#31 - over-sensitive much?

i just heard about this on the news the other day... apparently, this guy Don Imus has a comedy show on the radio. now, i didn't really have any opinions either way on rev. al sharpton, i don't really know that much about him other than what i see on saturday night live, but based on this one situation now i've got stuff to say.

here's the situation as i've heard it...

so this guy don imus has a radio show, and on it he was commenting on the women's college basketball game between Tennessee and Rutgers that he watched. he heard a sportscaster say that rutgers was "a lot tougher team," and on his radio show he agreed that they were tough, that they had tattoos, etc, and then apparently he called them "nappy headed ho's."

pfft! so what? tough luck, that's funny. see, but rev. al sharpton says that was a racially motivated remark and is now calling for this guy to be fired for it. racist, smachist! he's doing a comedy show, he's trying to be funny.

then, this don imus guy goes on rev. al sharpton's radio show (he has a radio show?!) to apologize and rev. al sharpton is all attacking him saying "nappy is racial... saying wannabes and jigaboos is racial." haha, what's a jigaboo? now, the sad part of all of this is that this guy goes on rev. al sharpton's show and is beeing a total wuss, taking his words back and back-pedaling all his words to apologize. whatever. you said it, you said it. if you didn't think it was a racist comment to make, then say so. if you did, then say you made a racist comment and apologize for that, or not if you feel like you don't need to. the whole time rev. al sharpton is calling for him to be fired and saying he's insensitive and blah blah blah.

then this don imus guy goes on to persecute himself by continually saying what a horrible thing he did, saying things like:

"black people, at the core of their soul, don't believe that white people like them... at some point when something like this happens with someone like you, who they would - who a person could, you would think, could trust and would be on our side, he said, this just confirms that whole fear. He says, so it's an egregious sin that you've committed, and I said that I understood that."

what egregious sin is it to make a joke on the radio? boo hoo if someone feels hurt by that, hey, here's a tip... DON'T LISTEN! problem solved.

then this don imus guys goes on to try and defend himself by saying how much good he's done for black people, like trying to help fund sickle-cell anemia and whatever, then rev. al sharpton says:

SHARPTON: before we go there, let me say this. I don't think the issue is that you may have done good things. The issue is whether we can afford a precedent to be established that somebody can say something that you admittedly say yourself is wrong and I say is racist and sexist, and it just be glossed over. That's the issue here. Because then, if you walk away from this unscathed, the next guy could say whatever he wants and just say, I'm sorry.

IMUS. Unscathed? What are you, crazy? How am I unscathed by this? Don't you think I'm humiliated? Don't you think I'm embarrassed? Don't you think -

SHARPTON. You're not as humiliated as young black women.

boo frickin' hoo. who are these young black women athletes who are so deeply stricken by what an old white guy says on his comedy radio show? (by the way, there are white people that go to Tennessee and Rutgers, and gosh darn it bet there's some asian people and jewish people and whoever the heck else people you want at those schools). so, here's the hilarious part... that don imus guy tries to defend himself by telling rev. al sharpton:

"Let me tell you, I'll bet you I've slept in a house with more black children who were not related to me than you have."

HA! probably didn't come out the way you wanted it to sound don.

anyway, the point of this whole post is to try and get my point across (and of course, my logic is far superior to everyone else so y'all should listen and obey my words). here's my point:

if you're looking for racism, you'll find it. if you're not looking for racism, you'll find mean people. and once you do, you've got a choice, get upset or get over it! you don't like to be called names, don't listen to the people talking. you think everyone who uses the phrase "nappy" is racist and insensitive? take a look in the mirror. how much more of a culture of racism and separation are you creating by entertaining these arguments and sustaining this conflict? in other words, get over it.