Radio of the Absurd
Photo Source: Newsday.com
I’m going to be honest. At first, I didn’t think that this Don Imus “Nappy-Haired Hos” thing was a big deal. Not because Nappy-Haired Hos (Ho’s, Hoes, ‘ho’s?) is particularly unoffensive or true, but because it’s Don Imus. Imus in the morning is the curmudgeon show. It’s what it would be like if your grandpa had a radio show. He’d say some things that you really, really shouldn’t say, but he’s grandpa and he can be damn funny sometimes. You let it slide and don’t take it seriously. It’s grandpa, he’s old! Imus in the Morning isn’t politically correct, Don Imus has no real self-censorship, he just says what he thinks. (He calls it “rapping” in his interview with Al Sharpton, which is pretty much hilarious a hilarious term said by a white man to a black man who’s accused the white man of bigotry. More on that later.) Often, he says things that he shouldn’t, but that’s the risk with that type of show. If a show is going to be not-PC, then it can be really easy for those shows to cross the line. The opposite is true of most other shows, radio or otherwise. They’re so PC that they run the risk of having no substance whatsoever. Anyways, I don’t think Don Imus should be fired. I don’t think that the Rutgers women’s basketball team are a bunch of nappy-haired hos. (I don’t really think very often of either of those two, really.) I’m surprised that Rutgers women’s basketball even cares about Don Imus at all, but that’s really here nor there. I don’t even try to think about it, but it’s everywhere.
I’m sure you don’t want my opinion on this. I don’t think I even really have an opinion on this. That last paragraph says absolutely nothing. That’s why I didn’t write about it initially. But what has happened since the original, barely newsworthy event has been a glorious parade of the absurdity of people who think they’re more important than they really are. And of course, in any parade of people who think they’re more important than they really are, you can count on the Revs, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, getting involved. Jesse Jackson, remained relatively silent, but made sure his face was in some news pictures. Twice.
Photo Source: Newsday.com
You see, this was such an impromptu protest that the specific signs had to be hastily thrown together. But make sure that you pick up the professional quality signs that have the pictures of Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesse Jackson. Can’t forget those.
When Mr. Imus went on Al Sharpton’s radio show, now that’s when this became some bad trip. First off, Rev. Sharpton’s show is called “Keeping It Real.” Seriously? Keeping It Real? I haven’t decided whether that would be more appropriate for a short-lived ’80s sitcom or a long-running late-night local access roundtable discussion show. Either way, the show is called Keeping It Real, and Don Imus appeared on it, and looked kind of like an old lion. Some highlights:
IMUS: I don’t know if I thought it was funny or not, but we got — it was a situation where we’re sitting there rapping, see, and I’m saying I watched the game last night between the Rutgers and Tennessee. And I heard one of the sportscasters say that Rutgers’ a lot tougher team, and I — so I got on the air, and I said, “Man, they are tough.” I said, “They got tattoos.” And then somebody else said something, and then I said that.
So, and at the time I said it — because I’m talking about two African-American teams — and at the time I said it, I didn’t think. I mean, I don’t know — I’m just telling you what I thought. I didn’t think it was racial. I wasn’t even thinking racial. I was thinking like a West Side Story deal, like one team’s tough and one team’s not so tough.
Awesome, rapping about West Side Story is usually only found in Wyclef Jean lyrics.
SHARPTON: Saying “wanna-bes” and “jiggaboos” is racial.
Now, jiggaboos, that’s a whole different kind of rapping.
IMUS: I’m sorry. (INAUDIBLE)
That (INAUDIBLE) can pretty much apply to anything Imus says, by the way. Really, the highlights don’t do the whole thing justice. You have to watch the clip (via NCAA Fanhouse) and then read the transcript. It’s like something out of Beckett.
Well? shall we go? Yes, let’s go.
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