Agreed,
But at the risk of playing devil’s advocate (not that the devil needs one) there are some critical questions raised by this incident. First, Brother Boyce makes a powerful statement when he says most Black folk don’t know who Don Imus is let alone his radio show, hence there after referred to as “Imus and Andy.” This two week suspension he received, I wonder is that with pay? But to me, what glares out is the possibility of hypocrisy/ double standard by our public intellectuals as well as our media outlets. This morning watching Today, of course there were the obvious two combatants, Imus and Sharpton going head to head; with Sharpton calling for Imus’s termination with extreme prejudice. The ringside commentators of course were Michael Dyson, a psychiatrist, notably white, and I think the Ex VP with the Urban League. Easily predictable, Dyson and the Urban League sided with Sharpton saying the term nappy headed hoes was racially and sexually charged. The sexual epithet I can buy but the racist part may be up for debate. Let’s think about it. Many of us on this list serve at one time or another had nappy hair. When your grandmamma or mamma said, “boy go comb your nappy hair,” did any of you go out and call the ACLU or the urban league or even the NAACP? No, without question you promptly sought out, the nearest fist pick and combed out your nappy head. Despite our best attempts (including the Jehri Curl), our hair would forever be nappy. The hard part to digest about this hair politics is that we bought into the idea of black hair (nappy) being inferior for a period of at least 100 years. Did Imus call these women the N-word? Unlike Michael Richards, the answer is no. Maybe (and I might be stretching this a bit) he made an attempt, albeit stupid, to offer a colorful descriptor of what he saw with an obviously limited vocabulary, possibly media driven. Lets face the facts, when the WNBA first appeared up, J. Anthony Brown of the TJMS called these women and I quote “crockagators.” Let’s even be more real, the WNBA isn’t exactly the bastion of hegemonic femininity. These women are muscular, athletic, have as many tats as Tupac, wear cornrows and may even be majority lesbian. If we look at the transcript of the Imus and Andy debacle, Imus didn’t initiate the ill spirited commentary but his executive producer did. That said, his sexist comments unequivocally objectify these women and their accomplishment and he along with his ExecProducer should face serious consequences. (if I had my way, jail time for assaultive speech) Click the link http://mediamatters.org/items/200704040011 for the play by play. That said, I do agree with Marvin when he says that these remarks may have been prefabricated. I don’t know what the show’s ratings were but we can easily believe that this controversy has certainly caused the ratings to go up considerably. Remember, the May ratings sweeps are right around the corner and Imus’s return to the air chair is going to generate serious publicity. That said, this might constitute a stroke of media genius at the expense of the Rutgers women’s basketball team (if they weren’t in on it). Back to the hair dispute; he did cite Spike Lee who has referenced nappy hair in at least two of his films, School Daze and Malcolm X. bell hooks authored a book Happy to be Nappy. Lastly, lets look at Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson and even Dyson. At lest two of these three brothers have texturized hair and one of them we all know has had a perm since the time before time. I am not making a judgment but strictly an observation. Obviously, they have the freedom of choice to do to their hair what ever they choose, but their message on the hair politic in my opinion is fogged. I would love to hear counter opinions if the list serve will allow it.
Russell
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