You may be right. This may be a "tipping point". I noticed the "ho" question asked a lot this evening to a few rappers. Most of them had a deer-in-the-headlights look.
I'm not a big Jason Whitlock fan, but this is pretty close to right-on:
Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture.
By JASON WHITLOCK - Columnist
Thank you, Don Imus. You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem.
You’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.
You’ve given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.
Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.
The bigots win again.
While we’re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I’m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.
I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.
It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.
Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves.
Black Conservatives Speak Out on Don Imus Controversy, Criticism
Imus Was Wrong, But Project 21 Members Question Sincerity of Critics’ Outrage
For Release: April 10, 2007
Don Imus has been suspended by CBS Radio and MSNBC for two weeks in the wake of comments made on his April 4, 2007 syndicated radio show. On that show, Imus called members of the Rutgers University women’s basketball team “rough girls” and “nappy-headed hos.” Others in the studio with Imus also called the girls “hardcore hos” and compared their looks to the men’s professional Toronto Raptors and Memphis Grizzlies.
Imus has apologized for the remarks and has promised to meet with the team. The Reverend Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Organization for Women, among others, are demanding Imus be fired.
The follow are comments made by members of the Project 21 black leadership network regarding the Imus controversy and the seemingly selective outrage of the people now speaking out against Imus. Project 21 members do not endorse or agree with Imus’s comments.
Mychal Massie, Chairman of Project 21 (Zion Hill, Pennsylvania) - “The hysteria that has erupted shows a continued pattern of liberal willingness to be selectively offended. Where is the outrage over Jesse Jackson calling Jews ‘Hymies’ and New York City ‘Hymietown’? Why has Al Sharpton’s reputation been enhanced since he slandered prosecutor Steve Pagones in the Tawana Brawley hoax or incited anti-Semitic hatred in Crown Heights or outside Freddie’s Fashion Mark in Harlem? Where is the liberal outrage over Joe Biden, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, John Murtha, Charles Rangel or any of scores of other intentionally insulting liberal marplots afflicted with incontinence of the mouth similar to Don Imus?
“One must question not only the overall sensibilities, but the true motives of those who feign insult over Rush Limbaugh, who - when speaking in his former role as ESPN sports commentator - gave a reasoned opinion about an NFL quarterback but are not the least bit offended when HBO talk show host Bill Maher said the attempted assassination of Vice President Cheney in Afghanistan could have accomplished a good thing.”
“Not one of those now crying foul over the Imus comments voiced a scintilla of insult over the vicious, racist and vulgar diatribes regularly directed at Justice Clarence Thomas, Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice and her predecessor, General Colin Powell.”
Kevin Martin, Project 21 National Advisory Council member (Washington, D.C.) - “Thomas Oliphant, the liberal political cartoonist who has drawn Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice in an overtly racial manner, appeared on the Imus show pledging ‘solidarity forever.’ Bill Maher, who was already fired for calling the 9/11 terrorists ‘brave’ and most recently expressed regret that they failed to assassinate Vice President Cheney in Afghanistan, is also standing by Imus’s side. This is a well-crafted response to another liberal episode of ‘foot-in-mouth disease,’ and Imus’s well-placed friends are working damage control and hoping this will all blow over.”
“At the end of all of this, I expect Imus will return to the airwaves after his suspension and Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton will have heavier pockets. The American people will return their attention to ‘American Idol’ and Anna Nicole while the true victims in all of this - the Rutgers University women’s basketball team - will be left the butt of on-the-job or locker room jokes for months to come.”
Deneen Borelli, Project 21 Fellow (East Chester, NY) - “The backlash over Imus’s racist comments clearly illustrates a double-standard. Where is this kind of outrage when Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Maryland’s former lieutenant governor Michael Steele and Justice Clarence Thomas are bombarded with insulting slurs? Even more outrageous is the lack of criticism over the degrading song lyrics in rap music 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - the same words Imus spoke of that some blacks condone. You can’t have it both ways.”
http://www.nationalcenter.org/P21PR_Don_Imus_041007.html