Don Imus’ racial statement
This has made national and international headlines over the last few days or so about a person named Don Imus, a well-known radio broadcaster who is known to make some racial statements about “African-Americans”. Recently, he made a statement about Dallas Cowboys’ cornerback named Adam “Pacman” Jones.
This is what Don Imus along with Warner Wolf said about Adam Jones:
WARNER WOLF: Defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones, recently signed by the Cowboys, here’s a guy suspended all of 2007, following a shooting in a Vegas nightclub.
DON IMUS: Well, stuff happens. You’re in a nightclub, for God’s sake. What do you think is gonna happen in a nightclub. People are drinking, and doing drugs. There are women there and people have guns. So there, go ahead.
WARNER WOLF: Also, he’s been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005.
DON IMUS: What color is he?
WARNER WOLF: He’s African-American.
DON IMUS: Well there you go, now we know.
This is not the first time that Don Imus made statements about African-Americans. He was severely criticized about the Rutgers Womens’ Basketball Team back in April 2007 by his former employer MSNBC. Imus later apologized and was subsequently sacked by MSNBC. For those of you who want to review the statement, here it is (excerpt of the transcript is from http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2007/04/don_imus_transcript.html):
Imus: So, I watched the basketball game last night between – a little bit of Rutgers and Tennessee, the women’s final.
Rosenberg: Yeah, Tennessee won last night – seventh championship for [Tennessee coach] Pat Summitt, I-Man. They beat Rutgers by 13 points.
Imus: That’s some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and – McGuirk: Some hard-core hos.
Imus: That’s some nappy-headed hos there. I’m gonna tell you that now, man, that’s some – woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like – kinda like – I don’t know.
McGuirk: A Spike Lee thing.
Imus: Yeah.
McGuirk: The Jigaboos vs. the Wannabes – that movie that he had.
Imus: Yeah, it was a tough -
Now based on my own perspective, I’M NOT TRYING TO BE LIKE MR. IMUS just because I made some statements about the way life has revolved around me and the way I had been treated in my lifetime. I often compare people who had treated me unfairly to communists. I even sometimes compare my devlish V.P. at the former Exeter High School to the Fort McMurray oil sands.
Anyways, it was a horrific experience to some people and it’s time that Mr. Imus should get the boot. Is he trying to be the next Howard Stern?
References:
“Don Imus defends ‘color’ commentary.” Boston Herald. 25 June 2008. 25 June 2008. <http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view/2008_06_25_Imus_defends_%E2%80%98color__commentary/srvc=home&position=recent>
“Imus: Pacman remark sarcastic, not racist.” Newsday.com 25 June 2008. 25 June 2008. <http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/ny-etimus255740753jun25,0,3863298.story>
“Football: The Imus explanation.” Ottawa Citizen. 25 June 2008. 25 June 2008. <http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/sportsbriefs/story.html?id=c6c0a420-23b0-4ce8-a58c-3c63aa7f7c04>
“Don Imus vs. Pacman Jones.” Midwest Voices. 25 June 2008. 25 June 2008. <http://voices.kansascity.com/node/1510>
“Don Imus Tries To Defend Himself After Comments.” eCanadanow.com. 25 June 2008. 25 June 2008. <http://www.ecanadanow.com/news/entertainment/don-imus-tries-to-defend-himself-after-comments-20080625.html>
