I think the black community needs to address its own house before they go
banging on the neighbor's door.

Dumping Imus is a generally good thing, in my opinion. But I'm amazed at the
outrage being expressed here. (not HERE, but being generally expressed
everywhere). I see a very dangerous -- Constitutionally -- situation taking
shape. We are getting very close to restricting speech based on who is
making the speech, not on the content of the speech.

The black community in particular is instrumental in the creation of songs
that degrade its women by refering to them as hos, bitches, and all manner
of other derogatory terms. Blacks are free to call one another nigger with
impunity, but whites that are simply commentating on the events of the day
have to use "the n-word" if they come across a situation where they are
repeating the use of nigger in a sentence. I was watching Hannity & Colmes
last night, and Hannity was simply reading a transcript of something that
Snoop Dogg had to say relative to the nappy headed ho thing. Hannity felt
compelled to read around words that the community would accept coming from
Snoop Dogg, but would be outraged about if Hannity simply repeated them
while reading a quote from Snoop.

I agree completely that nigger is an offensive term, but my point is that as
speech, it seems to be objectionable based upon who is responsible for
putting it on the table. This is wrong. If there is going to be an outrage
of speech, then the outrage ought not be conditional on whom is speaking. If
"nappy headed ho" or nigger is going to offend, it should always offend, it
ought not only offend if a white guy is saying it. I think they always
offend, and I support the decisions to drop Imus like a hot rock, but if
that is going to be the case then we should demand the same level of offense
from the entertainment community, specifically rappers, where this kind of
thing is made into song on a regular basis. In Imus' case, he is supposedly
making money for his employers, and his actions have caused a disruption of
that flow. This is apparently in addition to other issues that are not
germain to the discussion here.

Using the criteria that Al Sharpton and Jessee Jackson that put forth these
past few days, they can object to any number of things that Hannity might
say, and scream for his removal. And, they would apparently be supported by
the advertisers who would pull ads -- or threaten to pull them -- aimed at
the black audience that Hannity might have. This is a dangerous standard,
and a very wobbly one at that.

On Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:39:56 GMT, "Jeff Strickland"
<crwlr (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote:

Amen Amen Amen Amen!



Scott in Florida

"Jeff Strickland" <crwlr (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote

You're tarring an awful lot of people with a very wide brush for the
activities of a very few. The 'black community' is instrumental in the
creation of such songs?

Hardly.

Any more than the American 'community' is responsible for putting on the
Jerry Springer show and other pornographic material on TV, trash movies,
inane rock music, and a hundred other examples of low culture.
I think you'd probably find millions of black families who forbid their
children from purchasing rap music, and would not allow it to be played in
their homes. Just as people of all colors and heritages would be insulted
by the onslaught of crap movies and tv shows. These examples of crap music
are created and distributed by a very few individuals whose desire for
wealth overrided their taste. They know that crap sells, but it is up to
us in the larger American community to let them know that it doesn't sell
US.
Yes, I realize that a couple of years ago, the 'best song' Oscar was given
to a little number called something like "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp",
but you may recall the brouhaha that award created, too.
There are many people who would sooner flush their money down the toilet
than purchase a rap record, or watch a porn movie.

"Jeff Strickland" <crwlr (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote

I totally disagree. There is no requirement that we have to listen to
anyone's speech or companies pay for ads on their TV show or radio show or
broadcast comapanies carry any radio or TV show or internet broadcast.

What is happenign is that people and companies are excercising their
constitutional rights to free speech by no carrying Imus's crap and not
advertising their products on his show.

<...>

Jeff

"Jeff" <news (AT) googlemail (DOT) com> wrote


I agree, and management & advertisers absolutely should exercise their right
to pull the plug on his show. At issue here though is not what they are
doing independently, it's what they are doing as a result of the grand
standing of al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson more so than a reaction to
listeners.

I think that in the vacuum where Al and Jesse are not heard, the listeners
by and large are not pissed enough at Imus to abandon his show. The problem
I see is that "nappy headed ho" would be accepted from a different radio
announcer, and the reaction here isn't to the speech but to the speaker.

"Jeff Strickland" <crwlr (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote

That's Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson using their right of free speech and
picking their battles.

Apparently, at least for their purposes, they picked a good one.

For the purposes of kids who need an education, that's another story.

Jeff

"Jeff Strickland" <crwlr (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote

Are you ready to step in his shoes and raise 100 million dollars for
children's charity?

We could ask Al or Jesse to do it but how much would end up in their pocket
I dunno.

Then don't.

"Jeff Strickland" <crwlr (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote

You're assigning a stereotype to the black community; which is the same
thing that Imus did.



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"DH" <dh (AT) stargate (DOT) com> wrote


Fine, I'm wrong there. But if so, how come the spokesholes (Al and Jesse) of
the black community have selective outrage? How come black rappers can
openly call black women bitches and hos, and call each other nigger, but
Imus says the same thing, apparently in a feeble attempt to make a bad joke
more than to spread hate, and all hell breaks loose?

I am not trying to suggest that Imus is a brilliant man because I clearly
believe he's an idiot. What I am trying to say is there are lots of idiots
that say the same thing, and Al and Jesse don't seem to give a crap. Not
only that, but the black community as a whole seem to be upset -- rightly, I
might add -- about Imus, but are not upset about the others that do and say
exactly the same thing. And, those others say the same thing as Imus said,
but they say it with hate in their voice, and indifference towards those
they harm through their words.

I don't mean to paint a broad brush across the black community, and I'm
sorry if I did so. What I wanted to say was that the spokesholes of the
community have demonstrated time and time again to have selective outrage.
If the outrage was REALLY the words that came out, then Imus would not be
the problem in the minds of Al and Jesse. Unfortunately, the community is
defined by the spokesholes when there are so few other definitions to use.

"DH" <dh (AT) stargate (DOT) com> wrote

By the way, once you scrape off the racist topping, Imus called these girls,
whom he does not know at all, "whores." That ought to be enough to get him
sacked in an ostensibly civilized country. I've forbidden certain radio
stations in our house for similar reasons. My wife agrees.


Buh-bye, Don.



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com