Don Imus has outdone himself, yet again one more time ad nauseum, as you can readily see from Wednesday's entry on the indispensible Media Matters site. He referred to Rutgers' women's basketball team, with its eight African American and two white players, as "some nappy-headed hos." I was tempted to embed the YouTube footage of Imus' blather in this post, but for some reason my hand trembled uncontrollably each time I tried to do it. (You can see it at Media Matters, along with a revealing account of recent similar statements by Imus and others on his show.) Imus has apologized for his "stupid" comment, predictably, after receiving a flood of free publicity for his disturbingly popular show.Imus is part of a nauseating (and apparently growing) cultural phenomenon founded on an in-your-face racism, sexism and homophobia that proudly flaunt what they call their "political incorrectness." In reality, "politically incorrect" is nothing more a euphemism for language and symbols that are meant to hurt other people, especially minorities and women. When someone objects, they're accused of being "hypersensitive" and urged to get over it.
PHOTO: Tennessee's Candance Parker claims the net after her team beat Rutgers for the NCAA women's title by a score of 59-46 on April 3rd.
UPDATE (4/9/07): Digby at Hullabaloo hosts an interesting discussion on this question: is it better to ignore the Imuses and Limbaughs of the media world? My view: confront them, ideally without too many histrionics, which can damage credibility. Ignoring them won't work, as Kerry proved with the Swift Boat slanders. I like the variation on Voltaire that goes: "I may disagree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death my right to ridicule you."
Not responding would only encourage them and, even worse, likely be considered an admission that they're right.
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