Melvin B. Miller
Editor & Publisher

After Imus, what comes next?

In a 40-year radio career, Don Imus established himself as one of the nation’s preeminent “shock jocks.” But that all came to an end when, on April 4, he referred to the Rutgers University women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed hos.” Reaction to this comment — including the decisions by major advertisers like General Motors, American Express and Procter & Gamble to remove their ads from Imus’ program — caused MSNBC to stop its television simulcast of Imus’ radio show. A few days later, CBS Radio also pulled the plug, firing Imus.

For decades, public officials, leading politicians, authors and other notables have been eager guests on “Imus in the Morning.” His deprecating brand of humor held nothing as sacrosanct. Jews, blacks, Catholics, gays, feminists — all were fair game. On April 4, though, Imus found that there are limits.

His remark was, and is, racist and sexist. Certainly, Imus has made offensive racial and sexist remarks in the past, but this time he targeted youngsters, not the rich and powerful. Every parent could sympathize with such an undeserved insult to young women who, through considerable effort, had achieved so much.

Imus also unwittingly touched on a raw nerve among blacks. Proponents of “gangsta rap” have made fortunes with records that denigrate black women as “hos and bitches,” and black comedians liberally lace their routines with the “n-word.” Yet while many prominent blacks are critical of these practices, few have vigorously opposed rap. One exception is the late C. Dolores Tucker, who founded the National Congress of Black Women in 1984.

Blacks now find themselves in the uncomfortable position of having been the authors of the denigrating epithet that has been turned against them. Now some black leaders have announced plans to wage a campaign against record companies, arguing that the companies force artists to include offensive lyrics in their music.

The more self-respecting approach would be to renounce artists who would compromise the ethnic dignity of African Americans in exchange for a paycheck. By selling out, these artists create the impression that the use of these offensive terms is now acceptable. If blacks tolerate the use of the “n-word” or calling black women bitches and hos, then they cannot reasonably be offended if whites adopt this language.

The unfortunate tendency to portray blacks in an unflattering light also extends to some black actors and filmmakers. Eddie Murphy’s recent film “Norbit” — which features a fat-suit-wearing Murphy as an overbearing, obese black woman and comedians Eddie Griffin and Katt Williams as a pair of pimps named “Pope Sweet Jesus” and “Lord Have Mercy” — has received criticism for presenting moviegoers with cheap cartoon caricatures of African Americans, extending the despised tradition of the minstrel show to the present day.

Sensible black leaders have to realize that they have been negligent in failing to criticize “gangsta rap.” The Imus affair has demonstrated for everyone to see the unfortunate consequences of such tolerance. Those aspiring to black leadership must re-evaluate the tendency to be uncritical of those who have attained some prominence. There is too little debate about effective strategies for future progress toward full racial equality.

Another possible beneficial development from the Imus affair is that the acceptable level for civility on the airwaves has been raised. While the FCC will not make any changes, it appears that large advertisers will — if the consumers complain.

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“Imus is supposed to be gone, but they can’t stop talking about him on the radio.”