Nappy-headed Ho?... "a drop in the ocean of barbaric filth and anti-female hatred"
 

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs...119/COLUMNISTS

Imus' language not unusual

Published: April 13, 2007
The following column contains strong language that may be offensive to some readers.

By Michelle Malkin
McClatchy Times

Let's stipulate: I have no love for Don Imus, Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. A pox on all their race-baiting houses.

Let's also stipulate: The Rutgers women's basketball team didn't deserve to be disrespected as "nappy-headed hos." No woman deserves that. I agree with the athletes that Imus's misogynist mockery was "deplorable, despicable and unconscionable." And as I noted on Fox News "O'Reilly Factor" this week, I believe top public officials and journalists who have appeared on Imus' show should take responsibility for enabling Imus - and should disavow his longstanding invective.

But let's take a breath now and look around. Is the Sharpton & Jackson Circus truly committed to cleaning up cultural pollution that demeans women and perpetuates racial epithets? Have you seen the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart this week?

The No. 1 rap track is by a new sensation who goes by the name of "Mims." The "song" is "This Is Why I'm Hot." It has topped the charts for the last 15 weeks. Here's a taste of the lyrics that young men and women are cranking up in their cars:

This is why I'm hot

Catch me on the block

Every other day

Another bitch another drop

16 bars, 24 pop

44 songs, ***** gimme what you got . . .

. . . We into big spinners

See my pimping never dragged

Find me wit' different women that you *****s never had

For those who say they know me know I'm focused on ma cream
Player you come between you'd better focus on the beam

I keep it so mean the way you see me lean

And when I say I'm hot my ***** dis is what I mean

Let's move down the Billboard list, shall we? The No. 2 rap track in the nation this week is by rappers Bow Wow and R. Kelly. The "song" is called "I'm a Flirt," and it's been on the charts for 12 weeks:

Ima b pimpin

I don't be slippin

When it come down to these hos

I don't love em

We don't cuff em

Man that's just the way it goes

I pull up in the Phantom

All the ladies think handsome

Jewelry shining, I stay stuntin'

That's why these *****s can't stand em

Ima chick mag-a-net

And anything fine I'm bag-gin it

And if she got a man, I don't care

10 toes and I wanna be, cause I gotta have it

Now the moral of the story is cuff yo chick, 'cause hey,

I'm black, fresh, and I rap, plus I'm rich, and I'm a flirt.

Al Sharpton, I am sure, is ready to call a press conference with the National Organization for Women to jointly protest this garbage and the radio stations and big pimpin' music companies behind it.

Or perhaps the New Civility Squad is not convinced yet that the Billboard chart toppers I've highlighted are representative? Let's proceed to No. 3 on the Billboard rap charts this week (and on the charts for the past 13 weeks): "Go Getta" by a rapper named "Young Jeezy" with a special appearance by R. Kelly (again!). Here's the "chorus":

You know we trap all day

Play all night

Dis Is Da Life Of A Go Getta (Ey) Go Getta (Ey) Go Getta (Yea)

U In Da Club

U C A Bad Bitch

Point Her Out (Oh)

Yea U Damn Right Ima (Ey)

You Damn Right Ima Go Getta (Ey) Go Getta (Ey) Go Getta (Yea)

One dumb radio/television shock jock's insult is a drop in the ocean of barbaric filth and anti-female hatred on the radio.

Imus gets a two-week suspension and then fired. What kind of relief do we get from these rappers and their music industry enablers who have helped turn America into Tourette's Nation?

Michelle Malkin is author of "Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild." Her e-mail address is [email protected].

"This is Why I'm Hot" is a good jam. Expect to hear it a lot at Arrowhead this year, though it may be considered played out by then.

:spock:


You mean, the artist and record executive aren't going to be fired?

I thought this sort of stuff is insulting and unacceptable....

oh, my bad; that's only when it comes from an old white dude. Got it.

:hmmm:

I know that any song with ****** in it gets my vote...hopefully the young kids will sing along... that would rule.

:rolleyes:

BTW, I'm not sure I would call it "barbaric." Barbarians would never ride on spinners. That's a sign of culture, baby.

I just tend not to use words that may potentially upset someone.

I thought that was the standard--even if I, personally, didn't always live by it.

But, apparently, you CAN say offensive things, as long as you are the right race, gender, or other appropriate "group."

:hmmm:

No - just depends on if you are a celebrity or not.

Heh. Check out the full lyrics to some of the songs they already play, such as "We Ready." Just because parts of the song are filthy doesn't mean that they won't be playing it at Arrowhead. I can definitely see a big completion or a sack being followed up with the chorus of "This is why I'm hot."

$10 says the record exec. is white.

The two miscreants walking down the sidewalk yesterday calling eachother "my ni**er" didn't look like celebrities to me.

Me too. You never know when someone is going to start acting like a bundle of sticks.

I tried this argument once, and I got piled on by several sympathizers to these poor black kids' plight. As it turns out we are supposed to repek them because they got out of the hood by singing such trash.

True story, even though I tried to explain my own sorrowful tale of loss, cancer and drug seelling/addiction/homelessness, they didn't care - I am nto black and it didn't matter to them that I made it through all that to "rsie up-aah".

It simple, it's a one way street and we should all pay for the sins of Slavery, even though slavery was and still is active on other parts of the world. By the way, I wonder how the African slave traders are treated, even the ones that moved here as well?

I suppose that also doesn't matter :shake:

I hate Michelle Malkin she's a self hating Asian who actually wrote a book defending internment camps in WWII.

A slanty-eyed ho, eh?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/13/martin.imus/index.html

Commentary: Imus might be spark for debate on sexism




By Roland S. Martin
CNN Contributor


Editor's note: Roland S. Martin is a CNN contributor and a talk-show host for WVON-AM in Chicago.

No one would have thought that when Rosa Parks opted not to give up her seat to a white man in 1956, a dozen years later blacks would have the full right to vote, the ability to eat in hotels and restaurants and see Jim Crow destroyed.

We might look back in a few years and come to realize that the removal of Don Imus from the public airwaves put America on a course that changed the dialogue on what is acceptable to say in public forums.

The downfall of a long, successful and controversial career, on the surface, took eight days. But for Imus, this has actually been 30 years in the making. He has used his sexual and racial schtick to pad his pocketbook. Only this time, he ran up against a group of women who presented such a compelling story, his bosses couldn't ignore the reality of his sexist and racist rant.

Although the National Association of Black Journalists led the fight to oust Imus, there is no doubt that it was that moving news conference by the Rutgers University women's basketball team that cemented the demise of Imus. Vivian Stringer was poised and strong in demanding that America look at the 10 women and see them as the real face of Imus's slurs.

And that is really the issue we must focus on. So many people tried to make this a race issue. But for me, that wasn't the primary point. I never wavered from the attack as one of a sexist. It didn't matter that he was trying to be funny. He insulted a group of women who are already accomplished.

Then again, that happens to women every day.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, a New York Democrat, is smart and talented, but to many, she's nothing but an opportunist. She's called too aggressive, not cute and is slammed regularly. But she should be praised for being a woman who has achieved a lot in her career.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is portrayed as a bumbling idiot, but her academic credentials are impeccable. You can disagree with her ideology, but to question her womanhood is silly.

Women all across this country have to play by a different standard. They often make less than men, even when doing the same job; are accused of being too tough when they are the boss; and are treated as sexual objects.

America, we have a problem with sexism. Don't try to make this whole matter about the ridiculous rants made by rappers. I deplore what's in a lot of their music and videos, but hip-hop is only 30 years old. So you mean to tell me that sexism in America only started in 1977?

Now is the time for this nation to undergo a direct examination of the depths of sexism. My media colleagues shouldn't go just for the easy target ­ rap lyrics. That is no doubt a logical next step, but sexism is so much deeper. It is embedded in our churches, synagogues, mosques, schools, Fortune 500 companies and in the political arena. We should target our resources to this issue and raise the consciousness of people, and expose the reality.

Don Imus should not be the period. He can be the comma. Civil rights organizations, media entities, women's groups and others have an opportunity that they can't pass up. We have the chance to seize the moment to begin a conversation ­-- an in-depth one ­-- that has the opportunity to redefine America along the lines of race and sex.

I hope and pray that we have the courage to do so.

http://images.clickability.com/pti/spacer.gif
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/13/martin.imus/index.html

If CBS wants to fire Imus then we must outlaw rap music! It's only logical!

To equate what Imus said with rap lyrics is just so dumb on so many levels ...

Why is it so hard to understand that context is EVERYTHING when it comes to whether or not someone is "offended" by "racist" remarks? Language isn't purely objective. Why would it be? Curse words aren't. For example, the words "fuck you" are much more subjective than they are objectively offensive. There are times and places where such language is completely unacceptable (that's the objective component), but other times and places where it is not. If someone tells me to "go fuck myself" should I be angry and/or deeply offended? You can't answer that question without knowing the context. My reaction will depend entirely on the context of the encounter, my own tolerance for cuss words, and most importantly, who is saying it to me. In other words, what matters is the intent and meaning that I believe is being conveyed by the "offensive" language, not the words themselves.

Context matters.

Exactly. A song that is intended to be serious should be more offensive than a lame joke.

Nice.....a little piece from my home state of South Dakota.

My favorite part, is that in 2 of the top 3 songs, R Kelly, who had sex and used a 14 year old girl as a toilet, is considered less degrading to black women than Imus suggesting they had poor hair and loose morals.

I'm not, neccesarily advocating it....one way or another. I know it may be hard to imagine, but I actually own some rap music--and, yes, I even "like" it.

However, I'm just wondering how far society is willing to go, in permitting a very obvious and hypocrital double-standard. Because, no matter how loudly or often you repeat that it is not.....most of us (even some of us who like some of the music) recognize the blatant hypocrisy of the situation.

I don't appreciate the language in either case. However, I do see a small difference. Although I have no idea who the girls are being referenced in the song, it sounds like the "author" had reason to describe the unknown folks as "hos" (if the girls exist at all). I don't believe Imus had that insight into the very specific girls on Rutgers team, and, therefore, had no reason to use that term for a group of college kids representing their school.

I don't see this as a race issue, as others do. I see it as saying something very demeaning about someone that the "author" didn't know.

Just curious, do you own any R Kelly, NWA or Ice Cube CD's?

Imus shouldn't have said what he did, and we can forget about race, but it's the double standard that's at issue here, isn't it?

There will always be a double standard for blacks as long as whites continue to encourage it.

We don't owe anybody anything.

Yeah, Imus should have just flat out called them n*ggers ... that would have been hilarious ... :rolleyes:

The gender issue pales in comparison to the race issue here. People who are hyping the gender issue here either (a) have their own agendas, or (b) are hyping the gender issue because they think it lessens the controversy over Imus's racist comments.

All this whining about black rappers calling black women "ho's" and "bitches" is just that ... whining.

What "double standard"? You mean that if a black man isn't offended when another black man refers to him as a "n*gger", then that same black man shouldn't be offended when a white person calls him that?

There's no hypocrisy. CBS Radio isn't in control of rap music. They can do whatever they like. They didn't have to fire Imus.

Just like Sharpton and alike are exploiting this whole incident, most of you are doing the same thing by trying to drag rap into this and making the situation bigger than it really is(like Sharpton has).

In private conversation that may pass....but the new standard seems to be this sort of degrading vulgarity is not to be tolerated, even in jest or lame-assed humor, in the PUBLIC arena (and FTR, it shouldn't be.) IF that becomes the standard, it should apply across the board; not selectively depending on one's skin color.

Am I advocating censorship? No. Do I think this stuff will still be "out there" on cable tv and satellite rado? Sure.

I'll tell you what though, it shouldn't be glorified and promoted in the "public square"--by anyone, of any race. If this whole incident gets us closer to that reality, that would be a positive IMHO.

Sure they can do what they want. Frankly, I'd prefer more corporations and music labels take this sort of an approach. As long as they do it across the board. I'm betting we'll see increased pressure in the coming months for just that, too.

Whether it's another blip on the news radar, and next week nothing changes....or not, time will only tell. I'm intrigued by where this could be headed though. Some good may come if it though, if we can really have that national conversation about the issue.

I think my post explained why I don't see it as a double standard. And, no, I don't own any of those.

It would only be funny if Chappelle did it.

I always wanted to **** Malkin's non nappy-head, straight laced, china doll ass... She is hot for an Asian...

I read Malkin's article the other day and the sentiment is right... I think everyone agrees (even Jesse Jackson).

I just thought it was amazing that it's ok to see the issue as a verbal insult against women ("No woman deserves that" and "Imus's misogynist mockery"), but not as an insult against blacks ("A pox on all their race-baiting houses.").

She's gender "baiting" exactly the same as she accuses Jackson and Sharpton of doing with race.

It's a racist and sexist comment. That she has a political agenda against racial inequity and hatred, and would (as a woman) prefer to make it about gender inequity and hatred... says a lot about how useful her POV is in this discussion.

Which is to say, her politically motivated over-simplification hurts the discussion more than it helps. Exactly like Sharpton's and Jackson's (and ultimately Imus' entire approach).

Chappelle does "it" to every other race...but that's "OK".

We really gave this country too much freedom. It started backfiring about 20-30 years ago, and now it is starting to get out of control.

Actually, YES. If you are offended by the term, you are offended by the term and that is understandable and to be respected......BY EVERYONE REGARDLESS OF PIGMENTATION AT BIRTH. Being of the same birth pigmentation as someone using a racial slur doesn't give them the right to use a term so "offensive" if people of other birth pigmentations can't say the same without causing offense. This concept is called APPLICATION OF A SINGLE STANDARD.

:eek: :spock:

By this I meant there are far too many people that take their freedom too far. Or perhaps I am not sure what I meant.

The reasonable people among us knew what you meant....

rights without regard to personal responsibility is becoming an epidemic in this country.

What the ****...

Am I agreeing with Michelle Malkin?...

What the ****...

So in proper context, I could say what I want.

Two black friends great eachother "My n'igga (note: not n'igger) Charles, how you doing?"

Me (white) meeting a black friend "My n'igga (again, n'igga, not n'igger) Charles, how you doing?"

Bet I don't get the same responce.


This is the same context. But so not acceptable, and if you think it is, you are out of your mind.

Dave Chappelle can get up on stage and make fun of any and all races. Hell I went and saw Carlos Mencia, he made so much fun of white people it was crazy (funny too though).

Put Robin Williams on stage and have him make fun of black people the same manner and intention that Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock make fun of white people. Then watch a small riot happen.

Lets put an unknown black person on stage to tell racialy charged jokes. Then lets put an unknown white person on stage and tell those same racialy charged jokes. Now, who wants to bet that the white guy gets booed off stage and possible threatened if not assaulted.

Your same context argument is weak, and lacks any thought. Stop listening to Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

Imus was wrong, no doubt about it. And I'm not defending him in the slightest. But don't say that Rap music is completely differant. SnooP Dogg's Comments (Down at the Bottom of the Link)

So according to snoop, they can call women bitches and ho's because it comes from the heart and the soul?

If you can't see the double standard, then I don't know what to tell you man. And for the record, I grew up on N.W.A, EZE and Dr. Dre and Snoop after that.

Fair enough.

ROFL

And that's why your career as a rap artist completely tanked.

Ridiculous. There's not a single person in the entire world that applies the standard you profess. If there is, I'd like to see the bubble they live in.

The point I'm trying to make is that you are viewing the issue from your perspective ... as the speaker. ("What am I allowed to say? If I can't say it they can't say it.") You are not viewing it from the perspective of the person who truly matters, the recipient of the comment.

What you are saying is that if I call you some curse word, that is the exact same thing as if your significant other or your best friend from work, school, wherever had said it, even if they say it in jest? That you will be offended equally all the way around?

Ask yourself why anyone is offended when someone else makes a racial slur towards them? It's not just because someone used some particular forbidden string of syllables. It's the hatred, the disrespect, the mean-spiritedness that the word conveys. That's why I don't get offended when one of my buddies greets me on the phone with "what's up asshole?" -- because I know that he's not conveying a message of disrepect toward me by calling me that. But if a "stranger" calls me that, I have no way to know that. Context.

Says the guy defending Imus?

What you just posted is a pitiful attempt to substantiate a double standard regards how people express themselves to others. It is known in other circles as HYPOCRISY. I am sure you are intelligent enough to know that your friend calling you "asshole" in jest is nothing like him using a universally recognized racial slur. Those who are offended by the term (the racial slur) are right for being offended by it - but that doesn't give them leave to be SELECTIVELY indignant if the same slur is used by a certain ethnic group over another. Either the term is RIGHT to use or it is WRONG to use.

You have obvious reading comprehension problems, so I'll spell out what I've said probably a dozen times in various threads on the topic:

Imus deserved what he got; the problem is, there are a WHOLE lot of other talking heads and "entertainers" who deserve precisely the same.

THAT is what I'm railing against; the blatant double-standard and hypocrisy. THIS is no longer about Imus; it's about the rest of the trash that needs taken out of the public square.

No it's just hard for me to stay objective about anything she says because she's such a dumb ignorant bitch who I can't stand.

You seem to think that language can only be considered objectively, black and white so to speak, and that's just not the way anyone operates. My hypothetical does make sense because even two hypothetical strangers calling me an "asshole" might be doing so in completely different contexts, and that context is going to govern my reaction. You don't just have some automatic reaction that your brain calls up and automatically uses 100% of the time every time someone calles you an "asshole".

To equate Chappelle using the n-word with some skinhead using the n-word, and to say that you either have to be equally offended by both or offended by neither, is reeruned. Once again, you are refusing to look at it from the perspective of WHY the racial ephitet is offensive to the target of the ephitet in the first place.

Wow and some people call rappers uneducated thugs??

She's neither dumb nor ignorant.

Unless you have an ebonics dictionary- you can't tell what the hell they are saying anyway.

Dis is da life go getta ey go getta ey go getta ey

Has there ever been better lyrics than that?

Like Eminem does not get away with any lyrics he wants to use?:rolleyes:

Kotter sometimes you are so full of shit.

Nappy, Nappy bo Bappy bonana fanna fo Fappy fee fy mo Mappy ... Nappy!

FAX

Well... (not that I really want to get involved in this) Eminem rarely if ever said things that were racially charged. Nearly everything he did was about drugs, and a poor white up-bringing. Yes, he said terrible things about individuals, but it didn't have anything to do with race.

(I use the past tense, because I haven't heard anything new from him in a couple of years)

Ho, Ho bo Bo bonana fanna fo Fo fee fy mo Mo ... Ho!

FAX

I be rappin'.

Bitch, Bitch bo Bitch bonana fanna fo Fitch fee fy mo Mitch ... Bitch!

FAX

You may be right because she says plenty of things that might qualify her as a RW nutjob.

Dude, Eminem IS black. ;)

And FTR, Jim often you are absolutely full of shit.

Eminem layed the wood to gummy bears in that one song.

FAX

Just a side note here... I considered myself a hip-hop fan, and I don't know any of these songs. I'm stuck in the 90's, I guess.

Getting old fast... :sulk:

shoot dat ***** and dat ho
buy my cd and gimme sum do

Is anybody else wondering why this Imus thing is getting a lot of attention? It must be a slow news month.

Well, he talks to three million people every morning, generates millions in profits and charitable donations, and just got bitch slapped like a little girl by two of the biggest blowhards in American history.

I think that's newsworthy, Mr. Vanilla Thunder.

FAX

I don't think it's newsworthy. Big deal that he said those things, and big deal that he got canned. People get fired every day for doing stupid things, so what if it happened to some radio guy.

I see your point, Mr. Vanilla Thunder. And, far be it from me to attempt to counter any opinion held by a venerable and honored poster such as yourself.

Still, he's one of the top radio personalities in the country and has been for, lo these many years. It's certainly more newsworthy than which gold-digging rentboy knocked up Anna Nicole.

FAX

Preschool race war!

FIGHT! FIGHT!

Preschool race war!

BLACK! WHITE!

Die in a ****ing fire.

I've only seen you come down on hip-hop. I haven't seen you focus in on The Sopranos or violent video games. It only seems like you're exploiting this incident so that you can zero-in on rap, similarly to the way Sharpton has exploited it to get his face out there more and to plug his radio show.

Pfft, you're Ned's biggest fan.

:D

I didn't even know who he was until this.

And I really don't know which is less newsworthy between Smith and this.

Only I can appreciate his unique blend of topical German-Honduran humor! He's so original!

I always liked Imus. And, I'll tell you why.

He reminds me of the men I grew up around in the midwest. Tough, outspoken, no-bullshit people who call it like it is. I've mentioned this in another thread, but I'll repeat the point since I, apparently, have little better to do.

I see people like Imus and other comedians of the same ilk the way I view the court jesters and fools from the Middle Ages. Fools played an important cultural role in their ability to say anything about anybody with impunity. They were unique, for example, in that they could make fun of Royals without fear of punishment. This is an important role of humor or comedy as it serves as a way to expose societal truth, values, and unspoken knowledge in the guise of amusement.

Shutting down our fools is shutting down our ability to laugh at our common pain which is vital to cultural healing.

FAX

MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER
MH AND PIED PIED PIED PIPER

To sum it up... Imus said something completely moronic and racially charged, in a public forum, about a specific group of young women who are mostly black.

In my opinion, it was more sexist than racist, but either way it was stupid. He was suspended which was fitting (again, in my opinion) Then Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton started a crusade, and he lost his show.

The issue (for most) is how these two men who seem want to represent black America can be so outraged by what Imus said, while ignoring similar slurs and insults in hip-hop music.

Personally, I don't have a problem with Imus being fired. He worked for a company, and he cost that company money when sponsors like GM pulled out. That's economics. It's the way our world works.

But... don't do it because tools like Sharpton and Jackson threw a bitch fit.

between the Sharpton/Jackson BS hypocrite about this.
The "wreck" of the NJ govenor trying to get photo op....

The basketball team. Nappy or not....sounded "genuine".....

I imagine Imus will be in for a nice vacation from work.
and likely not miss it.

His choice to come back somewhere else later in life.

This makes me wonder, Mr. KcMizzou. We are all aware by now that our country has been run by and through the Skull and Bones society for many decades.

Do we know, however, if there is an African American version of Skull and Bones? And, if so, are they fueling these actions?

FAX