Our new Indie Games subforum is now open for business in G&T. Go and check it out, you might land a code for a free game. If you're developing an indie game and want to post about it, follow these directions. If you don't, he'll break your legs! Hahaha! Seriously though.
Our rules have been updated and given their own forum. Go and look at them! They are nice, and there may be new ones that you didn't know about! Hooray for rules! Hooray for The System! Hooray for Conforming!
Women, basketball, hos and radio hosts
Caswynben
Registered User
Registered User
Recently, a radio personality, Don Imus, made some disparaging comments about the Womens basketball team at Rutger's university. Those that didn't watch should know that this women's team made it to the NCAA finals for the first time ever. Don Imus had this to say about them on his show :
Now, every single day, the coaches, ESPN, the players, hell, Charles Barkley are all weighing in on this issue. They have held several press conferences, a face meeting with the radio personality, supports groups. Quotes like these have been floating around the internet :
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/11/ap3601305.html
All I have to say about this is, why? While I find Mr. Imus' comments to be offensive and stupid, why do we blow up what he said to this kind of proportions? These girls are at the top of their game, and they let a jackass like this bring them down. Hell, they made demands of this guy. If he wants to say something stupid, sexist and racist, let him. That is his opinion and doesn't effect your accomplishments. I would understand if maybe this was their coach, but this is a complete stranger.
Why do we associate so much harm with what amount to only words?
Don Imus isn't the first dude to say something dumb on the radio, why is this one being given so much attention?
How much is too much? The guy has apologized, when will he be able to get back to his life as a radio comedian.
Are these girls perhaps playing the victim a little too much?
What was he thinking? Who knows. The dude was suspended from his show and has been profusely apologizing to anyone that will listen, probably being pushed by his higher ups to rectify this situation, lest he lose his job. What I would like to talk about here is how the Rutger's team responded to the man's statements.Don Imus wrote:That's some nappy-headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that now (laughing). Man, that's some ... whoo ..
Now, every single day, the coaches, ESPN, the players, hell, Charles Barkley are all weighing in on this issue. They have held several press conferences, a face meeting with the radio personality, supports groups. Quotes like these have been floating around the internet :
Sophomore, Heather Zurich wrote:We were stripped of this moment by the degrading comments made by Mr. Imus last Wednesday. We were insulted and, yes, we were angry.
Dan Imus had two of his advertisers pull outCoach C. Vivian Stringer wrote:"We have all been physically, mentally and emotionally spent. But we also understood a long time ago that no one can make you feel inferior unless you allow them … that we can't let other people steal our joy."
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/11/ap3601305.html
All I have to say about this is, why? While I find Mr. Imus' comments to be offensive and stupid, why do we blow up what he said to this kind of proportions? These girls are at the top of their game, and they let a jackass like this bring them down. Hell, they made demands of this guy. If he wants to say something stupid, sexist and racist, let him. That is his opinion and doesn't effect your accomplishments. I would understand if maybe this was their coach, but this is a complete stranger.
Why do we associate so much harm with what amount to only words?
Don Imus isn't the first dude to say something dumb on the radio, why is this one being given so much attention?
How much is too much? The guy has apologized, when will he be able to get back to his life as a radio comedian.
Are these girls perhaps playing the victim a little too much?
Caswynben on
Posts
Boom. There's the difference. If what you say is going to be transmitted to a national audience, it would make sense to make sure your statements aren't going to offend a significant proportion of that audience. Particularly if it's a medium that isn't concerned with making political statements like sports journalism.
People listen to him to hear about sports. The broadcaster makes money by targetting ads to that audience. If the person you employ to retain that audience starts reducing it instead then they've become a liability (the excessive apologising and symbolic hauling over hot coals is intended to be "damage control"). People aren't going to listen to a broadcaster that insults them.
If faith is just a silent tribute, mine is just a desperate act.
What he said was dumb but quit whining already. The I'm scarred for life shit is ridiculous(rediculous even!). Are people really offended this easily or is the media just a bunch of wanks?
If people are willing to listen to it, sure. I've never listened to him and I'm not about to start. Judging by the outrage and dropping of sponsorship it seems like more people are going to be not listening to him and he probably will get paid less. That's the cost of being a misogynistic bigot. I still don't see why this is a national incident or why the team feels that their efforts have been cheapened in any way. I do believe in free speech, and think that if he doesn't like women or black people then he should be able to say however he feels if he's willing to accept the financial repercussions and backlash from people who aren't hateful sexists. I don't think my moral outrage should dictate anyone's paycheck in any way except that they won't be getting any of my money. That being said, I still think he's a silly old man that shouldn't be taken seriously.
Edit: But wait, there's more!
People tune in to hear about sports? Correct me if I'm wrong, I thought his radio show as just him blathering into a microphone for a couple hours (I even checking Wikipedia and Google News to make sure). Seems to me like his show is his opinion, so I think the people tuning into his show for sports highlights are about as misguided as an old man who has no filter between his mind and his mouth.
That statement alone should be reason enough to get him off the air.
(Obviously it requires you to make some assumptions about my grandfather. I'm sure that you'll reach the right ones. He is a nice ol' bastard, but very, very misguided.)
PSN: DescendantX. Steam ID : Descendant X. Feel free to add me.
One could say that having the spotlight taken from their efforts and instead focused on what one dumb asshole said could have a slight cheapening effect. Of course, one could also argue that that was caused more by the media reaction to his comments than the comments themselves. After all, I doubt any of the players listen to his show, and I doubt many of their friends do either. They'd probably not have heard about it for weeks if it hadn't turned into the newest media circus.
And shit, it's Don Imus. The guy's known for being an offensive asshole. He's been doing it since before most of us were born. I don't know how this is any worse than tons of things he's said in the past, and he survived those. He may change advertisers, he may even change networks, but the guy will probably die in front of a fucking microphone.
Nappy has always meant "dirty, unwashed" and "ho" has always been a shortened/slang form of "whore" to me.
Is there some racist conotation that I've missed in my cultural education?
Anyway, my stance is if you don't like what he has to say, don't listen. Racism/sexism/whateverism runs rampant in our media/entertainment all the time and no one makes a big stink about it. I have to admit I've never listened to Imus ever in my life. But I'm just not exactly sure why this guy has to be nailed to the cross when a thousand others are doing the same thing every day.
I offer this:
Instead of focusing on a stupid joking comment, how about Mr. Sharpton and other black 'leaders' come and address the violence in the black community at large?
For example, Philadelphia is well on the way to passing records in murders city wide, with 108 so far. In fact, at a memorial vigil for someone shot and killed on easter sunday, to groups of girls started shooting at each other, and some unrelated person was shot in the back.
But I'm sure an old radio dinosaur like Imus is a much better target for dumb comments made,one of many that can also be found on popular rap albums.
I would call Sharpton, but, I'm a white guy.. He doesn't take my calls. :sad panda:
Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.
I got you covered.
"nappy (adj.)
"downy," 1499, from nap (n.). Meaning "fuzzy, kinky," used in colloquial or derogatory ref. to the hair of black people, is from 1950." - Online Etymology Dictionary
Oops, sorry. The coverage I've read of this left me with the impression that he was a sports broadcaster, if this isn't the case then disregard.
Hmm. Well I can honestly say that I've never heard that this is a racist word ever in my life. Come to think of it, I've used it a lot (with my personal definition). Someone please tell me I'm not the only one.
Comments can vary in offensiveness based on who says them and in what context. A young black rapper talking about random "nappy headed hos" is totally different than an old white guy calling specific black women "nappy headed hos."
It's not an inherently racist word. It just becomes so when used in certain contexts.
Yeah, I wouldn't worry about being accidentally racist. I think it's one of those things that backwards racists started using when they ran out of other things to call black people 50 years ago.
If faith is just a silent tribute, mine is just a desperate act.
Part of the problem is attributing 'Nappy' and 'ho's' to just black women .. whereas its not the case at all. As said above, these words are not racist in themselves, but only in context.
Now what was the context? Are some of the players black? Is that why it is now a racial issue? What if he simply called the women 'dumb bitches' or even 'dumb hos' ? Would there still be a scandal?
I can take this also in Sharption's comments during his radio show, when Imus said something along the lines of 'I just can win with you people'. Sharpton went right on the offensive asking what was meant by that.. when it simply identified a group of people.. not really just 'black people'
I don't hate Sharpton, he is just an attention whore looking to ge as much media exposure as possible. Nor do I have specific empathy for Imus, as I can say I have *never* listened to his show. Ever. I am almost ready to blame CBS because while it could have been appropriate to suspend people for dumb ass remarks, they will probably end up firing him. This is just one more signpost on the spiral downwards this country is taking with religion, race, politics, sex,etc.. Its still a great country .. but we are starting to do it wrong.
Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.
If faith is just a silent tribute, mine is just a desperate act.
Wow, you obviously don't watch much news because the segment of the show where the comment was made has been replayed about 17 million times. It's right below Anna Nicole.
Yes, nearly all of the players are black. He was basically referring to how the team is a bunch of hardcore-looking black chicks with tattoos and what not.
But aren't they?
I had a class in college with a few girls on the women's basketball team. They were/are nationaly ranked. The team was entirely black then and still is now as far as I know. When we were grouped together for group work, I had no problem admitting that they were "scary" and could easily kick my ass. They thought it was hysterical. I instantly became "that funny white guy."
I guess it all depends on context.
Can we please talk about Anna Nicole's baby now? That's what I really care about.
What the hell is that?
And the guy he was interviewing, Bernard McGuirk, said, "Some hardcore hos", to which Imus responded with his 'nappy-headed' thing, and yet, only Imus is taking heat. Interesting. Because I see as much misogyny in McGuirk's statement but apparently it's not a problem so long as you don't use a slang term associated with racism against blacks.
And Sharpton can kiss my ass. His kind of grandstanding and overreacting only encourages racism.
Imus got suspended and is losing advertisers. His job is in jeopardy as is career in general. Sounds to me like he's getting what he deserves but the lynch mob goes on.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a white revisionist. I think racism should be confronted and it's still a problem. But Al sharpton isn't really the man to do it.
I don't understand how this can take up so much time in the news with things like the scandles in Washington and the war in Iraq going on. It makes me angry to see CNN spending so much time on it.
Why the fuck should the presidential candidate weigh in on some asshole making a stupid racist comment?
I also don't understand why the same people who go after such an easy target like this old ignorant white man don't try to tackle a real target like gangster rap and hip hop? Saying, "they should stop to" doesn't really mean anything. Take them to task. Have 50 cents on the Al sharpton show and tell him to stop using the word HO and the N word.
I think I learned about it from The Craft.
This is going to sound a little cliche, but it's okay when they do it.
It's like with feminists and porn. Sex workers are easy targets to attack, but when it comes to the institutions that create the issues (the church, marriage) they shy away.
Server info: mc.crafti.ca
How is that any less racist? The whole thing becomes more and more divisive as it's blown up by people like Sharpton, and I'm amazed Jesse Jackson hasn't been shouting from the mountaintops yet.
Wasn't there something a while ago where Oprah was saying how misogynistic and violent rap was becoming, and she got told that she was anti-black or something similar?
What he said wasn't even funny and not very smart, but the witch hunt resulting from it is ridiculous. I was hoping the girls from Rutgers would have stood up to say "we accept his apology, and we don't let old shock jock's misguided jokes detract from our successes". Instead we hear how this scars them for life and has ruined the year... what the hell?
McGuirk wasn't just "the guy he was interviewing," he's a producer on the show. He's apparently a regular, practically part of the cast. At which point it would make sense that Imus would catch more of the heat, because he's the frontman of the whole circus.
Basically, Imus is the only one taking heat because nobody knows who the fuck McGuirk is.
To be honest, i haven't heard more then anything then the 5 second snippit of actual Imus comment. Was the comment made right after some "Those BLACK rutgers women" or was it made after "That Rutger's women's team" ?
Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.
If I have a daughter some day and she is an accomplished athlete I don't want some jackass making misogenistic/racial remarks about her for a national audience while she is just a freshman in college.
I really enjoy Imus, although I don't listen to him regularly - but what he said was really really beyond the acceptable limits. No amount of pushing blame onto the media or Al Sharpton changes the content of what he said. Public attention is what makes Imus a very rich man. You can't complain about it when it suddenly hurts his job prospects and cash flow instead of boosting them.
I hereby declare that anyone non-white says "peanut" to a white guy is a racist and should lose their job. But if a white guy says peanut it is ok.
So what? They don't have the mental fortitude to cope with somebody who I guarentee they've never heard of throwing a one-liner insult at them? If somebody called me a 'honky' or something, even if I was in an emotionally vulnerable state, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be scarred for life. It's the sort of thing you (I'd) laugh at for being so baroque.
Server info: mc.crafti.ca
You know why people don't take racism seriously anymore? It's crap like this.
You're kind of a useless fuckwit aren't you.
It wouldn't have made the news right? He probably would have gotten a few laughs and definitly wouldn't lose his job. How can we be beaten repeatedly with the "treat eachother equal" ideal when it isn't even upheld by the people preaching it? Maybe the problem with racism in this country is that it is leaned too heavily upon as a crutch.
stout's Amazon Wishlist | my lastFM
Personally, I have no problem with establishing a social taboo against guys on the radio calling 18 year old women rough looking whores.
Right back at ya, buddy!
Perhaps you'd like to say something more useful.
Server info: mc.crafti.ca
Not really shithead. I think it's a service to mark jackasses like you.
But let's be careful before we label him as a misogynist or a racist just because he called a team full of black girls "nappy headed hoes."
We've actually discussed this in the class I'm in at the moment and a majority of the students in this auditorium with me feel similarly. I can't say that speaks for Rutgers on the whole, but I'd say there's more important things to be worrying about than hurt feelings.
Server info: mc.crafti.ca