Sharpton has conditions for Imus

Not so fast, I-man. The New York Daily News gave the Rev. Al Sharpton some ink and newsprint to set forth the steps he believes New York radio personality Don Imus “should take to prove that he has learned from the experience (of getting fired) — and not simply waited for the furor to die down.” Imus settled with ex-employer CBS and is expected to return to the New York airwaves on a different station soon.

Among Sharpton’s conditions: Paying Rutgers player Kia Vaughn (and any other player who decides to sue Imus) a settlement for her defamation suit, a statement that Imus understands not to take “cheap shots at women and blacks or any other group” and a pledge to “refrain from attacks on innocent people who cannot defend themselves.”

Wait — there’s more: Set aside an on-air slot every week for an ombudsman from the National Association of Black Journalists, and “encourage all corporations, including the record industry, to stop subsidizing and promoting people who engage in racist and misogynist language, even in the name of entertainment.”

“It was not and is not our desire to interrupt the life of Don Imus,” Sharpton concludes. “We just want to ensure that he does not interfere with ours.”

– By John Smyntek

Popularity: 2% [?]

Gimme a break! Al Sharpton has neither the power nor the right to exercise parental control over Don Imus.

Al Sharpton would be a welcome silience were he to practice his preachings.

Fuck Sharpton. Who made him Queen of the Hop?

Pleeeeeeeeze!

Rev, just shut up and go away already! You and Jackson are the last to turkeys to point a moralistic accusatory finger at anyone.

The fact is Imus does what he does because there is a market for it, right or wrong. He gets good ratings and makes money for his employers, sponsors, etc. That the very same with the Hip Hop folks. They too are filling a need in the market place. If the market were not present there would be no Imus or Hip Hop or Limbaugh or any of the rest of it.

Rev, in your spare time there is book you might read which was written by a Spaniard name Cervantes. It is about an old gent who attacks windmills. Rev, you might find it contextual.

Oh, yes, the windmills pretty much always win. Sorry to give it away.

Billy Bob,

Pleeeeeeeese, don’t call him “Rev” !

Thanks !

Shut the hell up Sharpton. If you would spend more time helping your own black community; there would be less rapes, homicides, burglaries, etc. Check the US crime statistics; would you??? 4 out of the 5 felonies in the US are commited by black americans. And, you’re worried about a white man calling someone a nappy headed hoe??? Clean up your own kind; will ya.

I have a simple question to those who are outraged by Imus – are they as outraged by rappers and rap moguls such as Russell Simmons, Snoop Dog, etal., BET execs who have accumulated billions of dollars by denigrating the women of their own community? Perhaps a class action suit is in order. I am waiting for Sharpton and Co. to call for their immediate firing. “Protests” and “marchers” now and again will not suffice, nor will “recommendations” by Russell Simmons to refrain from such language. I am also waiting for Sharpton to organize a boycott of the advertisers who sponsor misogynistic videos on BET and rap lyrics on the public airwaves.

If people does not find a radio or television program to their liking – then they can TURN THE CHANNEL. If they don’t find that Imus has anything of value to offer, that is their prerogative but such an opinion is irrelevant. They have no right to impose your sensibilities on others, just as others do not have a right to compel them to listen to a broadcast that does not interest or appeal to them. If one believes in a free society, no speech should ever be suppressed or censured by whatever pressure group of the month — if you don’t like it, argue against it or turn it off. I don’t want to live in a sanitized society in which every utterance is scrutinized and is “approved” or “disapproved”. I would rather be offended than have a self-appointed thought police determine what I can and cannot listen to or what should or should not offend me. Who appointed Sharpton and the NABJ as the thought police and arbiters of virtuous radio behavior? This is straight out of the former Soviet Union’s propaganda machine. Or, perhaps those who demand Imus’ permanent banishment are themselves ignorant of the history of totalitarian governments – so-called “offensive” remarks, and off to the re-education camp you go! I am heartened to read posts here and elsewhere that refuse to succumb to a thought police of any stripe. Are the networks really so fearful, or are they just in for the ratings that Sharpton generates?

From my perspective and as a feminist and female listener, the feminists of yesteryear propelled us to positions of unimagined strength and power. But, thanks to NOW and its PC cohorts, today’s generation has transformed us into whining victims in need of protection, lacking the spine to laugh at ourselves and laugh off tasteless and poorly conceived humor, or at least, to dish it right back.

And yes, I can’t wait for the return of the I-Man, hopefully with his entire crew intact, unchastened and unleashed, not a kinder, gentler, Imus lite. Yes, the commentary about the Rutgers team was insulting and misguided given the context of the show which has always been an eclectic unpredictable mix of satire, juvenile comedy and serious politics (which is why it was so entertaining to his listeners). But the humor was not malicious in its intent, and certainly not “reprehensible”, “despicable”, “unconscionable”, “hate speech”, and other hyperbolic characterizations. The likes of Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Neil Boorz, and others spew racist content as serious ideology on a regular basis. I believe it was Neil Boorz and Glen Beck who described the victims of Katrina as thugs, thieves and hoodlums deserving of their fate – and they were not kidding. I don’t recall anyone clamoring for their immediate dismissal. And I would not support their dismissal from the air – I would rather argue against them. There seems to be an obsessive and irrational fixation with Don Imus on the part of Sharpton and the NABJ – a fixation which I don’t understand, unless it’s because Imus is perceived to be an easy target that symbolizes the evils of white hegemony. Of course, these easy targets and symbols never resolve the real underlying issues – they only provide easy “feel good” fixes – a real sham.

Thanks for sharing

I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well.