Listen to smut and you?ll be offended
Gary Prater tells me Prater?s BBQ is officially pulling all its advertising on MSNBC because of recent remarks made by radio show host Don Imus.
Somehow I think Gary is joking, although there was a growing list of sponsors who yanked their ads from Imus? show. The threats must have worked because CBS fired Imus yesterday after a firestorm of negative publicity and outrage.
All this because Imus referred to the Rutgers women?s basketball team as ?nappy-headed hos.? If you recall, Rutgers was the team that lost to your Tennessee Lady Vols in the national championship game last week.
But instead of focusing the national spotlight on our beloved Lady Vols, it?s the Rutgers team which appeared yesterday on ?The Oprah Winfrey Show? and has been the center of attention.
Personally, I fail to see what all the hoopla is all about. Is being insulted by a radio talk show host really newsworthy?
I thought it was understood that radio hosts hurl insults at innocent bystanders. Radio talk show hosts say stupid things in a seemingly never-ending cycle. Hasn?t anyone ever listened to Rush Limbaugh?
In the interest of full disclosure, I should make it clear I?ve never heard a second of the radio show called ?Imus in the Morning.? Considering yesterday?s events, I guess I can mark that off my list of things to do.
Speaking generally, talk radio is void of any meaningful value to society. It?s sort of like a mosquito. You figure there has to be some purpose for it, you just can?t figure out what that purpose is.
As for Imus? comment, it?s not the brightest thing to say, but for me the uproar is what?s hard to take. I?m more annoyed by the backlash than the comment itself. What?s starting to really offend me is all these people who think it?s their right to go through life and never be offended by anything.
Imus said something dumb, which is what radio hosts do. If it bothers you, change the station. Or better yet, listen to some rap music and hear all about shooting cops and doing drugs. It?s hardly a wholesome message.
But for some reason, the masses aren?t taking a stand against rap music or the ultra-violent video games that mesmerize our children. It?s OK for little Billy to spend two hours in front of the TV killing enemies that are so realistic they have facial expressions. But a third-grade insult of calling someone a ?ho? was enough to organize a campus-wide protest at Rutgers on Wednesday.
Even presidential candidates have been asked what they think of Imus? comment in this softball-like question. I don?t think even Al Gore could mess that one up.
Democrat Barack Obama took the bait and Wednesday became the first presidential candidate to call for Imus to be fired. ?He didn?t just cross the line, he fed into some of the worst stereotypes that my two young daughters are having to deal with today in America,? said Obama, the only black candidate.
If that?s not enough, Rev. Al Sharpton and former head of the NAACP Bruce Gordon called for Imus to be fired. Rev. Jesse Jackson said he planned to meet with both CBS and NBC executives yesterday with a ?delegation? of civil rights activists and lawmakers to discuss the Imus situation.
The situation, as I see it, is one man said something stupid in a genre overflowing with stupidity. If so many people didn?t listen to this smut in the first place, broadcasting executives wouldn?t have to worry about firing such characters.
James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].