Planning To Succeed

Al Sharpton and Imus in a Two-Hour Embrace

This morning, a friend in Florida called me to talk about Don Imus' statement about a women's basketball team. Do you know I thought he was referring to the NBA when he said "nappy-headed 'ho's." Sunday morning, I chuckled as I drove to fellowship because I agreed that these male basketball players were prostituting themselves. I mentally added, "and those straight-haired whores, too." How do these men live themselves when they make millions and very few donate to worthy and well-ran causes. This shows how base I can get and...I was having a Saturday Night Live "Never Mind" moment.

Waving the story off as desperate bad buzz, I placed Don Imus in the has-been category. Knowing that he was referring to the WNBA, it was truly a low blow to journalism, broadcasting and professionalism. Don Imus is the prostitute. Hopefully, he is fully aware of it. Shock radio or cable is pandering to base minds. It's on the level of scrawling SEX in big, bold letters to sell anything--diapers, beer, jewelry and gum. My Florida friend says the man is/was a cocaine user and has spent time in some black community to learn of the phrase, "nappy-headeded." So what? Well, he was obviously trying to draw blood from African Americans. He wasn't relating the Euro Americans by using that slang. Does the after effects of cocaine keep you off-kilter?

Then, Al Sharpton fuels the flame of this attention-seeking has-been by providing a two hour platform. Imus dances around accepting responsibility for the consequences, which aren't much. Two hours? Is he a politician? Is he talking about global warming? What about child soldiers or blood diamonds? Two hours for "nappy-headed 'ho's. Rev. Al Sharpton would serve himself and viewers better by pouring libation that morning and going behind-the-scenes to personally lead Imus to the pasture. So what does Rev. Sharpton get for the rhetoric? I will not conjecture.

I think media executives used Don Imus to push the envelope and see how will the audience--of all nationalities and races--respond to blatant poor taste and mean-spiritedness. Would we eat it up and ask for more?

Labels: buzz, media, politics, race, women's sports

posted by Unknown @ 6:02 PM