A double standard for the media

[ravensfire]

So Imus is now gone for a less than intelligent remark.

Add another one up in the column for being punished for saying something racially insensitive.

Or, rather, is the column a white person being punished for saying something racially insensitive?

Toss aside any arguement about if the punishment was commiserate to the crime - does society apply different standards to different people?

Imus is essentially a shock jock - outrageous statements are the norm, and sanity is used only when nothing else comes to mind. His intentions are to entertain first and inform last. Judging from his ratings, there is a fairly large number of people out there that do enjoy his ramblings and humor.

But what would have happened if he was black? Would that same punishment been handed out?

Does this set the standard for a popular media figure that says something wrong? Does it matter which group is insulted? If Sharpton said something about "looking like white honkey inbred rednecks who should be putting cars up on blocks" (or something similar), would society clamour for the same punishment?

-- Ravensfire

 

[JollyRoger]

Which black media figure on MSNBC do you have in mind?

 

[Leonel]

I dunno. Does promoting the idea of exterminating the white race as the only solution to the problems of the world count?

 

[LucyDuke]

And here I was wondering why they replaced Chappelle with Mencia...

 

[CartesianFart]

It is not a censorship of racially insensitve material by way of protest but it is simply a censorship attempt on what comedy should be allowed for a White person can do with the expression "nappy-headed hoes" and other expressions.

 

[Paradigne]

I'm still confused on how what he said can be deemed racial. He called them ho's? Sexist maybe, but not racial.

 

[Che Guava]

Well, I agree with the OP on one point: if the roles had been reversed and a black commentator had said something inapropriate about whites, there would still be a lot of people upset, but probably not to the same extent.

On the other hand, big deal.

I'm sorry, but I have to say that I do beleive that minorities do deserve more attention in some ways than the majority, simply because being a minority, or any disadvantaged group, is a disadvantage. Living in a town of 80% white people, it really doesn't bother me that much is someone calls me a honky, because I know I've got 3/4 of a city's worth of honkys on my side with me. Calling someone a n***** in a town where there aren't too many otehr blacks around is for sure going to make a black man or woman more nervous: they don't have as much inherent support or as large a community to back them up.

 

[Bamspeedy]

I'm still confused on how what he said can be deemed racial. He called them ho's? Sexist maybe, but not racial.

nappy-headed usually refers to blacks.

 

[Irish Caesar]

It was before my time, so what was the reaction to Jesse Jackson's "Hymietown" comment?

 

[scipian]

I know that many liberals said outrageous stuff concerning Powell and Rice. The stuff was horribly racist and involved much worse stuff than the obscure "nappy-headed" phrase. House niggers and that kind of talk. And these weren't' comedians. They were politicians and influential speakers. Just my two cents.

 

[Che Guava]

I know that many liberals said outrageous stuff concerning Powell and Rice. The stuff was horribly racist and involved much worse stuff than the obscure "nappy-headed" phrase. House niggers and that kind of talk. And these weren't' comedians. They were politicians and influential speakers. Just my two cents.

These politicians and influential speakers got names?

 

[JollyRoger]

I know that many liberals said outrageous stuff concerning Powell and Rice. The stuff was horribly racist and involved much worse stuff than the obscure "nappy-headed" phrase. House niggers and that kind of talk. And these weren't' comedians. They were politicians and influential speakers. Just my two cents.

I would rather have links than your two cents.

 

[LLXerxes]

nappy-headed usually refers to blacks.

That's like saying calling somebody "Freckled and Pastey" and thinking it's directed at the whole white community.

 

[Che Guava]

That's like saying calling somebody "Freckled and Pastey" and thinking it's directed at the whole white community.

I think nappy-headed has a little more...'history'....than "Freckled and Pasty"

 

[Lotus49]

America has 'race' issues, that it really can't fully deal with / exercise. And, these issues are deeply ingrained into the culture. That's all that needs to be said here.

As for Imus... you just have to ummm, remember that, and act accordingly.

It's all pretty silly, and I get tired of it. Fortunately, there are other cultures, in this world.........

 

[Stylesjl]

Yes there are double standards. In the end, racial intolerance is bad for everyone, although the effects can often be worse against a minority

 

[woody60707]

I think nappy-headed has a little more...'history'....than "Freckled and Pasty"

Wait? what history? Now I haven't been on this earth this long, so maybe I missed something, but rap/hiphop/def comedy jam, ect, is about the only place i remember hearing the word nappy head growing up as a child.

unless there is something with the KKK and coining the term nappy headed I didn't know about?

 

[Tee Kay]

Double standard is everywhere, not just in the media (though it's much more prevelent imo)

 

[Cu Chulainn]

If you believe that a person's race in any way affects what they should be able to get away with saying in public, then you are a racist.

 

[PrinceOfLeigh]

I never heard of the term 'nappy headed' before this issue. I've been educated by Imus