drive people crazy. Their views might be sarcastic, satirical and in the way they are brought up occasionally completely wrong. Sometimes though the intention outweighs the importance of what was said. If it’s meant to bring up an issue of society to the front for inquiry and debate, getting pissed off just seems like it would be petty in the face of the larger issue.