Imus and Rutger's Women's Basketball. (Page 2)

diatribe of their sacrifices? uh no. their hard work, I think I said a few times

tyra, beyonce ,shakira, iman, j lo-- yes, all beautiful woman, all of whom have very white like characteristics, and NOT characteristics that are typically associated with their race.  Ask any black woman if "nappy hair" is desirable. Ask any black woman how many times she has had to field Q's about her hair, or undergo all kinds of crap to make her hair "acceptable.." never mind.  

emotional safety, to a young person is extremely important.

Nappy. hunh. So I guess to understand the power of a word, we just need to go to wikipedia, eh? Never mind.

just... never mind.

Nail. Hammer. Head. 

Thank you, but keep reading more as to how wrong I am , not mention apathetic and insensitive. ;-)  I don't have that sig line for nuttin.

bcotten534 - 2007-04-11 11:19 AM Nappy is offensive and racist? I never knew that until this whole Imus thing came out. The only expirence I had with the term was my shop teacher (mixed race parents, I think) would tell some of the black kids their hair was nappy. I just assumed it was similar to when people told me, my hair looked like it had sticks and leaves in it when I wake up. The part I that pisses me off about the whole thing is that what he said seemed to imply that these girls needed to look pretty for him. As if that should have been their first concern. I just feel it is much more of gender issue, thinking the women should get all dolled up and look cute for us men to watch them play. The fact that very people have mentioned this seems to confirm my thoughts (or I am just really wrong )

yeah, another aspect of nappy is that it is what happens when black hair is left to its own devices rather than chimcally treated, permed, styraightened, etc, which is what many  many black women go through,. so the implication is, natural balck hair is not acceptable, it's "too black." 

I think it's a slow news week. Imus is a shock jock - he's been saying stupid things for 30 years. He said something stupid. He shouldn't have apologized - it's hollow anyway.

As a complete aside - how many of the girls on that basketball team own a hip hop/rap CD by an artist that has referred to a woman as a "ho?" 

He's an old white dude who wanted to sound hip and youthful. It was a bad move. He's getting a public drubbing and a token suspension. I think that's enough.

You live by the mike, you die by the mike. How many of us could have a microphone in our face everyday and NOT say something stupid or inflammatory? I know this little girl would be offending people left and right (mostly Right)!

When I used to be a Corporate Trainer, I had to stand and deliver for 5 straight days once every four weeks. It was exciting, fun and exhausting. Sometimes I said things that didn't come out the way I meant it - or I stepped into it when I used the locker room talk of my peers. I once said to a classroom full of people "... and you don't want to say that cuz then you shot your wad and then whadya have? Nothing!" You should have seen the face on the young man who was sitting right in front of me. Beet red. I told the CEO (who I reported directly to) and he bust a gut laughing. I wasn't censured, wasn't suspended. Was just a faux pas. Which is what I believe Don Imus committed and is paying dearly for.

Really - to be publicly challenged by Al Sharpton? The man who represented Twanda whateverhernamewas who falsely and with cynical, opportunistic racism claimed that white men raped her and smeared feces on her, sparking national racial angst, only because she didn't want her abusive stepfather to beat the crap out of her because she had really been out carousing all night with her boyfriend. That's pretty galling public flagellation when it comes at the hands of Al Sharpton.

Enough. The man is paying his dues. We should be allowed to make mistakes and seek - and be given - forgiveness.

What bothers me about the whole situation is that we have further stigmatized a word.  What I would love to see is how many people prior to the comment deemed 'nappy' as a racist term.  I, for one, never viewed it as racist and while it I knew the origins and context, I have heard it used to describe a number of situations.  In fact, I have had a black man jokingly refer to my own hair as nappy. 

It bothers me because NOW the term is racist.  It is repeated all over the news and there is a stigma attached so any future use of the word WILL be racist.  I think one could make the same argument about the word ghetto. 

I am in no way defending Imus, but I often wonder if we are doing society and race a true service by going on and on about this one word. 

Even before this broke, if called a random black woman a "nappy-headed ho", I'd pay to be a fly on the wall to see what reaction you got.

How's that working out?

Al Campanis - Black men can't swim and apology - 1987

Michael Richards  - 2007

guess us humans are just slow learners

Heck, some people aren't even on Step 3 (Al Sharpton - "Diamond Merchants", Jesse Jackson - "Hymietown"

Yes.  I agree.  And I don't think she has to be black in that case.  The question would be, is she offended on racial terms or offended in general?  Personally, I think the statement is much more sexist if anything.  But the question remains, how many really deemed the word "nappy" as racist?   

as said by a white person?  Uh, I think anyone who knows black women personally as friends (not like, oh yeah, there are plenty of black women at my gym...) would call the use of that word by a white woman towards a black person racist.

Would then, the use of that term by a black woman towards a black woman be racist?  Or just a double standard?

no and no. 

I don't think nappy is quite as powerful as the N word, but it's still seen as racist.

Imus has a right to be racist (if he in fact is).  His employer has every right to handle it how it wishes.  Firing... suspension....whatever.  Sharpton is the ultimate hypocrite but, hey, anything to get his name in the press.  Funny, when Imus was on his show he said the words degraded black women.  Yeah, it's degrading.  But I assume he holds 50 Cent, Snoop et al. to the same std.  Or not.  I have no idea, but I have a suspicion he's never called for a boycott of the Dogg's CDs.

I am just confused how 3 words uttered by a shock jock in New York whose job it is to inflame can negate the accomplishments of reaching the pinnacle of one's sport.  One player in a press conference even said she wa scarred for life by the comment.  I am not in her shoes, so I have no idea what her reaction is, but really?  Scarred for life?

Clearly no one cares about this and it isn't worth talking about.

I'm originally from Mass.and lots of people cared about UConn Womens' Basketball.  Imus is very well known in the Northeast, particularly NewJersey.  So while YOU may not care, Chuck, plenty of people obviously do.

He does hold them to the same standard. A while back, I wrote the following after attending James Brown's funeral:

The Eulogies began at around 3:30. Al Sharpton began and let me tell you, think what you will about the Rev. Al, but the man can speak. Probably the most stirring moment was when Al was talking about James' famous song "Say it Loud: I'm Black and I'm Proud" that was a kind of anthem for the civil rights movement. Al spoke about how recently he and James spoke about that song, with James saying "Al, I sang us up, and now they're singing us down. I said we were black and proud, and now we're saying we're niggas, hos and n*ggers. We need to sing us up again." That became sort of a central theme in most of the eulogies.

Shhh...

Honestly, I'm amused by this.  Not  because of the topic, but because everyone involved (Imus, Sharpton, Jackson) is on my "People I Despise" list.  Can we get a celebrity death match please???

Huh?  I take you at your word as to what he said.... but THAT is holding them to the same std???  Quoting something James Brown told him???   Is he calling for boycotts and the record labels to cancel the contracts??  He's calling for Imus' firing.  he wants punishment, not just recognition of the issue.