My Take on Imus

The dam has broken. Too many people pushing against it for NBC and CBS to ignore.

Don Imus has been fired. But don’t cry for him, he’ll probably resurface on satellite radio which should be interesting to see whether he really does step up the discourse or uses his new found freedom to call Al Sharpton a ho.

I’ve been examining this issue a lot over the past week and I think too much emotion has come in to play. It’s always best with any problem to try to solve it rationally.

So here’s the problem: Imus insulted some people with a bad word. That these people are college students who epitomize the exact opposite of a ho, is what made this problem so big for Imus.

His comments warrant a reaction. But before we react, we should figure out what we’re hoping to accomplish.

1) Do we want to punish the man?

2) Do we want to raise the level of discourse in this country?

3) Do we want to heal young black women by no longer subjecting them to cruel, offensive and demeaning remarks?

4) Or do we want to work towards removing the barriers separating the races in this country?

What Sharpton and Jackson have done is number 1. They say they want 2 and 3 but they haven’t done anything but punish Imus. I’d like to work towards number 4. And what they have done is actually counter-productive to the cause they should be pursuing, number 4.

I understand black people feel like they are at the bottom in this country. But you don’t get to the top by dragging someone else down. You need to lift black women up by saying “look at Essence Carson. She’s a smart black woman who plays basketball and the piano. She’s not a ho.”

The only way black people are ever going to achieve equal footing in this country is when everyone meets black people, sees black people and realizes that all these stereotypes are false.

Unfortunately, lynching Imus isn’t going to accomplish anything.